The dreaded first page -- how do YOU start?

[scuttlefish]

I know my problem is not uncommon among writers.
I have great ideas for characters, plots, planets, entire fictional universes meticulously planned and outlined out. For over a year I've been working on a fictional sci-fi universe, and I have enough story outlined out to span multiple books. I've got pages upon pages of notes on cities, towns, religions, cultures... I've even made some basic notes on the phonetics of an entirely new language.

But I've only been able to churn out a grand total of ten pages of manuscript, and I didn't even start from the beginning because for some strange reason I absolutely cannot bring myself to write that "first page" that the reader will see. I freeze up. Or if I do write a page or two and delete it without showing anyone because I think it's garbage.

Honestly though... I'm not entirely sure if I know where to start. I know how it will end. I know the main conflicts that drive the story. But it's hard for me to connect all of it in a way that I'm satisfied with while still making it something that people would actually want to pick up and read.

I've always had this problem, since I started writing. I just can't seem to write a decent beginning.

I'm wondering if my talents would be better applied to create a tabletop RPG or something and let other people make stories with my characters and settings.

What do you do for those pesky beginnings? Do you always start from the beginning? Are you a meticulous planner or do you like to write from a blank page and see what ideas spring up as you go? Do you have any tips for someone like me who can't write a beginning to save her life?

[I_Write_Ivre]

There is a helpful link on beginnings mentioned in the rules (I'm not saying you broke them and I don't think you did; I only found out today out of boredom).

Beyond that, you don't need to start on the first page or even keep the beginning you write (you probably won't). Just pound out what needs to be said. Maybe make notes of exposition and see what you can put in the story later so as not to bog down your beginning, even when you rewrite it.

[terradi]

Middles are usually a lot harder for me than beginnings. Usually, when I sit down to start a story, I've been thinking about it and working on it for a while, so that part isn't so difficult. I plan, and I think about possible openings in my head. I pants a lot of openings, but recently I've been getting better about starting to write them down. Doesn't mean I always get it right. I do make mistakes and guess the wrong place to start or sometimes decide that I wasn't ready to start at all. But I do a lot of shorts, which are great practice for quick beginnings.

Don't be afraid to do it badly. No one is going to see your first attempt unless you show it to them. Nor your second, third, fourth, or however many it takes for you to get it right. Your first beginning doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't even have to be the one that you settle on in the end. Every attempt is going to show you something that works or doesn't work, and help you get a better sense of where you want to be.

[bara is love bara is life]

I am the opposite. I usually get an idea and start writing it right away to capture what it is that makes me feel so excited about it. Once I try to plan it out I really grow weary of it.

That's why I never finish anything.

[Verata Starline]

I usually write separate scenes as whole paragraphs and then try to link them all up. Sometimes I get some good beginnings this way and sometimes I end up deleting anything that doesn't fit in the end.
You could try just starting with your characters doing something mundane just before the real action gets underway, or you could start in the middle of a dramatic scene and build the rest of the story from there with some backstory here and there. At least, that's how I do it.

[WolfSpirit999]

Beginning the story in medias res tends to help me a lot. Not only is it becoming more commonly used, but it requires little thought (for me at least). Sometimes it's just about sitting down and writing though, even if I feel like I'm writing 5,000 words of crap.

[ille-konpito]

OH GOD I FEEL YOU. I have a one hundred page long outline/plan for a fictional universe complete with histories, cultures, religion, etc. and enough events to span for about seven books but it's just so damn difficult/daunting to start so i put it off and go write something else instead. I'm about thirty pages in, but not really happy with it so i'll probably start again.

Aside from that, beginning to write other shorter stories has always been an easy task for me. In my experience, beginning with dialogue is easiest because it shoves the reader into the middle of a scene immediately. Usually i make the beginnings very fast paced, and then it'll die down a little before building up again. If not dialogue, i always start with some shocking scene that makes the reader go 'eh? why?' and want to find out more.

But honestly from what i've learned, it's easiest to just BEGIN to write. If you're unhappy with it, hey, that's what first drafts are for. You'll feel better about it once you've got a couple of pages done, because normally by this point you can see if what you're doing is working.

Another thing i do is, ask someone else to read over my plan and get them to point out what they would be most interested in to know about first.

If we're talking fantasy here, start with the viable fantastical elements.

This site helped me a bit in the past, you might find it useful: http://www.writing-world.com/fiction/greenway1.shtml

[LadySnark]

Word vomit.

It gets things on the page and then, even if its terrible, I at least have something to work with and I've avoided the stark white page with the ever blinking cursor.

[X of Castigation]

All of my stories begin with someone punching a goat.

[Quotesy]

I heard somewhere once that your beginning could be your middle.

Then again, I'm not that type of person. If there's a new season on TV that someone wants me to watch, I have to wait until they're done with their episodes before I hop onto Netflix and watch everything from beginning to end. I like that, for some reason.

Anyway!

To start the beginning, just puke up whatever words your brain can force out. Doesn't have to be perfect. And then as you continue on from there, maybe things can get easier for you. Once finished, you could go back to the beginning after a few months of rest, and edit the hell out of everything. Then rewrite. Read aloud. Edit some more. Rewrite a third time, and continue until you feel good about it.

[aleatori]

I once started reading a story and thought it had a great beginning, showing the main character right in the middle of a bad job day. Then I realized i clicked wrong and it was not the first chapter, but 17 or something.

I was so disappointed. The real beginning was very boring and the explaining of the setting felt really off, especially when that small scene i had read showed it so much more efficiently.

Even now, the beginnings I find most interesting and catchy are always the ones where you can deduce the main character's profession, attitude and even the world's setting from a daily life routine being broken.

Maybe this isn't what you were looking for, but it'll be a lot more fun for you (and the reader) if you introduce your main character (and setting) through a random routine of their lives.

Don't treat it like a beginning, write it like it's just a random scene that you don't need to explain anything about because you already explained everything before.

It's not like you're starting your main character's life or first day alive, so treat it exactly as what it is, the middle of their lives. They don't need anyone to explain them where they live, their bus schedule, the political hierarchy, they already know all that.

[K Milan-Princess of Filor]

Mostly when I write I make a Fanfiction, but I have one that technically isn't a fanfiction it's a Power Rangers team I made called Power Rangers Webkinz Force and after explaining who's what colour ranger etc. I put this paragraph for the start:
-Fields House, Don Point of View-
“I remember it like it happened yesterday. Mom was at home, taking care of us. I was only 5, and getting ready to go to my first day of Kindergarten. Dad was at work. The triplets were napping, and you guys were all fighting. Mom then decided to take me to the bus stop, and she gave you all your favourite stuffed animals,” I told my siblings, remembering the last time I saw Mom.
I started with a flashback, to explain why exactly they have no parents and at the same time there is someone telling a story. Try doing something like that.

[helpmewoofy11]

When I write beginnings, it is usually a flashback of some sort. Or, I shove you right in the near end of the story, and then go back to the beginning of it afterward. I feel writing beginnings is the hardest, once you get a feel for the story it becomes easier.

[The Thunder Tyrant]

The best advice I ever heard for starting any given scene is "come in late, leave early."

[vvonderfull]

I have the same problem, but it seems you're doing just fine. You can start whatever you want to write, whenever you want to write it in your story's timeline. Normally what I do for beginnings is put one of my main characters in a situation that will catch the reader. Let's say your protagonist is a thief, put them in the action of stealing something. It just helps to make the story more exciting and also immensely helps the reader get a grip or feel on what the character is like.
Beyond that, you could also start with a basic 'once upon a time' method as I call it. For example, "Once upon a time, there was a princess in a far, far away land. This land was called the land of..". that can help to set up the basics of your book by explaining the scenery, things like that. But, like I said earlier, you can start wherever you want, there's nothing wrong in that. It just takes some practice and getting used to. I hope this helped, but in now way am I a professional writer haha.