Great authors show us there are many ways to start a story.

You could begin a novel with a narrator/character introducing himself, like Salinger’s
Holden Caufield or Dickens’ David Copperfield. Or you could begin in the thick of action, as Ray Bradbury’s does in his classic novel, Fahrenheit 451.

Read 5 types of story beginnings and tips for making your own effective:

1: Introducing readers to a memorable narrator-protagonist

This is a popular way to start a story about a character coming of age or grappling with internal conflict. These novels typically use first person
narration. From the first line, the reader gets to know a characterful narrator.

For example, Salinger’s Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye (1951) has a strong voice and clear, disaffected teen persona:

‘If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how
my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to
know the truth.’

This opening is effective because we get a strong sense of the character’s personality in his terse use of curse words, slang and adjectives (‘crap’,
‘lousy’). Being addressed directly by the narrator creates a sense of closeness and familiarity. This effect is similar to Charlotte Bronte’s ‘Reader, I
married him’ in Jane Eyre.

Another strong example of this story opening type, the protagonist/narrator introduction, is Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita (1955). Nabokov begins his
novel with his depraved anti-hero, Humbert Humbert, musing on the name of Lolita, the young object of his obsession:

‘Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three,
on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.’

Nabokov’s opening is strong because personality and character psychology are present from the first line. When you start a story with your main
character introducing themselves, remember to:

 Give them a distinctive voice: The grandiose language of Humbert Humbert fits the character, as do Salinger’s teen’s own cynical words.

 Show what matters to your character/narrator from the start: Holden values authenticity (‘if you want to know the truth’). We get a
visceral sense of Humbert’s creepy obsession with Lolita through his rapture at even saying her name.

2: Beginning a novel with crucial memories

Often novels open with narrators recalling memories that are core to the plot. This is especially common in novels where a single, unforgettable
event casts its shadow over the rest of the book (e.g. the murder in a murder mystery).

Framing an event in your story through a character’s memory gives it weight. When you begin your novel with your main character remembering
an earlier scene, it’s thus important to choose the right scene.

Choose a scene that shows a dilemma or choice, or a powerfully emotional experience that is bound to have consequences for your character. For
example, Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (2003) opens with the 15-year-old narrator Christopher finding his
neighbour’s murdered dog:

‘It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears’ house. Its eyes were closed. It
looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they’re chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep.
The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog.’

Haddon’s opening is effective because it builds up to the revelation that the dog was killed violently. It’s effective because it raises questions we
want answered.

When you begin with your narrator recalling a key memory, remember to:

 Choose a scene that immediately starts giving the reader keys to understand the rest of the book. Haddon’s narrator proceeds to hug the
bleeding dog, for example, so that we start to realise that Christopher is unusual

 Show the reader the memory: Haddon does not just say ‘Christopher found his neighbour’s dog, killed with a garden fork.’ We discover
the dog through Christopher’s eyes, and this increases the scene’s impact

3: Starting a book with ambiguous action

A little bit of mystery or confusion at the start of your novel can help to reel readers in. At the same time, make sure your
opening isn’t so mystifying that the reader bails in frustration. Even if the purpose or reasons for your ambiguous opening aren’t clear at first, the
action itself must sustain readers’ interest until there is more clarity.

Consider the opening of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451:

‘It was a pleasure to burn.

‘It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting
its venemous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the
symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history.’

The first sentence is ambiguous – who, or what, is burning? The next slowly fills in context: We learn a character is using kerosene to burn
something, to destroy ‘history’, but we still don’t know what exactly. We only learn by the end of the paragraph that the character Montag is
burning books.

This way of beginning a story is effective because Bradbury prolongs a mixture of suspense and confusion, yet the character’s action itself is clear.

If you begin a book with ambiguous, teasing action:

 Give the reader answers to at least one (or some) of the ‘5 w’s’. We might not immediately know who is doing the burning
(or what they’re burning), but Bradbury gives us a strong why: Pleasure. The relish with which Montag burns the books is clear

 By the end of the first paragraph, give the reader a little more clarity, as Bradbury does

4: Leading into your story with a purposeful prologue

‘Prologue’ literally means the ‘before word’. This separate introductory or prefatory section in a novel has several uses:

 Giving broad historical context that paves the way for the main story

 Showing a scene or event preceding the main narrative, whose consequences ripple through the following story

Donna Tartt uses the second type of prologue to excellent effect in her mystery novel The Secret History  (1992). Her prologue tells us that a
character is murdered, that the narrator is somehow complicit, and that he will narrate the events that led up to the murder in the coming
narrative.

This teaser makes it clear that motive, rather than identity, is the main mystery behind the killing. Tartt’s prologue wastes no time in revealing key
information that shapes our expectations for the main story:

‘The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.
He’d been dead for ten days before they found him, you know.’

