Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [openings]

One dark and stormy knight, no scratch that, we can do better.

67 questions
189
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9 answers

"Dear Stack Exchange, I am very disappointed in you" - How to construct a strong opening line in a letter?

In light of recent events, I intended to write a simple letter of complaint to StackExchange. The obvious thing to do would be to write an opening with the fact such as It came to my knowledge that a long-standing member and moderator of the…
NofP
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12 answers

How to trick the reader into thinking they're following a redshirt instead of the protagonist?

I'm currently planning a "magical girl" story, and I thought of an interesting way to start it, rather than launching straight into the backstory. It opens with a woman in her mid-thirties, complete with ponytail of death, walking through a city…
F1Krazy
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53
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10 answers

How can I write an attention-grabbing first line?

So, the beginning of any story needs to capture the attention of the reader, so he continues and wants to find out what's happening. A Confederacy of Dunces starts "A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head." and gives you…
Reverend Gonzo
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35
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8 answers

Is the first page of a novel really that important?

I am reading in a few blogs like this that the first page of the novel is really important if it has to get published. Is this true? Can a good story not compensate for an ordinary first page. I have a first page which is the introduction of my…
The White Cloud
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22
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11 answers

How to derive a first sentence from a story?

There is much advice out there on "how to write a killer opening line". Usually these blog posts or how-to-write book chapters list examples of first sentences from recognized masterworks or group them into categories such as: A statement of…
user29032
19
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9 answers

How to open a novel?

Looking at the function of the beginning of a novel, it is clear that it should hook the reader and draw him or her into the story. Different techniques for achieving the hook have been described, such as an ironic turn, naming extreme stakes,…
user29032
15
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7 answers

Why is "It was a dark and stormy night.." not a good opening?

Also, why has it spawned an award for bad writing?
theTuxRacer
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13
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7 answers

Should I describe a character deeply before killing it?

So, I have this little story I would like to tell. It's about a girl and how she's forced to take a journey with the man who has just killed her father. I'll skip the details. The point is I'm not interested in the figure of her father; for what I…
Andrea Panda Zen
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13
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2 answers

How to avoid introduction cliches

I'm writing a research paper in one of my math classes about the P vs NP problem. I feel the introduction to my paper sounds like a cliche. This is my intro: In the field of mathematics, there are problems that present an exceptional level of…
Mettal
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12
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5 answers

How do you drop a reader in the middle of nowhere at the beginning of a story?

My story begins with a little girl waking up in a creepy and probably very haunted house in the middle of nowhere. She has no memories of how she got there, what happened or what the place even is, but she does remember who she is. The main goal of…
user23083
11
votes
8 answers

How to think of a good beginning?

I've been thinking about my story for a while now and the problem I've run into is that I'm not sure how to start it. It isn't that I can't think of how to start it, I actually have a million ideas about how to do that, the problem is that I can't…
Allan Smithy
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11
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4 answers

How do you deal with Chapter 2 when Chapter 1 is a volcano opening?

I know the logic behind volcano openings and why they’re problematic (they set the expectation that that level of action and excitement will continue; they’re a hard act to follow; they make a promise you can’t possibly fulfil; etc.) but it is the…
GGx
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9
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9 answers

Do I have to start my story with my main characters?

What I mean is, does my story have to start with my main character being introduced, or can I start with their parents and then ease into the main character after a time skip?
Dreamer Senpai
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9
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6 answers

Building a scene and readability

When building a scene at the beginning of a chapter for instance, before character interactions take place, what are the important elements to consider, and how long should the description be, before getting on with the narration?
Lanet Rino
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9
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8 answers

The problem with beginning

I don't mean "sitting down to write", I mean the literal beginning. The story itself starts with my protagonist running. I need to get him to run, then I'll have the rest of it sorted. But won't starting with "He ran" sound cheap? Should I add…
Irysik
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