Point #1: The Opening Image

Before you start any story, you need to know something about it. Be it the theme, the ending, the message, the characters, the point, you know something about your story right now. It’s why you want to write it. It’s why this idea is the one you chose over all the other ideas; there’s something that you think is special about it.

That something special should be part of the first thing your reader sees. And this brings us to Point #1: The Opening Scene or The Opening Image.

The Opening Scene/Image is the first thing the reader “sees”. More specifically, it’s the first thing you want the reader to see. It is what you want them to take away from the rest of the story, even subconsciously. Now, this is a difficult point to work with because it is both the first thing you should think about and the last thing you should cement. It is the introduction of an essay. You can write it out, but by the end of the piece, you need to go back to make sure all the important points are in there.

That said, while it’s something you will only completely know when you finish the story, I start the narrative with this point for two reasons. The first is, obviously, that it is the beginning of the story and therefore is the beginning of the narrative structure. The second point, however, is because it forces you to think about what you want your story to be to the people reading it. Your opening image lets you do this by suggesting tone, theme, characters, or even simply showing parts of the world.

For example, the first scene in the first Harry Potter book is Mr. Dursley going about his day, and noticing strange people around him. It primes the reader to know that there is a world behind the real world, a world of people who wear robes and are excited about something. That excitement also illustrates that something big has happened, and when you find out what it is – the greatest dark wizard has been defeated – it all makes sense.

In A Game of Thrones, the first scene depicts characters beyond the wall running into Wight Walkers, and it illustrates that there is a grand threat over the wall, an unknown threat. This threat, unknowingly, will go on to be grouped with the now-famous line, “Winter is Coming”. The first scene also sets up the juxtaposition of reality – men in freezing weather with swords and horses and no magic or powers to speak of – and the fantasy – magic, ice zombies.

The opening is there to prime the reader, even if they don’t know about it. Go through the opening scene of your favourite books and see how they prime you for the story. See what little details the author put in to let you know what is in store. And then do the same.

Try to think about these things:

• The point of your story.
• The theme of your story.
• The world your story inhabits, and the specific setting.
• Important things about the characters.
• The tone of your story.

Your opening does not have to include all these. It can only include one of them. Or it can simply include something I haven’t even thought about. The point of this Point is to get a sense of what you want from your story, what you want your readers to get from the story, and how you can show that in an opening scene.

Remember, this is the first thing you need to think about but the last thing you’ll cement. So take a lot of the pressure you usually put on yourself off. You don’t need to get this perfect. The story may change as we go on. This is merely a simple exercise to get you into the zone of questioning why you are writing this particular story. And, this goes without saying: writing a story simply because you think it will be fun is a good reason to write a story. You can use an opening to convey fun.

And that’s Point #1.

Thanks for participating, fellow writers.

And always remember, every great story started with just one line.

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Thanks for Reading, Fellow Writers!

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If you want to find other points of this narrative structure as I write them, just click here.