'7 Minutes a Day...' to Writing Success!

A vital part of your story is the opening lines, also known as the inciting incident. In this section of your story, we learn who the main character is, the central problem facing him, and a little about the setting.

For example, in the sample story “All or Nothing,” the opening section reveals that Nevar (the main character) is about to enter a race, which she has doubts about winning (the central problem), while near a black hole (setting).

If the inciting incident fails to be interesting, the audience almost certainly will stop reading or watching. Some writers pay so much attention to this section of the story that it’s far more interesting than the rest of the story – yet despite diminishing returns, readers or television viewers keep on with the tale just because the opening was so gripping.

When writing the opening of your story, follow these guidelines:

n Start the story in media res, or “in the middle” – “All or Nothing” doesn’t start with Nevar’s father dying in the last race. That would delay us from being the main character and result in less dramatic tension. Dispensing with the story’s background and starting “in the middle” has been a time-honored way of telling stories since Homer’s “The Iliad.”

n Introduce a crisis that affects the main character – This jolt sets the story in motion. For readers, finding out how this problem will be resolved is the reason to keep turning pages. In “All or Nothing,” we learn that Nevar fears dying, which is very much a possibility in the race, especially given that her father was a great pilot.

Drawing on the list made for the inciting incident portion of your plot in Step 10, write the opening of your story. Add details that describe the main character’s appearance and the setting and that show what the character is doing. Keep the opening to about 120-250 words. Don’t worry if you have a snazzy opening line; we’ll come to that in another step.

Buy This Book