When you don’t know how to start…

You’ve come up with a good idea. You’ve thought up a brilliant plot, sparkling characters, a setting that will draw your reader in. But you’re stuck, and the pen hasn’t even hit the page yet. How will you start it? What if you start, and you mess up the idea?

First things first, write! Stories are made to be edited (contrary to what my younger self believed!), and yes, yours likely will be. But stories can’t be edited if they aren’t written. When in doubt, start off with a scene that will hook your readers quickly. This should introduce your main character(s), the setting, and give us a clue as to what they will be facing in the upcoming pages. Starting off with a bang grabs your reader’s attention. Once you’ve got that, they’ll want to keep reading, and you’ll be able to spend the next little while filling in the details for them.

There are a few questions I use to get my mind thinking.,, What event is going to kick-start the plot? How can I use that to write the first scene, without necessarily giving away everything about it on the first page? Does your plot pick up in the middle of an event, or does your character instigate the action of the story? What details can you give that will hook your reader and make them fall in love with your characters?

I have to give the disclaimer that I often do not use these questions… and my plots often require editing at their beginning. This doesn’t mean that they’re not good ones, it simply means that I must prepare for that needed editing later on. It’s all right to start slowly (after all, slow is better than not at all), but in doing so, you must be aware that the beginning of your plot will then likely need some tweaking before it is ready for a reader.

In summary, if you don’t know how to start, just start! (Just teasing!) But really, there’s no other way to begin a plot than to put pen to paper. So what if you rip up the first draft of that opening scene? Your reader will never know! Don’t be afraid to write, and don’t be afraid to edit!