Starting your own story can be a difficult task that everyone can struggle with. When I think of a story idea, I have the climax and sometimes the ending in mind. People usually overcomplicate the first chapter of the story. The beginning of the story’s first chapter is the first impression of your book, it can be challenging to make an excellent first impression, but it does not have to be complex. I will give you a handful of tips that help me when I get an idea to start a story.
The first tip is that you will not hook anyone with the first sentence of your book. Unfortunately, I have yet to meet the individual who read one sentence of something and believed it was the best book ever. It was something that I was told multiple times in my early career in writing, and the idea just is not accurate. Personally, I hate the start of any piece of media, books, movies, and video games. The thing that hooks people is the problem set in the first chapter.
The second tip is to control your world-building. Writing is about sharing a new world with other people, and just like any situation in life, bombarding people with information is off-putting. This is a problem that I do not struggle with because I am lazy and usually write in a modern setting with some fantastical elements. The key is to slowly introduce the reader to your world. You should only share the information when it becomes relevant. Explain enough so the readers can explore your fantasy with their curiosity.
The third tip, introduce your protagonist in the first chapter. The book is about the protagonist, which should be the first thing you reveal to your readers. The protagonist should be the spotlight of the first chapter. With the protagonist, you should show how the character usually lives. When you introduce the main character and some level of normalcy, once you put some conflict in the story, it helps the readers care.
The fourth and final tip is to simply just write. Writing a story is complicated and is never easy. If you want to finish writing, you have to write. Your goal should always be to put words on the paper. It can be tough to start writing when facing nothing but a blank page but remember you are only writing the first rough draft. The words and your writing style could change halfway through the story. You could discover new motivations for the main character while you write, but the story will never be finished if you keep changing the story in the middle of writing. Once you complete the story, you edit as much as you need.
Those are some of the tips that help me start writing a story. I start with a character and set them on a journey. I hope these tips help out anyone thinking of putting words to paper. Everyone has their story; they just need to start telling it.