How do you know where to start?

[hopewrites]

I'm very much a character driven writer, and I think this might be part of my problem.
Where does one begin telling a story about a character? How much back-story is too much?
When everything that happens to a character is pivotal and formative, how much of that can be left to speculation or evidenced in action and reaction without being explained?

So often I get started in the middle with an idea of where things are going, but when I try and back up to the beginning, there just doesnt seem to be one. I'm all for starting at "the beginning" but I cant always find it.

anyone else have this trouble? and how do you deal with it?

 

[Mouse]

I'm a character writer. People interest me more than plots. I tell stories about people. I'm handling the back story of my guys at the mo by doing flashbacks, but they're not 'personality' flashbacks, they're ones that although they tell more about the character, they also have something (very important) to do with the current plot.

So, I dunno. Find your characters and then work out what their story is. As for where to start... can't help you there. Are you sure that your 'middle' isn't really a beginning?

 

[The Judge]

Don't start at the beginning, because there's always something that came before. Start where things are just about to happen or just have happened. Even in a character-driven plot, there has to be movement and action, there has to be something which precipitates that action, so look for that.

So if people are going on a normal journey which will take several days, don't start at the house where they are sorting their packs, start when they are set upon by the bandits which is when their magic powers come into play, or one of them falls into a ravine and finds the elf kingdom, or they finally arrive at the city in order to see the king whom they have come to petition.

On the other hand, if the journey isn't a normal one for them, but they are being torn from their homes by soldiers, or a hurricane is coming, then you could start with them desperately grabbing their belongings and rushing outside.

Once you've started, don't try and make chapter one into chapter five by adding what came before. Instead, weave backstory in by way of dialogue and flashback and small amounts of exposition as necessary, as the plot continues, being careful not to infodump. That's the same for character revelation/story as it is for the history of the place and past events.

 

[allmywires]

Nine times out of ten books start with a major change in your protagonist(s)'s lives. I start my novels on that cusp of change. I like characters, but I'm also obsessive over getting the plot right, so I have to have my end planned as I'm writing the beginning. Perhaps the reason your stories have no beginning is that they're too much of a character study? Meandering novels can work, but you have to be in some ways even more disciplined with them so they don't get out of hand.

edit: damn, TJ beat me.

 

[Mouse]

Listen to TJ and amw. They speak more sense than me.

 

[Hex]

I think part of the issue for me is that it's difficult to work the information in after the exciting beginning. That struggle can make me worry something's wrong. I don't think it is, though, it's just one of the harder bits of writing.

 

[Grinnel]

The beginning of a story is a very tricky and personal thing. You have to be both informative and entertaining.

Though an exciting way to start is during a crisis, sometimes you want the audience to know your character a bit first. Perhaps in the morning your character and all in his/her village are very excited about a royal visit scheduled to come through their village on the way to visit the nearby duke.

You can fill in some local colour and atmosphere as all is getting cleaned and ready as long as you can make it entertaining. Our MC has some minor but interesting conflicts over his/her lifestyle with a parent

At the height of the excitement the royal carridge and guards are just coming into view when mysterious horsemen rush through the village from the other direction and a battle ensues. Chapter 2 begins the main plot.

Also remember this: just because you know it doesn't mean your audience has to. You might know have a huge expansive background for the characters, the village, and the entire history of the kingdom. Unless it's relevant, you audience will never know (or care) that they missed some of it. (NOTE: You can always put that on your web site as interesting background for rabid fans to read.)

 

[Glitch]

The start of a characters story isn't necessarily the start of the story you are trying to tell.

Do we need to see the character in their normal life before all hell breaks loose, so to speak?

The beauty of books over film is that you can take as long as you need to introduce the characters to the story. However you do have to keep your readers attention while doing so.

I think TJ hit the nail right on with her comment.

if people are going on a normal journey which will take several days, don't start at the house where they are sorting their packs, start when they are set upon by the bandits which is when their magic powers come into play, or one of them falls into a ravine and finds the elf kingdom, or they finally arrive at the city in order to see the king whom they have come to petition.


On the other hand, if the journey isn't a normal one for them, but they are being torn from their homes by soldiers, or a hurricane is coming, then you could start with them desperately grabbing their belongings and rushing outside.

 

[hopewrites]

excellent advice all around, thanks for reassuring me that i'm not alone in this and that it's solvable

Are you sure that your 'middle' isn't really a beginning?

amazingly, Mouse, this never occurred to me, so No (lol) i'm not sure the middle isnt the beginning. thank you.

 

[JWREmmett]

The start is a calm before the storm.

 

[kglazer]

Dear Hopewrites: I am very, very new on this forum, and I have no idea what I am doing, but I am just curious. You say you are a character-driven writer. Does that mean you focus on the human characters only? Or other "human-like" characters? I ask because I think a setting could be a character, couldn't it? If you could expand how your character reacts to his or her surroundings, you could show his or her deeper "characters." That could lay the foundation on how he or she will react to future issues or conflicts, couldn't it? Furthermore, even if you are starting in the middle, I think as Allmywire said, you might want be a bit clear on how you want the story to end. That might give you the flexibility with a structure and framework to use other literary devices such as flashback and foreshadowing. Finally, you could always think about playing with who is telling the story. Who is the narrator? Is there something special about the storyteller that the readers can identify with? I always felt that Sherlock Holmes couldn't possibly be that mysterious and brilliant without Dr. Watson's sensibility. Again, I am not very familiar with this forum since I just joined it a few days ago. But I thought I'd give it a shot. Good luck!

