Getting straight into your story

White paper with black pen. Text reads: Once upon a time.

Last week I posted on LinkedIn about how writers need to take their story openings very seriously as a Goodreads survey revealed that 15% of readers will put down a book in the first chapter if the story doesn’t grab them (you can read my post here, if you’re interested). I said that writers need to get straight into their stories so that they don’t waste time, and that they need to set up the conflict straight away. I was then asked how writers can achieve this. In other words, what techniques help writers to get straight into their stories from page one?

Writing to discover your story

This is a great question, albeit a complicated one because many writers don’t actually know what their story is about until they start writing it. This means that they need to write those opening chapters in whatever way works best for them. Of course, these chapters are likely to contain a lot of background information about their characters, story world, theme/s and plot as the writer tries to work out what the story is about. So, I don’t think there’s necessarily a shortcut here.

BUT, once the manuscript is finished it’s crucial for writers to go back and assess those opening chapters, asking themselves the following questions:

• Does my opening chapter quickly introduce my main character, their goal/s and motivation?

• Does my opening chapter introduce the conflict? In other words, is there something in the way of my main character achieving their goals? If not, then you just have a series of events.

• How does this scene/chapter progress the story?

If the chapter/scene doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, it needs to be cut, or revised so that it does move the story forward. As I mentioned earlier, many of these opening scenes are written for the writer not their readers. That’s okay as it can take time for a writer to feel their way through a first draft.

If a writer isn’t quite sure of where to make these cuts though, they can always ask critique partners or beta readers what they think of their opening chapters. Alternatively, a good developmental editor can help a writer discern exactly where these cuts should be made and how to revise any remaining material.

(If you’re a writer who just hates the thought of deleting your hard-earned words, then I’d suggest saving them in a separate document/file. They could provide inspiration for future stories, or helpful marketing material once your book is published.)

Examples of stories with strong openings

The Girls on the Shore by Ann Cleeves

In terms of an example of a story with a strong start, I recently listened to an audiobook of a short mystery written by Ann Cleeves called The Girls on the Shore. In it, the main character Detective Inspector Matthew Venn is immediately introduced and we see him spotting two young girls alone on the seashore in freezing cold weather in the middle of a school day. The girls are clearly in trouble, and he wonders what’s happened and how he can help.

In this case his goal is to keep the girls safe, his motivation is his desire to help those who need it, which is shown through his career as a detective, and the conflict is that the girls don't trust him and so won’t tell him what’s happened to them. This means that the story is about his trying to uncover their secrets, which means earning their trust so that he can help them.

Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

Another story with a strong start is Dissolution by C.J. Sansom, the first in his Tudor-era mystery series featuring Matthew Shardlake. The opening scene shows the main character Matthew Shardlake receiving a summons from Lord Cromwell. Shardlake has just finished a simple legal job and is about to settle down in the country for a few days of much needed rest before returning to his legal practice in London. Matthew was once an ardent reformist who supported Cromwell and benefitted from this close connection, but recently he’s become weary of politics and distressed by the fear that Cromwell’s name evokes. In other words, he’d rather not be summoned by Cromwell, but rest in the countryside instead.

In this case, the main character Matthew Shardlake’s goal is to rest and take a break from London and politics. His motivation is to preserve himself and his business, while continuing to live according to his values. The conflict is the summons from Lord Cromwell.

This is obviously a simplification, but hopefully you can see what I mean! As both stories are from different genres (and are different lengths, with one being a novel and the other a short story), they’re set up a little differently. The historical mystery weaves in a little more background information about character and setting than does the contemporary mystery, but they both get straight into the story. The first sentence of the first paragraph on page one of Dissolution contains the line about Shardlake receiving the summons from Cromwell. The following two pages then build up a little more of a picture of who Shardlake is, what he wants and why he’s apprehensive about the summons. The rest of the book is then about Shardlake’s mission from Cromwell.

Take-home points

So, how can a writer ensure their story has a strong start? To recap:

1. Introduce your main character right away.

2. Make it clear what they want (this can change as the story progresses).

3. Show us what motivates them (this helps to reveal who they are as people and will drive the plot forward).

4. Set up the conflict. What/who gets in their way? What obstacles do they need to overcome and why are they important?

I hope you’ve found this helpful. If you’re a writer who’s reading this, I’d love to hear how you start your stories. What is your writing process and how does it change as you redraft?