Bradley

i have done a whole lot of reaserch and got lots of information for my story but im stuck on 1 thing.

i dont know how to start my story off.... maybe one of you could help me please like some hints or maybe an example

well my story starts in the year 1982 and in new york city and i want to start my story from there but i dont know how...

heres an example (just example is not perfect)

in the year 1982 a baby was born in new york city....... ( i want to make this day seem diffrent because this baby has a gift i want the day to be non normal like a small earthquake happens or maybe a big storm comes or the stars all change and make a shape.... i dont know but i want to make the birth of this chld change the day or night he was born on ig u get me)

please help thanks

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Write the story first befor makeing it into a movie

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DawnMorningStar

The best advice I can give you is to start the story off with a bang. Use a catchy opening sentence that will draw the reader in and get them interested in learning what happens in your story. Be as descriptive as possible, setting the scene. And if you're trying to make it dramatic, use dramatic elements, just as thunder or earthquakes (like you mentioned), etc.

Good luck!

daniela

Is the mother dead or alive? I was thinking that you could have the mother be caught out in a snowstorm. She freezes to death but somehow the child survives. DawnMorningStar has covered pretty much everything else that I would have said. Good luck!

--DM--

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"When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable." - Mark Twain

pharseer

I look at story as something like a ribbon or stream. Parts of it extend from before you pick up the narrative, and parts of it will continue after the story you've told has been finished. That being said, the way I decide where and how to start is to ask myself: what's the most important thing that needs to happen?

That at least, often gives me a place to start. DawnMorningStar is totally right that you need to start off in a way that's going to pull someone in. My favorite starting line for a book is by Barbara Hambly. It goes: "The worst thing about knowing Gary was dead was seeing him at work every day." It immediately sucks you in. I personally prefer to start with dialogue (most of the time) over description, but if well done, description can be just as engaging.

Good luck!

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That which could hunger, could starve. - Octavia Butler

Chris

Your begining can:

- begin with action
- an original and intriguing string of sentences
- something which encapsulates your theme (kind of like a thesis statement)
- dialogue
- setting

As mentioned above, the ultimate goal is to hook in the reader. So make sure to avoid an overload of exposition, vagueness, and anything that'll seem unappealing.

Some examples of good openings:

"Pride and Prejudice" - it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

"The Metamorphosis" - As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

"The Tell Tale Heart" - TRUE! - nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses - not destroyed - not dulled them.

EDIT: Maybe other people can post their favourite openings to novels or short stories? It might be useful and fun.

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"...Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
Fool! said my Muse to me, look in thy heart and write. - Sir Philip Sidney

Talia_Brie

"On June 15th, 1982, the future of world was determined."

BTW the intro sentence to Metamophosis may very well be the best one ever written.

Another good one is "The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." - from Stephen King's first Dark Tower novel-The Gunslinger.

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