Five Ways NOT to Start a Story

Erica here. It's a smart writer who doesn't waste effort. Yesterday, I was the presenter/speaker at the ACFW MN NICE chapter in the Twin Cities, and I thought I would use a bit of what I taught there for this blog post. :) 

From Wild0ne via Pixabay

I spoke on Five Pages to Impress: How to Start a Story Strong. One portion of the presentation was a 'what not to do' section, based upon what I see so often when judging contest entries.

1. Please do not start with a prologue. I know. Writers love a prologue, but 97.5% of the time, they are completely unnecessary. They mess with the timeline, obscure just who the protagonist is, and often they steal the writer's thunder, revealing something they should be saving until later to totally blow their readers' minds. If you think your story opening isn't strong enough without your smash-bang, action-packed prologue...you're right! So change your opening chapter!

2. Do not start with a dream. Please. Just. Don't. Dreams are overdone. It's promising the reader the story will be about one thing, and then pulling a bait and switch on them when it turns out the POV character was just dreaming. (Bobby Ewing, anyone?) Dream sequences delay the start of the real story, and are not based in the reality of the real tale. 

3. Do not start with someone arriving somewhere. Please. It's the ultimate cliché. Heroine steps off the train onto the dusty platform in Dodge City. Heroine drives her Prius up to her grandmother's house, that she's soon going to sell to a developer once she cleans it out, but she's convinced by the hunky, flannel-clad neighbor next door to stay in town and convert it to a B&B and marry him in the process. Arrivals often slow the story to a crawl as the protagonist reflects on all that brought him/her to this point. 

4. Do not start your story with a Back Story Dump. Back story dumps tell the reader a lot of stuff they don't need to know at this point. But, how can I make the reader care if they don't know the character right away? Listen closely. I'm serious, lean in, because I'm about to drop a pearl of wisdom here that, if you follow it, will put your contest entry/agent submission/opening chapter FAR above many that I see. It is not your job to make the reader care about your character right away. It is your job to make your reader CURIOUS about your character right away. 

Do you get that? If a reader is curious about a character, they will keep reading. They will come to care for the character because they cannot wait to know what happens. 

Back Story Dumps slooooooow the story to an absolute crawl. It's like reading someone's resume. It's telling me through a mini bio about the character. Back story does not reveal as much about the character as you think. Knowing About someone isn't Knowing them. Treat your story opening not like the introduction of a new board member, but as making a new friend. You don't walk up to someone you've never met and say, "Hey, I'm a single-mother from Tennessee who was abandoned by her father when she was three, got pregnant when she was fifteen, and joined the army at eighteen." Stuff like that needs to come out slowly. 

Character isn't revealed through reciting a story's past. It's revealed through Dialogue, Action, and Subtext. What the character says, what they do, and what they think but don't say.

5. Do not start with a bunch of Happy People in Happy Land. It's boring. If you have no conflict, you have no story. "But what about establishing the normal world for my character?" you ask. Oh, by all means, do that. But give them something to want right away, or some obstacle, even if it is minor, to overcome. Put your heroine up a ladder in a dark storeroom trying to replace the lightbulb, but afraid of heights of any kind. The reader will learn a few things about the heroine without you even having to tell them. She's afraid of heights. She is determined even when she's scared. Through her mutterings or thoughts, you can reveal if she's snarky, given to brave self-talk to get through a circumstance, or if she prays when she's scared. It's an everyday occurrence that reveals a lot, and makes the reader wonder right away if she's going to accomplish her task, if she's going to cave to the fear and stop trying, or if she's going to topple off the ladder into the arms of her handsome neighbor.

I judge a lot of contest entries during the year, and these are five of the most common problems I see with story beginnings. I'd be curious to know what other ones you're aware of, or what you've heard is not a good way to start a story.

In other news, the Joy to the World Regency Christmas Novella Collection is now available on Audiobook! How cool is that? My contribution, Wonders of His Love, features a spin-off character from my Serendipity & Secrets series, and a handsome Scottish portrait painter.

You can get your audiobook copy HERE.

Best-selling, award-winning author, Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum. You can connect with her at her website, www.ericavetsch.com where you can learn about her books and sign up for her newsletter, and you can find her online at https://www.facebook.com/groups/inspirationalregencyreaders where she spends way too much time!