By immediately framing the story around Bunny’s murder and its aftermath, Tartt’s prologue directs our attention to the ground the coming story
will cover. Not the fact of Bunny’s death but the swirl of events that spin out from this crime. It marks out a path into reading and making sense of
the story.

Do you want to include a prologue in your book? Ask:

 Do the events in the first section of your book need telling before the main action. If yes, why? In Tartt’s case, giving away key events in
the prologue is smart, structurally. Because the identity of the murder victim (and at least one person responsible) is revealed early, the
main narrative of the story is free to focus on character motivations and consequences and not just crime-solving

 Would your story flow better if you told earlier events via character flashbacks or a prologue? Try writing a scene as a prologue, then
write the same scene as a flashback. Which fits the scene better?

5: Strong ways to start a story: Opening with the unexpected

Often the most memorable story openings surprise us and make us pause for a moment.

Take Bradbury’s beginning to Fahrenheit 451 above, ‘It was a pleasure to burn.’ It’s unexpected. This is partially because of its inner contradiction.
We know that getting a burn from a hot plate is painful, and the idea of pleasure is thus surprising. The ambiguity of ‘it’ means we don’t know
initially whether the narrator is describing an odd pleasure in burning himself or burning something else.

Examples from famous books reveal this has always been one of the popular ways to start a story. For example, Dodie Smith opens I Capture the
Castle (1949):

‘I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.’

The narrator Cassandra’s choice of sitting place is unusual, intriguing us to read the next sentence. Whichever way you choose to begin your novel,
getting the reader to read the second sentence is the first, crucial feat.

Start your own novel now: brainstorm story themes, settings and characters and get helpful feedback from the Now Novel community.

3 Simple Ways to Start Your Story

How do you start your story?

Once upon a time… [wait no… that’s too cliche].

It was a dark and stormy night… [we’ve all heard that one before].
Just the other day… [hmmm… getting better…]
Let’s be honest – one of the hardest things to decide is where to start your story. If you don’t know where to begin, you don’t really know where to
take things either. It’s easy to feel like you’re chasing your tail.

 Do you start by figuring out the story of where you’re going?

 Do you start by figuring out the story of where you’re coming from?

Storytelling can be complex and the information about storytelling, well, overwhelming. The good news, is that you can start either way — from
the future (with a vision story) or the past (with an origin story). In this article I want to show you simple ways that you can dive right into telling
your story (without fretting or worrying so much if you’re getting it right).

In a recent client workshop in New York City we unpacked this process, sharing some of my favorite ways to lead off any purposeful story. I shared
six kick-off phrases that ANYONE can use to start a story in a way that’s compelling, uplifting, and inspiring. I like to think of it as Mad-Libs for
transformational storytelling!

The story literally spills out of you, when you use one of these 6 kick-off phrases.

These 6 strategies are something we cover in great depth in our StoryU Online course Undeniable Story. Today, I want to share with you a few of
them that are really important in setting the context and frame for your marketing, storytelling, and leadership efforts.

The first, a “future vision” story, is used when you want to describe your vision for change and growth. The second, your “origins” story, talks
about where you are and where you’re coming from. Both stories are critical in terms of establishing the bounds of your story universe, and helping
people to find themselves inside your world.

Here are three of my favorite ways to tell these stories.

Setting the right frame for your future vision story.

For a lot of us, we’re working on describing a world we imagine — the world we want to live in. But how do you tell the story of where you want to
go in a meaningful way that doesn’t sound fantastical or unrealistic? How can you create a future-vision story that has your clients and prospects
nodding, yes, totally, I believe you? How do you make it real?

At its heart, a story about the future is a story about possibility. We’re describing the way we want things to be — painting pictures of new ideas in
the imaginations of our audience.

Here are three phrases to use to set up your own vision stories.

#1: “Imagine if …”

Imagine if is a really, really powerful phrase to start your story. It’s a way to ask your audience to suspend disbelief and imagine the following
possibility — it’s a way to set up an invitation for people to connect to way they want or desire. Take a look at these examples:

Imagine if  you could travel to any city around the world and feel like you’re living a little bit more like the locals. (This is the AirBNB story). 

Imagine if  you had the convenience of driving a car without the expense and hassle of insurance, parking, and all the other stuff that stresses you
out. (This is the ZipCar story).

Traditional sales has people starting off with a problem and then closing with the solution — yet what this does, unfortunately, is it raises fear in
people’s minds (and pumps cortisol, the stress hormone throughout their body). Problems make us feel tired, overwhelmed, and depressed.
Future-vision stories that are anchored in possibility are providing an invitation,  an uplift, a boost to your audience emotionally. When you invite
people to imagine, you bring them into a space to begin to see the world in a new way.

