the writer's room discussion

I’m really struggling to find a way to start my book

To be honest, I have the same problem. Most of the time, I start somewhere at the back or middle of my my book as I find it harder to start with the first few chapters. This doesn’t work for everyone tho. I also sometimes just write random small stories to keep my imagination going. Most of the smaller stories are still about my book characters but in another universe so it’s not about the same thing as my book. It still helps you get to know the character more without having to write the actual book.

I like to look at some of my favorite books, normally the ones that are in the same genre as the story I'm writing, and see where they started. So for example, my favorite book started in a diner, so I started one of my books in a diner.

I usually start at the beginning, and it depends on the style. One starts with a dream, one starts with the last day of school, a ball, dialogue. My favorite might be starting with dialogue, at least for short stories.

RyLee wrote: "I’m really struggling to find a way to start my book"

It's different for everybody, but in my experience, I've found this to be the best way for me to begin my books:

Plan your novel out by plot events per chapter, and after you've done that, decide to place your first chapter in the middle of a crisis or an event. If there isn't conflict or a hook- perhaps something as simple as being late to work or feeling lonely on a bus, or something as large as a heated argument with a friend/family member or even a fight with a dragon- it won't work. You need to give your reader a reason to root for your main character, and if there isn't conflict, both you and your reader will have a hard time immersing themselves in the book.

My favorite example of this is Leigh Bardugo's book 'Ninth House', where she begins with a prologue that starts with the sentence "by the time Alex was able to wash the blood out of her cashmere sweater, it was too warm to wear it." Leigh creates a vague prologue with reasons why there's blood, and then jumps back in time to the beginning, leaving you wondering how Alex gets to the place in the prologue.

I hope this helps!

I'd ask yourself what kind of mood you want to set for the story and build from there. Obviously, a lot of writing advice will tell you to start with an instant fast-paced conflict to hook the reader instantly because that's what a lot of modern readers want (the curse of shortening attention spans), but if you're focusing on making a good story over just one that will be commercially successful, I think the start ought to depend on what the story is meant to convey.

Perhaps your story aims to build more slowly to intensity. In that case, you may want to start slow, set up your scenario, and paint a picture of the world you wish to convey. Or perhaps your story is still a more action-packed one and a fast start would set the tone well.

I'd advise to look at some classics to see how they write starts. A lot of modern story beginnings feel very same-y to me, but many classics have beginnings that set very unique and stark tones that carry through the course of the story.

Best wishes :).

Outline first before writing! One of the key reasons I never finished writing a novel was because I didn't know what I was writing because I didn't take the time to outline first. Outlining saves you a ton of time and helps you understand your characters and the overall theme of your book. If you have any scenes or certain dialouges in your mind, write in a journal or a blank doc so you won't forget it

write down all the ideas you have about a book down and try to see if you can like put them in a chronological order or see if any of the ideas you have are silimar and move on from there

For me, scenarios come to mind at random, and I build up from there, thinking up additional scenes and points to establish in them.
I write up the basic ideas, and sequence them.