How to open a work

This thread has probably been made before, but I sure as hell can't find it.

I always have trouble with the first bit. Taking a blank word document and making it non-blank. That's probably why I like RTDs so much, you don't have to open. It's automatically In Medias Res, at a specific point.

How should one go about this? Or is it something everyone should be able to do naturally, and I'm just a terribly poor writer? I guess you should start at the beginning, but then, where do you put the beginning?

For example, on a whim I'm trying to write an adaptation of my Netland games. But I don't know what to do first. I'm thinking of just having one of the characters out doing their daily thing, probably Tehstefan doing trick shots with his .357. But... I dunno. Something feels weird, like I'm starting somewhere in the middle. I just can't start in a way that feels right. Is it just a case of bad gut instincts, that a story should or at least can be homogenous, or is there a specific way one should open a story?

edited 13th Jun '11 12:00:09 AM by Schilcote

There's no one way to start a story. It's one of the hardest and most important parts of writing.

First of all, how much exposition you need to deliver makes a huge difference on how you can open a work. The more exposition/deviation from the real world it is, the more confusing an non-lineal approach will be. For example, standard romantic comedies can start at the beginning of a relationship or the end of a relationship and flash back ((500) Days of Summer, for example), or anywhere in between, because all you need to set up is the two protagonists, the third wheel, the token non-threatening gay friend, and the situation.

For sci-fi and fantasy, a nonlinear approach is a bit more difficult. Try not to confuse people with some purple-prose laden, out of sequence event. In Media Res is a fine approach sometimes even if it is an exposition fest- see Inception's kick ass opening sequence- but it takes some effort.

I'll give you some personal examples. In one of my novels, a space opera story, I opened up with two of the villains meeting for the first time. Both were human, so as not to dump exposition about aliens right up front. The over all setting is only hinted at, with strange details about the surroundings. It's a psychological conflict between the two villains, which sets them both up, with both tension and humor to establish the tone, and it ends with a bit of action. And then I move onto the protagonists and all the hard details and what not. I began another novel with a fictional interview with someone only tangentially related to the events.

That's how I set up speculative fiction universes, with vignettes that establishes the feel of the setting, the tone, and the theme.

Also, try to make the opening lines the most beautifully crafted thing you've ever written. Short, gripping, and tone-setting.

So a setting in which the Earth has been destroyed and replaced with a computer simulation which is designed to resemble all of the surviving works of fiction and internet memes would render such an approach completely out of the question, then? :P

—-

Alright, I have this much:

Is it alright to open with an onomatopoeia? I suppose it is. You know, I've never received one bit of useful information from English class. All we did was sit and be lectured about how horrible the Nazis were and occasionally reading a book. At least Math had us screwing around with numbers.

Ahem.

Now I'm wondering what to do next. I've started the scene, now now do I stop it and go to the next one? Should I- I mean, I think I will do one of these for each character, and then the last one for the God-A.I.s sets up the plot.

edited 13th Jun '11 12:40:14 AM by Schilcote

Well, I was never a fan of opening with an onomatopoeia, simply because they tend to fall flat. Opening up a radio-program ('coming on like Gangbusters!'), a song, or a movie with a gunshot is great. It's shocking, dramatic, and it gets your attention. It's a primal sound of violence and fear. 'BANG!', all written out, just doesn't get that effect. Onomatopoeias work best as punctuation for a scene. Two armed men in a tense show down, with the threat of violence hanging over everything and then - BANG! Then it's effective.

For a world that is a simulation, unless it's the big reveal, you might want to lay that detail down early. Not the architecture of all, or the reason behind it, just the fact that things are simulated.

So things aren't real. How does your main character feel about that, and how does it affect his lifestyle?

"Tehstefan didn't miss reality. He didn't miss the night, or the cold, or pains of getting old, and he sure as hell wasn't going to miss his target."

Something like that gives you the character, his feelings on the setting, what the central conceit of the universe is, and hints at what he does as he is doing it.

Hmm. Maybe I'm better at writing movies than books. I do tend to think of things visually while I'm writing.

The thing is, he hasn't actually seen "reality" as we know it. Only real history buffs would even know there ever was anything outside the simulation. It's kind of difficult to show the reader that an imitation of something else is what it is when no character knows it.

The "endless plane of grass" was supposed to be a clue. That's what undeveloped areas look like, incredibly large flat planes of trimmed grass.

EDIT:

With the sheer quantity of basic setting exposition required for this story, would it be acceptable to just have a big ol' infodump by the narrator four paragraphs in?

edited 13th Jun '11 8:41:14 AM by Schilcote

You read books, right?

