How to Start (And Not Start) Your Novel

So you've got the perfect idea for a good story and you can't wait to get started. It's just itching to get out of you.

When you finally have time to sit down and work on it, though, you have to be careful how you start it. If it doesn't have a good beginning, readers won't be interested enough to read further, even if the rest of it is amazing.

The beginning of your story is supposed to tell the reader how good the rest of it is. It's like you're saying to the reader "Hey, this is how good the story is. This is why you should read it." The beginning has to be as good as the rest of it, if not better. It is, after all, what makes your reader want to finish the story.

Your beginning has to hook the reader and pull them in enough to make them keep turning the pages, and that isn't an easy task.  There is no one way to start your novel that always works, but there are several different types of beginnings that tend to grab a reader's interest.

Do use humor. Humor is an excellent way to begin just about anything: a speech, a conversation with someone you just met, a novel. This is because people are almost immediately put at ease with a little bit of humor. It is also beneficial, for you, as the writer, because if you start off with something witty, your reader opens up your book and the first thing they see is something clever, then they are likely to continue reading. People like to laugh, and if you can get them to early on, then you are very likely to catch a devoted reader. Humor is also effective in a different way. If your reader is captivated by the humor, then in the very first line, they have a reaction to your story and they are subconsciously pushed to read on. But you have to be careful with humor. Don't just open with a joke, unless it works with your story. Don't just be funny, the humor has to tie in to your story somehow or you'll lose the reader a couple of paragraphs in. It has to introduce your story.

For example, think of the opening line in The Voyage of The Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis: "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." This opening line is witty and introduces us to the main character. In one sentence, we have been given a good amount of information. By C.S. Lewis' use of the word "boy" we know Eustace is a kid and not nearing adulthood. We know that he pretty much an unpleasant person to hang out around with. He's probably bratty or something of a bully.

Your humorous opening can't just be humorous. It has to give information about your story or you will quickly lose your reader's interest.

Don't begin with description. Of anything. Not the landscape, not the weather, not the protagonist. The first thing the reader wants to know when they open up a book is the answer to "Why do I care?" and it's a question you have to answer right away. If the first thing the reader sees is a description of a sunrise or the Smith family at dinner, they're not going to read much farther. When a reader opens a book for the first time, they don't want to know what the protagonist looks like, they want to care about the protagonist and feel involved right away. Telling them the character's hair color doesn't provide much of a connection.

Do have something significant going on. There has to be something happening when your story starts, otherwise, why are you including the scene? Your characters need to be doing something or in the middle of something that will get your reader involved in the action right away. Opening with you protagonist waking up in the morning and getting ready for school isn't significant, even if your story is about a kid in high school. Opening with a police interrogation is significant.

Don't begin with a backstory. Starting with a history is saying to the reader, "Wait a minute. Before the story starts, here's something you need to know." And that won't do. The book is open, your story should already be started. If your reader needs to know backstory, there's ways to work into your story without taking a time out. And the reader is more likely to be interested in the backstory if they are previously engaged in the story and care about your character.

Do use suspense. It's never too early for suspense. If you have your readers on the edge of their seats at the beginning, that's a good sign. If your opening scene is suspenseful, they may not have a connection with the protagonist right away, but they certainly are involved in the story. Be careful, though. You don't want to throw too much at them at once. Don't be all suspense because you still have a story to tell and you need to introduce your story to the reader.

Don't start with a dream. A dream is teasing the reader. You have something interesting going on and then, when your character wakes up, it's like saying, "Just kidding! None of that happened. Here's the real story." As a reader, it's aggravating. We don't want to be pulled into a story to find out it's not the story at all.

Do have some kind of introduction or reference to important secondary characters. No, they don't all have to be present at the beginning, or even mentioned in the first chapter, but you need to introduce all important characters early on. If your story is already going on and your reader is used to the flow and has already become familiar with your protagonist and then in chapter five, you introduce a significant secondary character that should already have been at least mentioned, it's going to throw your reader off balance.

Don't start off by telling your readers that your work of fiction is a true story. It's a waste of time because no matter how many times you say everything really happened, we know it didn't and the more you try to convince us, the more annoyed we will become. The Percy Jackson series starts off this way, and though they are fine books, the beginning does tend to annoy me somewhat. Just know that your reader knows it's fiction and you don't want to spend time telling them it's real. It can get in the way of your story.

These beginnings, are, of course, not your only options. There are several different theories out there about ways stories should begin and if you're still unsure after reading this, keep looking around. You don't want to start your story when you're still not sure how you should start it.

Keep in mind that the beginning is one of the most important parts of your books and, consequently, one of the hardest to write. You have to hook your reader (without being too crazy) and at the same time, give them enough information to understand what's going on right away. Don't spend time writing about a situation while keeping your reader in suspense of what, exactly, the situation is. They need to understand right away. Beginning a book is tough job.

Remember the words of Richard Peck: "You're only as good as your opening line." If your opening doesn't make the reader want to read more, they're not going to read more. The beginning is the only chance you have to hook your reader's interest. If the opening isn't good, they'll assume the rest of it isn't any good, either.

Don't be discouraged if you're having trouble coming up with a good beginning. It takes time to find the perfect opening for your story. We all struggle with this part of writing because the beginning is only a few lines long, but they have to say a lot. But the better you understand what the reader is looking for in those first few sentences and the job your opening has to do, the better your beginning will be.