 

[DrMclony]

What TheJudge said - there is always something beforehand, so start where it is getting interesting. As for learning more about the character, let their friends and enemies show it to you.

You can learn a lot about a person by how they interact with others, and what those others remember of them.

I have a short story submitted to a magazine recently where the setting is a character. It never speaks, it is just inhabited by the other characters, but it is certainly a personality in the story.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

I usually decide what the beginning needs to say. Then what characters I need to say it and where they need to be. What does the setting look like, where are the characters in the setting and how are they interacting with it.

To be honest I never think about where in the story it is - just does it grab the reader and I pretty much handle every chapter in the same way. That way the backstory comes in when it is needed.

 

[Kissmequick]

When I start writing a story, I don't know where to start (I'm not a planner)

I just write, and later on the start becomes apparent. Sometimes I'll have got it right. Sometimes I'll have started too late and have to add an extra chapter or so before. Or that one time when I ended up writing a novel from the middle outwards. A friend of mine knows that he'll start writing a novel and will have to ditch the first 3 chapters when he gets to the end, but those chapters help him get into the characters/story.

If it's the first draft, don't worry about it. Just write. It will become clear in time.

As for how much backstory is too much? When you start telling the reader stuff they don;' need to know to understand the story right now. I certainly wouldn't start with it - let it drip out as the story requires it.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I really struggled with this with my first book, Hope, and it was because I knew too much of the world, and couldn't see where the central focus lay. Once I pulled away from that level of detail, and started the second, it was easier. So maybe, if it's a case of not seeing the woods for the trees, pull back a wee bit and think about what story you want to tell? Or in my case, whose?

Or ask someone: I started it at the bit Hex advised me to about six months previously.

 

[billhafan]

Probably the way my brain is wired, that I write lists to make sure I don't miss things; from shopping to a story ... Don't know if that's good or bad, but it's me.

With a more Character driven story, I still need to set out the storyline behind, or even independent of the character/characters. To me, the character is living within the story, so I can expand on the character and his or hers personal world, once the main background is there as a plot or outline. Without this, I think my characters would meander too much. I have a WIP that presented me with this exact dilemma, and until I put it on the back-burner and reassessed the plot and world that the character was living in, reacting to, and growing in, it was looking like nothing more than an interesting man's (to me) biography. I guess that would work in some cases, but then you still need a background coloured in (or plot) before you can paint in the details in a biography. I don't think people would bother reading about Joe or Jane, unless they had had, or have, an interesting interaction with the world we live in, or imagine?

So as TJ says, "... weave backstory in by way of dialogue and flashback and small amounts of exposition as necessary, as the plot continues, being careful not to infodump. That's the same for character revelation/story as it is for the history of the place and past events."

That's what I try to do, anyway.

 

[Montero]

When contemplating the how-to-s and so on, I sometimes analyse a book that I've really enjoyed reading.

In this case I'd suggest The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold.

It starts with a bang, because of the particular event. The main character is a trusted senior retainer, who is the Mr Fix-It of a very senior noble, who is basically the King's Mr Fix-It. He has been sent to investigate the death of a Prince in rather odd circumstances. Then things get really complicated.

A lot of the back story of the main characters and the country is very important to the story going forward. The telling of it actually heightens the drama. So I'd suggest reading that book, then looking at the key points where the back story is told and how it is done.

Then try and work out how it applies to your story.

Not easy, but I find it gives perspective.

 

[SciFrac]

Try starting at a point that you think is too far along, a point where you'd expect the average reader would get lost. You might surprise yourself. People can probably slip into a story easier than we anticipate. If you absolutely need more info, then back up a few paragraphs or a page. I prefer to err on the side of 'too fast' than 'too slow.'

 

[James Coote]

Starts are one of the things I find easiest in writing.

Essentially, at the end of the start, there should be an array of possibilities, a wide open vista of things that could happen. Your hero has just gained super powers, discovers a magical portal, uncovers a conspiracy etc. Shock! Think of the possibilities!

As for precisely where to start, you give one of the above "what if" scenarios some context by introducing the character(s) and world, then have the character discover the what if (either suddenly or over time, but with a thick coating of tension)

The problem with this approach however, (and probably the reason I struggle to get past the start when writing) is that you immediately have to start pruning those different paths that the story could go down, because ultimately, you have to pick a single end path.

Some stories set the reader on a single path early, and then proceed to take them round the rollercoaster track with blind turns and unexpected loops. Others leave it till near the end for a 'big reveal'.

The film 10 canoes has a good twist on this:

*Spoiler:
When the protagonist's brother's wife disappears, they show three different scenarios of what might have happened to her. They quickly dismiss the raid from the neighbouring tribe, and chase other, seemingly more likely options, but in fact, it is revealed right near the end that she was indeed kidnapped by the neighbouring tribe
Spoiler*

 

[MstrTal]

I find I am a very visual person so just go with me here as I am going to meander a bit. . .

I had a problem recently with this very issue so I just started to write out whatever scene I felt like writing without worrying about beginning or end. I just wanted to get my story out. After I had gotten big chunks of my story out I set about ordering them. I have found that Word has a template for this. (Timeline)

With a timeline template I can place place my scenes and thoughts in order chronologically. This has helped me to rework beginning and ending points. Mostly because it gives me a visual reference.

Someone else mentioned branching scenarios. Believe it or not I have adapted Family Tree templates and software for this purpose. I have also found that they help me keep branching POV chapters and storylines straight and from becoming confused.