One of the most important (and intimidating) decisions you’ll make as a writer is how to open your story. That opening moment sets the tone, establishes the world, and signals to your reader what kind of story they’re stepping into.
There’s no single right way to begin your story. The key is making a choice that’s aligned with the story you’re telling and the emotional experience you want your reader to have.
So in this episode, I’m going to walk you through 3 powerful ways to open your story with examples to show how each one works.
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Episode at a glance:
[01:57] Open With Dialogue
Starting your story with characters already speaking can drop us straight into tension, conflict, or intrigue. If you open with dialogue, it’s important to quickly build context quickly.
[07:50] The Retrospective Opening
A retrospective narrator has already lived the events and is telling it with the benefit of hindsight. This controls the narrative tension through foreknowledge and foreshadowing. What makes this kind of opening so powerful isn’t just what the narrator is recounting, but how this narrator’s memory, hindsight, and emotional distance shape the telling.
[11:56] Start At The End
Starting at or near the story’s end throws the reader into a high-stakes moment right away. It sparks curiosity: How did we get here? That question becomes the narrative question driving the reader forward. We’re dropped into the fallout of something big, and that urgency gives the story a compelling narrative thrust from the very first page.
Links Mentioned In This Episode
Episode 127: Say Less, Mean More: The Secret To Writing Great Dialogue
5 Dialogue Exercises To Help You Master Dialogue
Episode 224: Then Vs. Now: The Key To Writing A Strong Retrospective Voice
Home Before Dark by RileySager
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Paradise by Toni Morrison
One True Thing by Anna Quindlen
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