What is the best way to begin a story?

This has always been the hardest part for me!
In your opinion what is the best way to start a story?
What matters the most in grabbing your readers into a story?

I’d love to know cause this is the hardest part for me~

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u can start of with a short prologue, u can start of with a background story, as known as a flash back, hm…

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It depends on the stories.
I’ve seen some stories which open with a flash forward which works quite well. Some start with flashbacks.
I’m working on one now which has a sort of prologue- it’s a scene set a few months back but with characters that won’t feature in the actual story (if that makes sense- one will only be mentioned in passing), yet are still very much related to the plot.

I like intros that take you straight into the story. Not ones where the character wakes up, goes to school etc that give you no idea what the story is about.

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very bad writhing advice there has gone around in long time is. you have to grab the readers with the first sentence.

that is not true. many of the most famouse stories actually dont really get going before a couple of chapters in.

Harry potter for example start by intraducing Harrys aunt and uncle.

You start the story where you wanna start it.

the best way to start is doing something there will intradouce the charaters.

and I dont mean explaning a lot about them. but for example is she is a cheerleder start there.

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If any of you saw my post "I just can’t decide " or "I can’t decide AGAIN! "
I think you can tell I have trouble with making a decision…

It’s always just and IDEA
and that’s it because I just don’t know how to start it I think of multiple ideas on how to start it, but it never gets written and I end up hating the whole plot and idea together
and the HORRID cycle continued when another idea comes in mind

image

This is what I’m currently working on… and thats it a title and two main characters

I guess my question is how to make a story based off an IDEA

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Maybe imagine it as the beginning of a movie/series in the same genre as your story would help.

How would it start? And how would it be directed? The focus?

I personally like something short that gives some sort of information of what the rest of the story will be about. It helps if it’s visually interesting too :star2:

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how about start up with there mom mix them up.

evryone who has siblings know the name mix up. its something people can relate too. most of the time I get call my sisters name before my own.

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Hm… I’m not the right person to ask since I’ve never completed a story (but I have completed other ideas). Depending on what kind of person you are it will differ.

What it takes for me to realize an idea to something concrete would be to put in the time and to not give up. Know that it will be difficult. And set realistic goals! Maybe get some support and input from time to time. Sometimes to distance yourself from what your working on :relaxed:

Not sure if this answered your question :laughing:

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also you might be over thinking it?

have you plan your story. like what is the ending. what happends in the middle. a good writhing tip is to just sit down and write. dont look over what you write just write evry idea there pops into your head. then you are done you can look it over and fix what needs to be fixed. its also importent to know where you want the story to end because if you dont you will get writher block.

I recomand doing it in a word document. not on the writer portal.

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I suggest getting into the action or adding tremendous suspense, I don’t recommend you start with a flashback or future glimpse.

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Just start writing it, and try not to think about how to start it. You may have a cool idea along the way, and you can go back anytime to add it. Maybe a future scene will give you the inspiration you are looking for, so sometimes you can be much more productive if you don’t think, just write what you have in your mind. I do this all the time :upside_down_face:

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In my opinion, you should do some prep. With that I mean that you should find the title of the story, the plot, write down some future story or future chapters, when you write smth important, write it down so you can remember it. Before starting a story, make covers (or request some if you cant make them) splashes so when you finish the first three chapters you dont have to wait for approvals. Also, find a good name for your main characters. Find smth that matches their personality and make changes on their deets. Don’t make them usual, use deets like not so usual eyebrows, it really makes a nice difference :relaxed::relaxed: i hope that all that helped a little :kissing_heart::kissing_heart:

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Don’t just start off your story just like that cause it doesn’t look good so maybe a flashback or prologue

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The rest is extra, but keep this in mind; LURE THE READER WITH THE FIRST SENTENCE!! e.x

“Holy heck, WHERE ARE MY KNIVES?”
“Chill, burying a body is not that hard.”
“I’m gonna tell everyone you clogged the toilet!”
“Shush, laughing at a funeral is rude; especially if it’s your own.”

  1. I started one with a comedic scene. A slideshow of pictures & a pause, humorous dialogue and whatnot.

  2. I started another with a flash forward of when she kills her love interest, ( I’ll make it look like she killed herself instead, which wouldn’t be too shocking if you knew the character).

  3. In another story, I put A LOT of effort into dialogue & directing in the first chapter. This story is kind of the style of a book. I try to put as many sentences that I know that character would say (for the reader to get introduced)

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