The flashing cursor or blank page can be daunting to a writer beginning a story. Good beginnings are important, but worrying about how to begin a story can bring on a case of writer's block. So, who said the writer needed to start at the beginning? Just start writing.
Write the Middle First
Most students learn the five-paragraph form for writing essays: introduction, three body paragraphs, and conclusion. Most also try to write the essay in that order. However, it is usually better to begin by writing the three body paragraphs, and then to write the introduction and conclusion. Once the body paragraphs are written, the essayist knows what the essay says and can therefore better introduce it.
In the same way, fiction writers shouldn’t worry about writing the beginning when working on the first draft of the story. Simply start writing the idea that has popped into being. Later, once the first draft (or second or third draft) is complete, the writer can go back to craft a captivating beginning.
When asked to give advice to writers, Randy Alcorn, author of the novels Deception, Deadline, Dominion and many nonfiction works, said, “I learned long ago that I should never wait for inspiration or a good beginning. I just jump right in. I'll either cut it out or clean it up later. Years ago I heard someone say ‘Never edit at the point of conception.’ The best writing comes in revision, not creation—but you must have something to revise. I think a lot of writer's block happens when people wait for the right words. I just write. Later, I labor over the right words, and there's no block because I'm already looking at something on the screen.”
Try Freefall Writing
Freefall writing involves taking a pen and paper or sitting down at a computer and just writing—without stopping, without editing, without revising—on whatever topic is given or chosen. The goal is to keep the pen moving. A writer who has a vague story idea in their head, yet no place to start, may want to try this to see where the idea goes. Is the idea a character? A setting? Start freefall, describing that person or place, until it becomes more real and a story begins to develop.
Later, as Randy says, the writer can take the material from the freefall and edit it to fit the story. Sometimes none of what is written will be used—it simply becomes background material to the story. Don’t consider it wasted time, however. If it generated ideas and got the writer writing, it served its purpose.
A writer is someone who writes. So don't wait for the perfect beginning; as Randy says, “just jump right in” to that idea and see where it goes.
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