Introducing a Story

Have you ever been in the situation where you have a great idea for a story: Your characters feel just right, and you have the most awesome ending already written out, and then your fingers hover over the keys, paralysed by the pressure to write the perfect introduction to this incredible idea of yours?

Here are some tips to tackle that anxiety and write a great introduction!

Avoid exposition at all costs.
Exposition means that you give your reader a rundown of the history of the world or the background of your characters. While it is effective to introduce your readers to the setting in which the story takes place, it is incredibly boring and a bad example of telling rather than showing.

Instead of just dumping all essential background information on your reader, try one of these alternatives:

• Start your story with a question to draw the readers in.
  Make them curious by introducing the plot with a mystery, something your readers want to understand.

A way to do this is to go for something out of the ordinary that makes them ask: “How is this possible? How did it come to this?”

• Begin with a specific scene.

Example:
This can be a fight between your protagonists, subtly introducing them and their standpoints.

• Focus on details that reveal the greater contexts and background of your world.

Example:

In Harry Potter, witches and wizards are completely clueless about Muggle culture  and technology. This is shown in details like Mr Weasley asking Harry about a rubber duck. It is also a great detail of the world, telling a whole lot more about history than just stating that their society is isolated from outer influences. 

• Thorough world building is essential. Think of the implications your greater world building has on the everyday life and your plot.

Example: 

The isolation of the magical society from the Muggle way of life affects all areas of living, from politics seeming slightly backwards, to bigoted people and kids literally living in a school that is an old castle.

• Start with action.
  To hook the reader with your opening, start right where the story gets interesting. You can literally start with a big bang, or metaphorically introduce something grand and life-changing for your characters. This way, the reader will be interested enough to wait for character setup and worldbuilding. After the initial intense opening, introduce your characters and their world, so the reader can put the introduction into context.

• Start your story by building characters.
  Good stories are often character-driven, so a good plot comes with interesting and detailed characters. Your introduction can be used to frame a character by putting them in a certain setting and in relationship to other characters. 

Final Advice:

Revisit the beginning once you reach the end! A lot can change in the writing process, and what you thought the story would turn out in the beginning might no longer be true when you reach the end. Make sure your introduction still fits the story as a whole.