It doesn’t get much more basic than that. Everyone has probably started a story like that, George Lucas includced. Star Wars, as groundbreaking as it was, adhered to basic, tried-and-true storytelling techniques. And there’s a good reason why. That one little sentence packs a huge punch. You get your Who, What, Where, and When. All that’s missing is your Why. It’s like climbing into your car with your GPS ready to go. The reader has a strong sense of the journey on which they are about to embark. There’s no wandering around in the dark…er…there may be wandering in the dark — I happen to be a huge fan of wandering in the dark! — and I totally love sending characters off to wander in the dark, especially if there’s something sinister waiting in the shadows, or better yet someone really amazing (or mysterious) (or both)…but I digress. Your reader is only going to follow you if they have a sense for where you’re taking them…and if they WANT to go there. Oh, sure, you can definitely deliver the info a little slower. It doesn’t have to be all in the first sentence. In fact, it’s probably best if it’s not, but it’s important to keep that roadmap in mind. I often refer to it as the Story Question.

Recently I had the opportunity to judge a contest, something I always love doing. Sometimes it’s easy to get so wrapped up in your own business, your own stories, your own insanity, that you forget where you are. It’s incredibly rewarding to step away and take a look at work by those who share the same passion you do. And sometimes doing so yields unexpected little benefits, like prompting you to sit back and study the craft for a little while, analyzing what works and what doesn’t and why.  

By the time I turned in my entries, I had five solid Lessons Learned, starting with…

Story Question. You gotta get it out there. You gotta establish what you’re writing about…or who. Granted, the reader should have some sense of this from back cover copy or a brief synopsis, but still, you don’t want to just wander around. You need a bang. You need something to ground the reader in the moment, the character, the situation, and make them care. Some writers use a chase scene or some other dangerous situation. One friend of mine always starts with murder. Another starts with sex. Different approaches, but what they both have is what I call a story question—what  question (or situation) the story is going to explore/hopefully answer. In truth, stories should have lots of questions, but you need a question, a situation, right up front to draw the reader in and make them want to know more. Vague can be interesting, and it sure avoids the problem of backstory dump, but it can also be frustrating and runs the risk of the reader putting down the book and not really being invested in coming back to see what happens next. This can also be referred to as a hook, but for me, story question sums it up really well…WHAT is your story about?  That’s not a secret you want to keep.