In a not-so-short-story I wrote some years back, I did start with my MC waking up (before the alarm) & going through his early morning routine. I repeated this three times (vis-a--vis Alain Robbe-Grillet) but there were subtle shifts in each one. I have also used a dream, in a different story, but the MC was a highly experienced lucid dreamer & does not differentiate the reality of the dream from the reality of the concrete (or waking world). Of course, the main consideration is what type of novel the author is after. I once wrote 17 pages about a man with a wooden leg walking down a ship's gangplank where both the leg & the planks had been harvested from the same copse of trees. They recognized each other, while the man was oblivious to their reunion. Regardless, still good advice. I have clicked all appropriate buttons.
Does my story opening start with a dream? Yes. Is the character waking up from the dream to start the day? No. Does the overall dream help play a role the plot? Yes. Am I going to keep it? Also yes.
So... starting a novel with waking up is not a mistake when you do it right. With that you are avoiding mistake of too many characters, because you are doing it with one: POV character. You can know him better, by showing who he is. Show not tell and its not infodump.
Wow first comment! Definitely guilty of making my first chapter to vague, but that's mostly because I'm a pantser and don't necessarily have a concrete idea when I beging writing. I do go back and polish it later when I have a better grasp of the story.
I'm working on a science fiction/fantasy story that I start with a short passage from a fictional encyclopedia somewhat like Keith Laumer does for many of his Ratief stories. Is this sort of thing a bad start?
Do this, but for last chapters... nobody ever talks about that...
In a not-so-short-story I wrote some years back, I did start with my MC waking up (before the alarm) & going through his early morning routine. I repeated this three times (vis-a--vis Alain Robbe-Grillet) but there were subtle shifts in each one.
I have also used a dream, in a different story, but the MC was a highly experienced lucid dreamer & does not differentiate the reality of the dream from the reality of the concrete (or waking world).
Of course, the main consideration is what type of novel the author is after. I once wrote 17 pages about a man with a wooden leg walking down a ship's gangplank where both the leg & the planks had been harvested from the same copse of trees. They recognized each other, while the man was oblivious to their reunion.
Regardless, still good advice. I have clicked all appropriate buttons.
Does my story opening start with a dream? Yes. Is the character waking up from the dream to start the day? No. Does the overall dream help play a role the plot? Yes. Am I going to keep it? Also yes.
So... starting a novel with waking up is not a mistake when you do it right. With that you are avoiding mistake of too many characters, because you are doing it with one: POV character. You can know him better, by showing who he is. Show not tell and its not infodump.
I agree. Anything that can be done well won't be a mistake.
Wow first comment! Definitely guilty of making my first chapter to vague, but that's mostly because I'm a pantser and don't necessarily have a concrete idea when I beging writing. I do go back and polish it later when I have a better grasp of the story.
@@nonameyet_7786 ha, my first chapter always changes too!
I'm working on a science fiction/fantasy story that I start with a short passage from a fictional encyclopedia somewhat like Keith Laumer does for many of his Ratief stories. Is this sort of thing a bad start?
Sounds interesting. In what format? Like is it a character reading it or just presented like a book entry or something like that?
@@jeffmathers355 I'm writing third person and it should come across as a a short reading from a book by the narrator.