Kids Corner: How to start a story

Creative writing can be difficult, and the most difficult part is the start. We can’t start with “Once upon a time” anymore. Starting with a famous quote was cool before you were born, but now it’s a bit old. Let’s have a look at some good things to keep in mind for when you want to start a story.

The most important thing to do when starting a story is to get your reader interested. A good way to do this is to put in just enough information to make your reader ask questions. Here is an example:

“Alice looked at the old wooden door of her home and sighed. She knew she would never see it again” I have so many questions!  - Who is Alice, why is she leaving her home? Why is she sad? Why won’t see ever come home again.

You can break the questions you want your audience to be thinking about into four main areas. Questions about characters, questions about place, questions about what happens next, and questions about what happened before.

Our example with Alice is a question about a character, who is she? Where is she going? What is happening to her?

Here is an example for questions about place:

“The camels walked slowly to the sandy ridge, urged on by their masters. Unthinkingly they urged their tired legs on and on as they always did. Nothing could prepare the party for what lay over the horizon. There were no words to describe the unearthly landscape spread out before them”. - Where is this? Is this on earth? What is so strange about this landscape? Do people live there? Why are they traveling there? 

Questions about what happens next:

“Arthur gripped the steering wheel as tightly as he could, and desperately kicked at the pedals. The handbrake was already engaged, but nothing was slowing his advance toward the lake” – What will happen next? Will Arthur drive into the lake? Will he escape? Will be ok? Will he find a way to stop the car?

Questions about what happened before:

“So it had come to this. All their ideals, their plans and hard work had led them here. Years of hope, adventure, battle and comradery, and there was only one choice left. All the lives of his tribe depended on it. Would he accept their offer?” – What happened to get them to this point? What were they fighting against? What offer? What had they planned to do? Did their plans work out or not?

So when you need to start your next story, think about what questions you want your audience to ask. Do you want them to think about your character? The world? The past? Or the future? This could be the little start you need.