The shape of a story, particularly the start

[Adam]

I'm at about 70,000 words in a story, and one person who read my first chapter suggested I should begin with conflict.  Personally I prefer setting the scene first, then introducing some conflict or problem.  What are your thoughts on this?  Should a story leap immediately into some conflict to grab the reader's attention?

I was just checking through some of my favourite books, and some books considered classics which I don't much care for, and most seem to set the scene first, give a little picture of the world and the people, before the bad guy breaks down the door and starts shooting/stabbing/whatever.  On the other hand, I'm aware that publishing has a higher turn-over today than when Sense & Sensibility or The Hobbit were printed, and that the pool of customers/readers is larger and includes more people with a shorter attention span.

[Paynesgrey]

I suppose it's really a matter of taste.  I prefer the "taste of the world" approach, but sometimes I find that the world was more interesting than the story, and find myself wishing for more of the "everyday life" aspects rather than the Official Main Story.  I'd say a balance is required, a good, vibrant world is a must-have, but the story and characters must be strong enough that they aren't washed out by it.

[Franzeska]

On the other hand, I'm aware that publishing has a higher turn-over today than when Sense & Sensibility or The Hobbit were printed, and that the pool of customers/readers is larger and includes more people with a shorter attention span.

More than that, the normal writing style in Jane Austen's day isn't remotely like the normal writing style now.  There have been some recent (and bad) changes in the publishing industry that make things a bit different from the 1970's, but of course they're different from 200 years ago.

I like the way Clive Cussler handles the beginnings of his books: he puts in a brief prologue with the historical material and then starts chapter 1 with the hero doing something active (though that doesn't always mean an action scene).  This approach seems to work for a lot of authors.  If you need to infodump though, I think that's better handled after we have some idea who the characters are and why we care.

[Suilan]

There's big conflicts and small conflicts. Not just your first but every scene needs some conflict, that is your point-of-view character must have a scene goal, something s/he wants to achieve in this scene, and some other character must have an opposing or conflicting goal (or there must be some other obstacle to overcome for the hero.)

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is full of conflict in every scene. Many people only think of physical struggle when they say or hear the word conflict, but it can be subtle. Just put two people with different agendas in one room and you have conflict or tension.

Hope this helps.

[Adam]

Would it be acceptable if I posted the first chapter here, for some feedback?

[Suilan]

Adam, if you hope to have your novel published one day, you shouldn't post any part of it at an open internet forum. Something to do with copyright. Publishers are really fussy about these things. Better ask if someone would like to review your chapter via email,  or you might want to join a workshop like OWW or critters.

[AverageGuy]

What do you mean by scene setting?

Something related to the specific conflict in your story should happen in the first chapter.  Take Butcher - at the end of the first chapter, Dresden has nearly always talked to Murphy about her needing help or run into a client who wants his help.  Sometimes both.  Or take a couple epic fantasy authors, both of whom have managed to become #1 NY Times bestsellers:

Robert Jordan - the prologue to The Eye of the World establishes the threat of the Dark One, that taint of madness in saidin, and the death of the last Dragon.  At the end of the first chapter, Rand has glimpsed the Fade that will burn down the boys' village, leading to their flight until they reach the Eye of the World at the book's end.

George RR Martin - At the end of the prologue of A Game of Thrones, you've seen the Others, who will probably be the Big Bad for the series.  At the end of the first chapter, you've run into the dead mother direwolf with the antler in its throat, foreshadowing the end of the book and the more mundane struggle of the series.

Or take Shakespeare - at the end of the first scene of Romeo and Juliet, you've been introduced to the conflict between the Montagues and Capulets, as well as the fact that Romeo's just had his heart broken and his friend is trying to find him a new girl.  The first scene of MacBeth is very short, but it lets you know that the witches are going to meet him.  You have one more short scene talking about loyal MacBeth and MacDonald, and then by the third scene the witches have planted the seed of treason in MacBeth's head.  All this in the first ten minutes of the play.

If "setting the scene" means just worldbuilding, it's probably not good enough.  You have to let the audience know what the book will be about as soon as you can, or else you're just giving a bunch of useless information--or if it's not useless, something you could probably explain later, as it becomes relevant.  Stories are about conflict.  Begin at the beginning.  That means start at the beginning of the conflict, giving at least a hint of what Butcher calls "the story question."  Of course, start of conflict can give you some room.  It can be an argument, a prophetic dream, a violent clash, a message relayed to your main character, etc.  As long as the plot's in there somewhere.

[Adam]

The way I have it now is the story starts with setting the scene and introducing the protagonist, then the pawn/tool of the Bad Guy comes in at around 1800 to 1900 words.  The first chapter runs about 6500 words.  However, the opinion mentioned in the first post was that I should skip the first 1800-1900 words and begin with conflict right off the bat.  That doesn't seem right to me.

[Franzeska]

It's impossible to know without seeing what you've actually written.  I second the recommendation to find some kind of workshop to give you feedback.

[Adam]

Yep, will do.

[Noey]

I think it depends on how you want to set the tone for the rest of the novel. If you're going for overall something dark and dreary, then I'd start slow and build the tension. If you want an action packed story, then drop the reader right into some action to get the blood pumping. If you're going for romance, throw out the purple prose and get romantical. If your story's supposed to be funny, then get on with the goofy first thing. This is the first taste of your novel, and you want to make it a good one that the rest of your novel follows well.

[Adam]

I intend to avoid romance, as every girl I've ever known had informed me in no uncertain terms that I'm a complete idiot about anything even vaguely related to emotions.

No, it's mostly mystery, action, fun things like that.

I've been reading through Jim's blog entries about story construction, setting out the plot points, the big swampy middle, et cetera, and I'm actually finding it very helpful.  Simply establishing the major points like that has indeed done half the work for me.  Thanks muchly.

[meg_evonne]

I intend to avoid romance, as every girl I've ever known had informed me in no uncertain terms that I'm a complete idiot about anything even vaguely related to emotions.

  What better way to explore your emotions, however?  :-)

[azjayp]

i don't think you need to scap the whole part of the story for action at the beginning, but i feel that a little action at the beginning is always a good thing.  even if it is mundane action that has NOTHING to do with the main antagonist, showing that your character has guts and/or is a troublemaker and/or is crazy... helps the reader get into the book quickly, and shows a lot about your main character.

personaly i am far more interested at the beginning of a book about the main character than i am about the world (s)he lives in. that comes later.

i also suggest that you stop worrying about how many words are in the book and focus on a good story.

after putting in some little character entry action for the first chapter, you can then move on to everything else that you have already writen.

hope that helps.

[blgarver]

I intend to avoid romance, as every girl I've ever known had informed me in no uncertain terms that I'm a complete idiot about anything even vaguely related to emotions.

I'm in the same boat Adam.  However, I've begun a series of romantic comedies inspired by my own experiences with women.  So far i'm happy with it.

I think there needs to be conflict at the outset of any story.  But that doesn't have to be an action scene.  The first sentence of my romcom is the main character waking up half an hour late for work.  This creates conflict, as well as paints a pretty immediate picture of the type of character this guy is.  Then I throw in some integral details of the scene as he throws himself together and flies out the door - messy room, cluttered car with a broken back window, etc...

I think that you can set the scene and the tone, while showing the most important aspects of the character (ie, he's always late for work, he's a slob, yadda yadda) and use an immediate conflict as a vehicle for those things.  Mix it all together.  Give us a sampling of every aspect that the book has in store for us.