How to Start a Story: 8 Proven Strategies

What’s the best way to start a story?

Should you begin ‘in media res’ – in other words, in the thick of the action? Or should you first describe the setting, so people can visualise where they are? Or perhaps you need an intriguing opening line to pique the reader’s curiosity and draw them deeper into the story.

There’s no one correct answer of course, but in this article, we’ll go through a list of options that you can keep in your writer’s toolbox, to choose from when you are writing the opening to your story.

If you’d like to learn the principles of what should be included in all good story openings, then you should definitely check out this article.

How to Start a Story: 8 Powerful Ways to Open a Story

1. In media res

You may have heard the phrase ‘in media res’, which loosely translates as ‘into the midst of things’.

This is often interpreted to mean ‘in the action’ which means it is sometimes misinterpreted to mean the story must start with adrenaline style excitement and conflict.

Of course, an exciting start isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the problem is that exciting conflict, such as fight scenes, chase scenes or running aren’t as exciting as you might think if they don’t have any context.

For example, you could open your scene with someone getting punched in the face. That’s got action, conflict, drama. However, if the reader doesn’t know who’s getting punched or doing the punching, it’s hard for them to actually care.

What ‘in media res’ really means is to start the story without preamble. To not spend a few chapters setting the scene and explaining the backstories of all the characters, before getting into the meat of the story at hand.

This doesn’t actually mean there has to be violent action from the first paragraph.

You could show the character coming home from work, finding children’s clothes strewn everywhere and jam smeared into the carpet. The character mutters under their breath, but then takes a small box out of their bag and clutches it tightly in their hand as they creep, cautiously towards the kitchen.

There is no ‘action’ happening there, no running or fighting. But nothing has been explained about the character or their life, beyond what you can see happening right now. And plenty about the story is set up, including the character’s home life, conflicts and that they currently have an objective.

2. With something quirky and unexpected

‘It was the day my grandmother exploded.’

– Iain Banks, The Crow Road.

Many writers strive for the killer first line that delights and intrigues the reader, immediately grabbing their attention and making them helpless to do anything except read on.

And of course if you can pull off this trick, it can pay dividends.

But as with cliffhangers, you need to make sure you can deliver something that satisfies the curiosity you have raised in the reader.

For example, in The Crow Road, the character’s grandmother really has exploded, and he explains exactly how that’s possible.

However, if he had used that opening line and then it turned out the grandmother had only exploded metaphorically, or hadn’t exploded at all, then the reader would be left feeling slightly cheated, and reluctant to read on, in case the entire book turns out to be a series of disappointments.

Also, bear in mind that quirky or ‘killer’ first lines aren’t the be all and end all they are sometimes made out to be. There are plenty of books that don’t rely on a first line with that shocking ‘wow’ factor and instead seduce the reader slowly.

3. With a description of a setting

In the past it was common for stories to begin with a few paragraphs describing the location and aspects of the setting to ‘set the scene’ and place the reader, letting them settle into the book’s imaginary world.

However, modern audiences have a reputation for being too impatient to sit through this sort of warming up, and prefer to get straight into the action.

So, if you are going to open your story with a description of a setting, try to ensure it also reflects conflict or builds atmosphere and intrigue.

For example, if you’re describing a park, don’t just talk about the pretty flowers and green grass – find the conflict that’s going on among the people visiting, the animals who live there, or even the history of the park or the land beneath.

If you are describing a house, then make it steeped with memories and sorrow which is simmering under the surface, ready to erupt out and destroy lives.

In other words – if you’re going to open with a description of a setting, bring it to life and give it lots of emotional and intriguing levels.

4. With an argument/conflict

As described above in ‘in media res’, starting with an argument or conflict won’t automatically mean that your readers are gripped and on the edge of their seats.

Starting with conflict is certainly a good starting point for a strong opening, but make sure you find a way to make the reader feel empathy with at least one of the characters in the conflict, and make sure there are stakes that feel important.

For example, if your opening scene is a girl running frantically through the forest, you may have some readers intrigued as to what she’s running from and why.

But if you have the opening scene as the girl running through the forest but you also reveal she’s being chased by a demon of her own making, who will turn her into a demon if it catches her, and she doesn’t want that to happen because if it does she knows it will make her return to her village and kill her entire family… then you’re more likely to have readers hungry to find out more.

5. With a day in the life of your protagonist

Hopefully you already know that it’s a bad idea to start your novel with a boring account of how your character got out of bed, looked at themselves in the mirror, brushed their teeth, ate some breakfast, got the bus to work, snore, snore…

But you can draw readers into the world of your protagonist by introducing the reader to them during one of their minor everyday struggles.

This could be struggling with a chaos of children, or battling an unfair boss, or it could be leading a survival expedition across the desert.

But be sure to explore what the character wants and needs, and what the highs and lows of their ordinary world looks like, in this setting which is familiar to them.

6. With a prologue/flashback

There’s a lot of hate out there for prologues.

I understand where it comes from – because prologues are a particular hideout for bad, lazy writing. But it doesn’t follow that all prologues are bad, lazy writing.

So let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

It is extremely common for psychological thrillers to begin with a prologue. This allows the writer to start with a moment of high tension and drama (such as a murder) and to establish the themes of the novel.

Prologues are usually something that happens before the main action of the story begins, and they are often from a point of view other than the main protagonist. They may happen at a different location or even a different era.

The problem comes when writers try to use prologues to set the scene, and explain a load of backstory that they think the reader needs to understand in order to understand what’s happening in the story.

But in the vast majority of cases, the reader will be fine without this information, and without feeling engaged in the story, will find it boring and intrusive. Which is why they might skip past the prologue to get to the bit ‘where the story starts’.

It might seem impossible, but if that is what you’re using your prologue for, then trust that your reader would rather get to know the protagonist and their struggles before any backstory. During this opening scene, you can drop hints about the relevant history or backstory, and in this way, by the time you do get to that information, instead of wanting to skip it, the reader will be hungry for it.

7. With a history lesson

The same applies to starting with history lessons as to prologues.

Stories that start with history lessons used to be common – think Lord of the Rings style descriptions of the lineage of Elven Kings for the past five decades – but have fallen out of favour these days for the same reason as prologues. That they delay getting into the proper story.

Like with prologues, it is still possible to get away with starting the story with a history lesson such as this, it is even harder than pulling off a good prologue.

To do it, you need to make the history lesson itself so rich, delightful and gripping that it is a joy to read on its own merits, rather than something the reader is forced to trudge through in order to be rewarded with the story eventually starting.

This sort of thing is generally only found in fantasy or historical novels.

8. With an amusing narrator

A few novels start with the force of personality of a charismatic narrator.

Again this can be a tricky one to pull off, because you risk not getting straight into the story, which – you’ve hopefully realised by now – is a cardinal sin.

However, if the narrator really is amusing or engaging enough, and especially if you still manage to get the story started, then this can be an effective and fun way to start.

Sometimes these narrators might even be inanimate objects, such as a sword or a skeleton. They might be a character in the story, or they might be an omniscient godlike figure, who does not live in the story world, but floats somewhere high above it, and can even see the character’s thoughts and futures.

Summary

We hope you’ve found this round up of story openings useful.

Of course there are an infinite number of ways to start a story, and it’s worth remembering that many story openings combine many of the elements above.

Task: Find three of your favourite books and read the first five pages, then answer these questions:

• Does the writer use one of the types of openings described above?
• What do you learn about the main character in the first five pages?
• What do you learn about the setting?
• How much backstory is there? How much scene setting?
• Is there a hook? How much does it grab the reader?

Now look at your own first five pages and see how it compares in terms of action, exposition, character development and hook.

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