Beginning


Now that you've made up a plot, picked a genre and chose who you'll be writing about, it's time to actually start writing for your story. The first chapter of a story is one of the most important ones, for usually, this is where the readers decide whether they want to read your story or not. There are several (good/interesting) ways to start a story. I'll name the most common ones and explain them one by one.

-Introduce the main character.
-Start with the main problem.
-Flash back.
-Flash forward.

Introduce the main character. When you decide to do this, you have to plan out which details about the character you want to share, and which you want to keep a secret, so you can surprise the reader somewhere in the middle of the story. There are two basic ways of introducing your main character. You could make the character introduce him or herself, in a story telling way. Or you could give more and more details by describing the scene. I'll explain more about details in part six, but for now, I'll use a small example.

[Not wrong, but could be better: ] "Bye mom, I'm going to school!" Taemin said. Taemin grabbed his backpack and a banana. Banana's were Taemin's favorite fruit. Taemin's friends were waiting outside his house already, impatiently yelling at him in a joking way. Taemin bowed a little and apologized to them for being late again.

[Better:] "Bye mom, I'm going to school!" Taemin said. The nineteen year old grabbed his backpack and a banana. Banana's were the boy's favorite fruit. His friends were waiting outside his house already, impatiently yelling at him in a joking way. The brown haired boy bowed a little and apologized to them for being late again.

I'm sure you can tell the difference, right? In the first version, I keep describing him, only using his name. If your readers do not know your main character, or if it's a fictional one, this is not a good way of describing your character. By giving details such as age, gender, hair color and height, the readers can form the character in their heads and they will probably really see a teenager running through his house with a backpack and a banana, hurrying to school. Don't overdo it, though. That can be annoying. ("Bye mom, I'm going to school!" The nineteen year old, brown haired, Korean, vegetarian but secretly eating meat sometimes, non smoking, slightly feminine boy said. // See?)

TIP: Introducing a character is always a good way to start, and in many cases people who use another type of beginning, they will somehow squeeze in some character details, too. Just like with the genres, you can play around and mix the ways of beginning, too. But only if they make sense, of course.

Start with the main problem. If you choose for this option, you have to have a really good plot and a good chapter planning, because you don't want your story to be boring after such an exciting start. For an example, you could read the first chapter of my story "Key's lullaby", in which I start with explaining that my main character had a car accident, and the chapter ends with the others finding out that he's suffering from amnesia. That is a way of starting with, or introducing the main problem. Usually with this kind of start, the remaining chapters will be about how the main problem is being dealt with or being solved. Chapter planning is a must for this one!

Flashback. This method is a good way of building up tension, and it could save you from having to explain things about your character. If your character is, for example, depressed, because his or her parents are divorced, starting with a flashback is a good way of introducing this fact about the character's life. You could write one on a fight between the character's parents having a fight, or maybe them telling the character about the divorce. This is also used in many many crime stories. A flashback on someone's death, followed by story on people solving the case.

Flash forward. This one works the same way as a flashback, and it has a nearly similar effect. There's one difference, and that is obviously the fact that a flashback takes place in the past, and a flash forward takes place in the future. This method is also used in many crime stories, (We read about someone dying and the following chapters are of the "two weeks earlier" kind, leading to that person's death) but of course it can be used for every type of story. A good example of a flash forward type of story is the movie "The hangover." This isn't a real flash forward, but in a way it is. The characters wake up in a certain (ridiculous) situation, and throughout the story (or in this case; movie) we learn about what got them in that situation.

Take your time in deciding in which way you want to start your story. Play around a bit, write different types of your first chapter and have a friend or another fan judge which one they like best. I am going to repeat this a lot, but it really is true. Fandom. Is. The key!

In the next part I will give more tips and details on how to end your story. If you're interested, please continue reading, and leave a comment if this is helping you!