I was sitting down with a colleague the other day and he asked me how I start writing a story? There are many cliche answers for this. Start with an outline. Start with a character. Start with a climax. There isn’t a wrong answer for answering this and it’s different from person to person, but I wanted to respond with something genuine. How do I start writing a story?
I find the moment of intensity.
Every story should stem from at least one emotional moment, an emotional moment that binds the reader and creates a connection between a human and words on a page. This is what a good story does; it is a vessel for empathy.
When I start a story, I think about that moment of intensity. A victory in a war. A loved one passes away at my side. A break up moments before the prom. Moments of intensity can come in any form but it needs to be recognized because that is where you need to take the audience.
The story therefore becomes this vehicle that guides the reader towards this moment of intensity. Once you know where you are going with your story, you can decide how you want to take the readers there.
What I find to be a beautiful thing is that once you reach one emotional moment, I have knocked over my first domino — one emotion triggers the next and so the story continues.
So let me pose the question to you: How do you start your story? Do you start with something on the surface: a beautiful scenery or an old mansion? Or does it start somewhere deeper down: a character in a heated argument or a secret love affair revealed? Let me know. I’d love to hear your process.
Elliot Chan 
This is a good question, and one I haven’t ever thought of myself. Honestly, I don’t know when I start my story. Sometimes it’s an outline, but I suppose my stories begin in my brain. They grow there for months sometimes before I officially sit down to write. Great post, something I’ll be thinking about when I sit down to write my next story.
Thanks for checking out this post. Definitely something worth thinking about next time when you write. It’s like… how you start is determined by where you want to finish.
Great post. I enjoyed reading what you had to say. always start with the turning point for the character.
Great post, and it certainly raises a good question! Personally, my stories usually start with dialogue – sometimes even a monologue. Some emotional conversation is happening in my head and that’s when I begin to write it down. An argument. A confession. A humorous debate about something benign. Whatever that conversation is it usually sets the tone for the story. This was a great post, thanks for sharing!
Thank you! It’s true, there is nothing like a good dialogue scene to start off a story. Puts the reader right into it.
In my heart I start with murder. hehehe
Okay I like to write murder mysteries. On the page I start with connecting with my reader. It can be through the shock of finding a body, or the horror of witnessing the act, or the overall reaction when the family is told. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
Murder, yep. I can’t think of a moment more intense then witnessing a murder or hearing about one for the first time. My heart rate increased a little just thinking about it.
Genius! I love this so much. So much quotable stuff in this piece. #amsharing 🙂 P.S. Sorry it took me so long to comment. Was away and got in in the wee hours this morning. 🙂
Thank you so much, Raimey. Appreciate you taking the time to check out the post and leave a message.