Next comes the important part:

So you first is to set the stage with your “Imagine If…” phrase. It’s critical that you follow up with people and  show them the picture you’re painting
already exists.

For example, with ZipCar:

“Guess what? That possibility is already real. Let me show you how it’s already happening…”

It’s important in an possibility story to not wander so far off into dreamland that your listeners become skeptics, shaking their heads in disbelief.
You need to show them where it’s working in the world. Say, “not only is this an amazing idea, it’s already real.”

Then introduce the creative tension. Only at this point, your story talks about the obstacles and challenges. How do we bring to scale this idea to all
the cities of the world? How can you take your classroom of 100 and bring your breakthrough curriculum to life for 1,000 students?

To recap, here’s the three step sequence:

 “Imagine if…”

 “Let me show you how it’s real…”

 “Yet there’s obstacles that stand in the way of this promise being more available”

Interested in more storytelling tips? Try The Red Pill, my free 5-day email course that helps you get your story straight.

#2: Here’s what excites me…

This is another great way to start your story.

The phrase “Here’s what excites me” is a really easy way to talk about what you’re passionate about and paint a picture about where things are
headed in the world.

For example:

Here’s what excites me  about how technology is making it really easy for people to express themselves and use their voice…

Here’s what excites me  about what’s happening in the classroom, both online and in person, today.

Here’s what excites me  about some of the environmental changes people are making in their lives.

You always want to tell a story that excites you. Why? Because our emotions are contagious. So, start from the place of what turns you on. What’s
cool? What’s intrigues you? What gets you all hot and bothered?!? Paint the picture of the exciting changes you see happening and this will others
excited — yet only if YOU are excited too.

What these phrases have in common.

All of these little phrases have one thing in common: they serve as an invitation. They have an underlying emotion — a curiosity that invites people,
draws them in. Emotional content is what lifts people up. They initiate attraction and engagement. Because we’re all naturally drawn to things that
are expansive and have energy. They create a space between you and your audience, and invite the excitement of possibility to take ahold of both
of you.

When telling future vision stories, start with an invitation, a possibility. Then introduce the creative tension. (This is the Feel Good Principle that we
talked about earlier).

Possibilities are an invitation. When we talk about possibility, we get people turned on and excited about what is possible. From this place, magic
happens.

What about your origins story?

How do you talk about where you’ve come from?

While a Vision Story transports us into the future, an Origins Story talks about your past: who you are, where you come from, and what have you
done. Knowing how to talk about the past, in a succinct, pithy, and relevant manner can be anxiety producing for many of us. We don’t know what
to say, without feeling like we’re bragging, boasting, or being a bore.

Which is why we have several catch phrases we love at Get Storied that help people jump into their Origins Story in a way that’s easy, exciting, and
invites the listener in.

Here’s one of my favorites:

#3: “I remember when…”

A member of our StoryU tribe, Sarah Peck, worked for a number of years at an architecture firm before transitioning to her life in writing and
design communications. In the architecture world, the transformation from the paper world to the digital world upended the industry in less than a
decade. It was common to hear people talk about how much things changed by using the phrase, ‘I remember when…” to describe the rapid
changes happening to her organization.

I remember when we used to do everything by hand… I remember when we used to scan and Fed-Ex drawings to our clients; now we can send
blueprints digitally in just a few seconds!

If you’re part of the start-up craze, you’ll hear founders say things like: “I remember when we were a startup, drinking crappy Folgers coffee and
working out of our garage.”

The key phrase “I remember when” let’s you acknowledge how far things have come, and what’s continue to change for your organization,
industry or sector. It allows you to be circumspect.  By reminding people of the past, you can create a contrast frame with the unfolding future, and
again how excited you are of the new possibilities ahead.

“I remember when we used to do things this way, and look how far we’ve come since them.”

Let people understand where you’re coming from.

The key with Origins Stories is that you use them as a way of offering perspective. Origin Stories lay the foundation for your faith in the future and
what’s coming ahead. By sharing what you’ve accomplished so far, you can inspire confidence in where things are going.

“I have no doubt we’re going to get through this,” you can say. “I’m so excited about these opportunities.” “If we’ve done this much since we began,
imagine where we can go in the next five, ten years ahead.”

Origin stories create rooting and foundation. These story frames let you show not only who you are, but where you’ve come from — and, if you
want to string two stories together, it sets the stage for you to paint a picture of where you want to go.

How do you start your stories?

These are three of our favorite ways to start your vision and origin stories — three easy mad-lib phrases that kick things off with the right tone and
frame for your message.

Share with us your own catch phrases or let us know what your vision story is in the comments below! We love reading your stories and we’d love
to hear what you have to say.