Read some books from the same genre of yours, with different openings. You don't even need to finish them, just read the first chapter to see what example they set. Figure out which one you think would work best, and copy that format.

IMO, blocked exposition is a no-no. It should be done smoothly.

Related question: Would it be sensible to start a Timey-Wimey Ball-heavy work at the end rather than the beginning?

edited 13th Jun '11 10:32:55 AM by Yej

I'm not sure what you mean by sensible, but it sounds like a valid stylistic choice to me. I'm certain it's been done, though.

So... this here is bad:

?

edited 13th Jun '11 10:59:44 AM by Schilcote

The last two paragraphs read as if they are summaries of a story, not the actual text.

edited 13th Jun '11 11:19:03 AM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers

Or like a Star Wars opening scroll.

Well, they serve the same purpose. Fill the reader in on the basics fast before starting the real story. It's ugly, I know, but I can't think of a better way to do it, at least yet. I tried to soften the impact by "dropping the bomb", so to speak, with the mention of reality hacking. You know, get the reader to want to know what I'm talking about.

Uhh, well... I'm kind of just introducing the characters real quick, same as with the setting. I mean, isn't the first phase of the story called exposition? :P

The second and third paragraphs actually are a summary of a work, the prequel called Hell Desk. It's all spelled out on the (hideously outdated) work entry.

edited 13th Jun '11 11:20:09 AM by Schilcote

What (s)he said. Also, Fridge Logic rub: Why's Nex there when you have psuedo-infinite space and resources?

edited 13th Jun '11 11:15:40 AM by Yej

What I mean is, I think it potentially works as the start to a movie, or something deliberately cinematic. For a novel, almost certainly a bit much exposition too soon.

edited 13th Jun '11 11:17:01 AM by BobbyG

(Gah, this was supposed to be in the previous post, but now that won't make sense.)

@Bobby, I've never seen a work do a beginning-from-the-end before. Can you remember any titles?

edited 13th Jun '11 11:17:12 AM by Yej

Well, space is infinite, but resources aren't. That, and people still get old. The God-A.I.s are more of a safety measure, the simulation handles itself most of the time. Ordo is the only one who actually does anything regularly (he's the god-AI of physics and such).

Hmm... so how should I do it then?

edited 13th Jun '11 11:24:23 AM by Schilcote

^^ Well, Memento, famously. But where time travel is concerned, all that spring to mind are a couple of Doctor Who stories, "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday" (which starts at the end then flashes back to the beginning and tells the rest of the story in regular chronological order) and "Blink" (which starts in the present day, but all the main action happens in 1969, mostly offscreen).

^ Ease the reader in a bit more gently. Show, don't tell, where possible. The reader should be able to piece together that backstory stuff over time.

edited 13th Jun '11 11:28:29 AM by BobbyG

It would be a good opportunity to show what reality hacking is by having Tom do it, with bits of exposition in between.

Right. Some of the details about events that occurred thousands of years ago could be saved for later.

edited 13th Jun '11 11:30:35 AM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers

^^^^^ Memento? A Detective Story (from Animatrix)? (Ninja'd) Also, I agree with Bobby in easing the reader in gently into the world. Let the reader piece together the world's mechanics as she goes along. It's more immersive that way.

edited 13th Jun '11 11:30:52 AM by QQQQQ

I meant the Christopher Nolan movie. Never seen the Animatrix, sorry.

Oh, those were two different things. Comprehension fail, whoops.

edited 13th Jun '11 11:29:47 AM by BobbyG

Re: Opening exposition.

It really depends on the genre. Audiences of Fantasy (especially High Fantasy) and Sci-Fi can accept larger amounts of exposition earlier on usually since it's necessary to both establish the setting and provide a foundation on what to start expecting from then on out.

Problem is, is doing it well. Even the Fantasy and Sci-Fi genres rarely have the Info Dump work well so you have to streamline it into a good moment or over several pieces. At the same time you don't want to establish your setting and foundation by providing exposition far too late. (Otherwise Earth Drift seems to wander into folks' minds.) My personal taste is to start giving tidbits of exposition within about 5 chapters of the opening line.

One thing I do is to exposit by describing rather than telling. So, for the opening of my Vampire Detective story, rather than saying that Moonbeam was a vampire, I described her waking up at sunset and drinking some stored blood from her fridge. Then I introduced her being a detective by having her check her answering machine and her partner says they have a new case.

On the topic of starting from the end, Fight Club does a nice job of it.

I've heard lots of conflicting arguments about how to start a work. The best advice I can give is to try a bunch of different things and see what works best. Nothing's set in stone until a story is published, after all.