Starting point

One interesting question when it comes to writing that I don't think a lot of people don't really think about is how to start. Not like how to start writing in general, but how to start each piece. What's the first line of your story? How is your world introduced? Maybe it seems like a simple question, but there are so many ways to go about it, and what works for one story may not work for another, even when written by the same author. After all, when the essence and soul of your story is not the same as it is in another, why should your intro be?

I find that I take my approaches to the beginnings of my short stories and long stories quite differently. In shorter stories, I being almost immediately before or leading up to the action. A fight, a confrontation, a conversation. The story begins only a few moments before it, giving just enough context as to why it's happening and who is involved. And admittedly part of that is because I'm on a budget with my words.

But when I write a long story, I start in the middle of the action. A brief moment's pause in the action, whether it be because the opponent's have been knocked apart, or because they have each other locked in place. Something shocking in conversation has already occurred, and the main character is already reeling back from it. Or they're even in the middle of a task that they do everyday of their life when something comes along. There is no before time. There is only immediately what is happening. No time to learn in advance - only as things happen.

I can't entirely explain why it is that I do that. I've tried to write intros for books that are more slow paced and informative, and I just don't like the way it comes out. Maybe it's just because I end up retreading all of the ground as the characters themselves experience it. Maybe it's because I feel like I'm changing the way that I tell the story when I do it that way.

I think the big thing, though, is that I want my characters to learn as the story goes on, and I want the reader to be taken along on that journey. After all, what's the point of having the characters having revelations and learning about the world around them if it's things that the reader already knows and is intimately familiar with?

And that's not to say that all slow beginnings have to be deeply informative. They absolutely do not. However, when I try to do it, that's the way they end up for me. I guess I just don't really understand how to tell a story slowly. It's not something that really meshes with the ay that I think.

Which I suppose means I should work on that here in the blog. I'll have to give that some thought.