Let’s face it: introductions are hard. I decide what the audience needs most – empathetic characters, a quick world introduction, etc. – and then how to hook them using that one piece. But it’s hard when you have so much to tell the reader already!
How do you write your “opening act”?
In my first draft, I usually hit the action in the beginning and let the world evolve around it. Later drafts are where I fill in gaps with introductory info like a physical description, foreshadowing, or a character tick that appeared at some point in the first draft. So how do I write my opening act? Through revision.
That sounds like a good way to go about it! For class essays, I tend to skip to the body paragraphs so that I can just get to my argument, but I can't do that in stories because I feel like I need that introductory info to reference back to. I tend to pre-plan a lot in writing, so I end up with a lot of world and character development in my head before I even put the pen to paper, and I need to know what I've already communicated about them and what I haven't, otherwise I'd lose track!
I plan extensively too but I've found that the image in my head doesn't always make it to the page the way I want it to. When I started layering in the descriptions during later drafts, I found a lot more success in seeing my vision on paper.
I usually start with my character's initial reaction to what is happening to them, but it really depends on the story. My first instinct into how to start the story is usually the right one. I know other writers struggle with beginnings but that and dialogue are my favorite! It's where I get to get across the voice of the story early on. The middle is where I struggle.
I get that. I think I always struggle with my second chapter more than my first, at least once I get past that first sentence. But the first sentence is always one of the places I get stuck the most, just because it completely sets the tone for the rest of the chapter and story, and I keep trying to make it perfect!
I write short stories so I always start in media res, or in the middle of the plot. I try to start with one strong image/sensory detail to hook the reader.