How to begin a story

[classicdrogn]

I like to kick things off with a bang - jump right into an action sequence, argument, or just a turn of phrase that made you grin and cackle and rub your hands in grinchly glee when you thought of it, to hook the reader, then use a transition that shows it to have been a flashback or flash-forward to where you need to start explaining the plot. That way, you have a bit of... narrative credit, let's call it... to spend on the set-up to really go into things in a way that makes sense. It doesn't have to be combat, either - a car chase, an adrenaline junkie riding the ragged edge of skill for a stunt, or even a well-turned description of a character taking a moment to enjoy the landscape around them will do as well, the latter having the benefit of creating a clear setting for anything the character might subsequently do to get your plot moving.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
For the next 72 hours, Itachi intoned, I will slap you with this trout. - Spying no Jutsu, chapter 3
"In the futuristic taco bell of the year 20XX, justice wears an aluminum sombrero!"hemlock-martini
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"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows