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150+ Story Starters: Creative Sentences To Start A Story

The most important thing about writing is finding a good idea . You have to have a great idea to write a story. You have to be able to see the whole picture before you can start to write it. Sometimes, you might need help with that. Story starters are a great way to get the story rolling. You can use them to kick off a story, start a character in a story or even start a scene in a story.

When you start writing a story, you need to have a hook. A hook can be a character or a plot device. It can also be a setting, something like “A young man came into a bar with a horse.” or a setting like “It was the summer of 1969, and there were no cell phones.” The first sentence of a story is often the hook. It can also be a premise or a situation, such as, “A strange old man in a black cloak was sitting on the train platform.”

Story starters are a way to quickly get the story going. They give the reader a place to start reading your story. Some story starters are obvious, and some are not. The best story starters are the ones that give the reader a glimpse into the story. They can be a part of a story or a part of a scene. They can be a way to show the reader the mood of a story. If you want to start a story, you can use a simple sentence. You can also use a question or an inspirational quote. In this post, we have listed over 150 story starters to get your story started with a bang! A great way to use these story starters is at the start of the Finish The Story game .

If you want more story starters, check out this video on some creative story starter sentences to use in your stories:

150+ Creative Story Starters

Here is a list of good sentences to start a story with:

• I’ve read about a million stories about princesses but never thought I could ever be one.
• There was once a man who was very old, but he was wise. He lived for a very long time, and he was very happy.
• What is the difference between a man and a cat? A cat has nine lives.
• In the middle of the night, a boy is running through the woods.
• It is the end of the world.
• He knew he was not allowed to look into the eyes of the princess, but he couldn’t help himself.
• The year is 1893. A young boy was running away from home.
• What if the Forest was actually a magical portal to another dimension, the Forest was a portal to the Otherworld?
• In the Forest, you will find a vast number of magical beings of all sorts. 
• It was the middle of the night, and the forest was quiet. No bugs or animals disturbed the silence. There were no birds, no chirping. 
• If you wish to stay in the Forest, you will need to follow these rules: No one shall leave the Forest. No one shall enter. No one shall take anything from the Forest.
• “It was a terrible day,” said the old man in a raspy voice.
• A cat is flying through the air, higher and higher, when it happens, and the cat doesn’t know how it got there, how it got to be in the sky.
• I was lying in the woods, and I was daydreaming.
• The Earth is a world of wonders. 
• The fairy is the most amazing creature I have ever met.
• A young girl was sitting on a tree stump at the edge of a river when she noticed a magical tree growing in the water.
• My dancing rat is dressed in a jacket, a tie and glasses, which make him look like a person. 
• In the darkness of the night, I am alone, but I know that I am not. 
• Owls are the oldest, and most intelligent, of all birds.
• My name is Reyna, and I am a fox. 
• The woman was drowning.
• One day, he was walking in the forest.
• It was a dark and stormy night…
• There was a young girl who could not sleep…
• A boy in a black cape rode on a white horse…
• A crazy old man in a black cloak was sitting in the middle of the street…
• The sun was setting on a beautiful summer day…
• The dog was restless…”
• There was a young boy in a brown coat…
• I met a young man in the woods…
• In the middle of a dark forest…
• The young girl was at home with her family…
• There was a young man who was sitting on a …
• A young man came into a bar with a horse…
• I have had a lot of bad dreams…
• He was a man who wanted to be king…
• It was the summer of 1969, and there were no cell phones.
• I know what you’re thinking. But no, I don’t want to be a vegetarian. The worst part is I don’t like the taste.
• She looked at the boy and decided to ask him why he wasn’t eating. She didn’t want to look mean, but she was going to ask him anyway.
• The song played on the radio, as Samual wiped away his tears.
• This was the part when everything was about to go downhill. But it didn’t…
• “Why make life harder for yourself?” asked Claire, as she bit into her apple.
• She made a promise to herself that she would never do it.
• I was able to escape.
• I was reading a book when the accident happened.
• “I can’t stand up for people who lie and cheat.” I cried.
• You look at me and I feel beautiful.
• I know what I want to be when I grow up.
• We didn’t have much money. But we knew how to throw a good party.
• The wind blew on the silent streets of London.
• What do you get when you cross an angry bee and my sister?
• The flight was slow and bumpy. I was half asleep when the captain announced we were going down.
• At the far end of the city was a river that was overgrown with weeds. 
• It was a quiet night in the middle of a busy week.
• One afternoon, I was eating a sandwich in the park when I spotted a stranger.
• In the late afternoon, a few students sat on the lawn reading.
• The fireflies were dancing in the twilight as the sunset.
• In the early evening, the children played in the park.
• The sun was setting and the moon was rising.
• A crowd gathered in the square as the band played.
• The top of the water tower shone in the moonlight.
• The light in the living room was on, but the light in the kitchen was off.
•  When I was a little boy, I used to make up stories about the adventures of these amazing animals, creatures, and so on. 
• All of the sudden, I realized I was standing in the middle of an open field surrounded by nothing but wildflowers, and the only thing I remembered about it was that I’d never seen a tree before.
• It’s the kind of thing that’s only happened to me once before in my life, but it’s so cool to see it.
• They gave him a little wave as they drove away.
• The car had left the parking lot, and a few hours later we arrived home.
• They were going to play a game of bingo.
• He’d made up his mind to do it. He’d have to tell her soon, though. He was waiting for a moment when they were alone and he could say it without feeling like an idiot. But when that moment came, he couldn’t think of anything to say.
• Jamie always wanted to own a plane, but his parents were a little tight on the budget. So he’d been saving up to buy one of his own. 
• The night was getting colder, and the wind was blowing in from the west.
• The doctor stared down at the small, withered corpse.
• She’d never been in the woods before, but she wasn’t afraid.
• The kids were having a great time in the playground.
• The police caught the thieves red-handed.
• The world needs a hero more than ever.
• Mother always said, “Be good and nice things will happen…”
• There is a difference between what you see and what you think you see.
• The sun was low in the sky and the air was warm.
• “It’s time to go home,” she said, “I’m getting a headache.”
• It was a cold winter’s day, and the snow had come early.
• I found a wounded bird in my garden.
• “You should have seen the look on my face.”
• He opened the door and stepped back.
• My father used to say, “All good things come to an end.”
• The problem with fast cars is that they break so easily.
• “What do you think of this one?” asked Mindy.
• “If I asked you to do something, would you do it?” asked Jacob.
• I was surprised to see her on the bus.
• I was never the most popular one in my class.
• We had a bad fight that day.
• The coffee machine had stopped working, so I went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea.
• It was a muggy night, and the air-conditioning unit was so loud it hurt my ears.
• I had a sleepless night because I couldn’t get my head to turn off.
• I woke up at dawn and heard a horrible noise.
• I was so tired I didn’t know if I’d be able to sleep that night.
• I put on the light and looked at myself in the mirror.
• I decided to go in, but the door was locked.
• A man in a red sweater stood staring at a little kitten as if it was on fire.
• “It’s so beautiful,” he said, “I’m going to take a picture.”
• “I think we’re lost,” he said, “It’s all your fault.”
• It’s hard to imagine what a better life might be like
• He was a tall, lanky man, with a long face, a nose like a pin, and a thin, sandy moustache.
• He had a face like a lion’s and an eye like a hawk’s.
• The man was so broad and strong that it was as if a mountain had been folded up and carried in his belly.
• I opened the door. I didn’t see her, but I knew she was there.
• I walked down the street. I couldn’t help feeling a little guilty.
• I arrived at my parents’ home at 8:00 AM.
• The nurse had been very helpful.
• On the table was an array of desserts.
• I had just finished putting the last of my books in the trunk.
• A car horn honked, startling me.
• The kitchen was full of pots and pans.
• There are too many things to remember.
• The world was my oyster. I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
•  “My grandfather was a World War II veteran. He was a decorated hero who’d earned himself a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart.
• Beneath the menacing, skeletal shadow of the mountain, a hermit sat on his ledge. His gnarled hands folded on his gnarled knees. His eyes stared blankly into the fog. 
• I heard a story about a dragon, who was said to be the size of a house, that lived on the top of the tallest mountain in the world.
•  I was told a story about a man who found a golden treasure, which was buried in this very park.
• He stood alone in the middle of a dark and silent room, his head cocked to one side, the brown locks of his hair, which were parted in the middle, falling down over his eyes.
•  Growing up, I was the black sheep of the family. I had my father’s eyes, but my mother’s smile.
• Once upon a time, there was a woman named Miss Muffett, and she lived in a big house with many rooms.
• When I was a child, my mother told me that the water looked so bright because the sun was shining on it. I did not understand what she meant at the time.    
•  The man in the boat took the water bottle and drank from it as he paddled away.
• The man looked at the child with a mixture of pity and contempt.
• An old man and his grandson sat in their garden. The old man told his grandson to dig a hole. 
• An old woman was taking a walk on the beach . The tide was high and she had to wade through the water to get to the other side.
• She looked up at the clock and saw that it was five minutes past seven.
• The man looked up from the map he was studying. “How’s it going, mate?”
• I was in my room on the third floor, staring out of the window.
• A dark silhouette of a woman stood in the doorway.
• The church bells began to ring.
• The moon rose above the horizon.
• A bright light shone over the road.
• The night sky began to glow.
• I could hear my mother cooking in the kitchen.
• The fog began to roll in.
• He came in late to the class and sat at the back.
• A young boy picked up a penny and put it in his pocket.
• He went to the bathroom and looked at his face in the mirror.
• It was the age of wisdom and the age of foolishness. We once had everything and now we have nothing.
• A young man died yesterday, and no one knows why.
• The boy was a little boy. He was not yet a man. He lived in a house in a big city.
• They had just returned from the theatre when the phone rang.
• I walked up to the front of the store and noticed the neon sign was out.
• I always wondered what happened to Mary.
• I stopped to say hello and then walked on.
• The boy’s mother didn’t want him to play outside…
• The lights suddenly went out…
• After 10 years in prison, he was finally out.
• The raindrops pelted the window, which was set high up on the wall, and I could see it was a clear day outside.
• My friend and I had just finished a large pizza, and we were about to open our second.
• I love the smell of the ocean, but it never smells as good as it does when the waves are crashing.
• They just stood there, staring at each other.
• A party was in full swing until the music stopped.

For more ideas on how to start your story, check out these first-line writing prompts . Did you find this list of creative story starters useful? Let us know in the comments below!

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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How to Start a Story: 10 Ways to Get Your Story Off to a Great Start

by Joslyn Chase | 0 comments

Perhaps you’ve heard the old publishing proverb: The first page sells the book; the last page sells the next book. I’m convinced there’s a mammoth grain of truth in that. The beginning and the end of any story are critical elements that you really want to nail. Today, we’re going to focus on how to start a story—in other words, how you can craft a spectacular beginning that will hold readers spellbound and get them to turn that first all-important page.

Whether you’re pitching to an agent, a publisher, or direct to the reader, your opening lines form the basis for how they’ll judge the rest of your story. You have about a sixty-second window of influence before that initial judgment solidifies. It follows that this is a good place to invest your time and effort.

Granted, a compelling opening is not an easy task to accomplish. Besides grabbing the reader's attention, you want to ground readers in a setting, establish voice, hint at theme, and introduce a protagonist readers can get behind. To do this, you need to answer specific questions for your reader, while at the same time planting others.

Story Revolves Around Questions

Cultivating questions for your reader is what keeps them turning the pages, but you’ll lose them if you don’t provide answers, as well. If you want your reader to commit to your story, it’s best to establish a few essentials right up front.

• Whose story is it? You’re asking your reader to spend serious time with your protagonist. They’ll want to know who they’ll be rooting for.
• What kind of story is it? Readers go into a book looking for a particular type of reading experience and you need to let them know they’ve come to the right place.
• When and where is the story happening? Setting is hugely important to selling your reader. I did a workshop with top editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and one of the most frequent critiques she gave writers was: “There’s no setting. You lost me on setting.”
• What’s the story behind the story? When readers think story, they think plot . Writers know the real story is internal—not what happens, but how those events affect the characters. While you won’t necessarily lay your hero open on the first page of your story, hinting at his internal struggle gets the reader on his side.
• Why should the reader care? The most glorious descriptions or action-packed drama won’t hook your reader if you don’t give them a reason to care about your character. Answering the four questions above will help do this, but you’ll need to give more.

10 Compelling Ways to Start a Story

You’ve got to command reader attention and answer some important questions, but what does that look like on the page? How do you structure your opening to accomplish those objectives?

Have you heard of modeling? Life coaches and success gurus talk about it a lot. It involves finding someone who’s wildly effective at doing what you want to do and studying their methods to duplicate their success. If in doubt, go to the opening pages of bestselling books in your chosen genre and see how the masters did it.

Beyond that, there are so many ways to go. Here are ten ways to start a story you might consider:

1. Strong Voice

Example: “Mae Mobley was born on a early Sunday morning in August 1960. A church baby we like to call it. Taking care a white babies, that’s what I do, along with all the cooking and the cleaning. I done raised seventeen kids in my lifetime. I know how to get them babies to sleep, stop crying, and go in the toilet bowl before they mamas even get out a bed in the morning.” The Help, Kathryn Stockett

Example: “I smiled when I saw the dead girl. Just for a moment. Reflex, I suppose.” The Snow Angel, Doug Allyn

2. Relevant Anecdote

Example: “When Ella Brady was six she went to Quentins. It was the first time anyone had called her Madam. A woman in a black dress with a lace collar had led them to the table. She had settled Ella’s parents in and then held out a chair for the six-year-old. ‘You might like to sit here, Madam, it will give you a full view of everything,’ she said. Ella was delighted.” Quentins, Maeve Binchy

Example: “I hope this video camera works. Anyway, this (click) is a blowup of a model’s eye, the bluest I’ve ever seen. The only other time I remember seeing that exact color of blue was the day my sister Nicole drowned. It was everwhere: in the water, in the sky, Nicole’s skin. Blue, I remember, and coughing.” Forgetting The Girl, Peter Moore Smith

3. Intriguing Mystery

Example: “Who am I? And how, I wonder, will this story end?” The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks

Example: “People’s lives—their real lives, as opposed to their simple physical existences—begin at different times. The real life of Thad Beaumont, a young boy who was born and raised in the Ridgeway section of Bergenfield, New Jersey, began in 1960. Two things happened to him that year. The first shaped his life; the second almost ended it.” The Dark Half, Stephen King

4. Uneasy Suspense

Example: “The smell of newly rotting flesh hit Jakaya Makinda. He stopped his Land Rover, grabbed his binoculars off the seat beside him, and trained them in the direction of the odor’s source.” Death in the Serengeti , David H. Hendrickson

I used this as an example of Uneasy Suspense, but Hendrickson kicked it off with a startling first sentence and infused it with setting, layering the effect.

Example: “Water gushed out of the corroded faucet into the chipped, porcelain tub, pooling at the bottom with a few tangled strands of long, brown hair. The water was easily 120 degrees. So hot that Katelyn Berkley could hardly stand to dip her painted green toenails into it. The scalding water instantly turned her pale skin mottled shades of crimson.” Envy, Gregg Olsen

5. Stirring Theme

Example: “I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.” The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

I used this excerpt as an example of stirring theme, but it is bursting with other elements and could be placed under setting, suspense, voice, character, world tilting off-center, and an enthralling first sentence.

Example: “Sometimes it’s overwhelming: the burden of knowing that the man you most admire isn’t real. Then the depression that you’ve fought all your life creeps in, the anxiety. The borders of your life contract, stifling, suffocating.” The Adventure of the Laughing Fisherman, Jeffery Deaver

This one’s got a pretty kicking first sentence, too.

6. Dynamic Setting

Example: “Out of a cloudless sky on a windless November day came a sudden shadow that swooped across the bright aqua Corvette. Tommy Phan was standing beside the car, in pleasantly warm autumn sunshine, holding out his hand to accept the keys from Jim Shine, the salesman, when the fleeting shade touched him. He heard a brief thrumming like frantic wings. Glancing up, he expected to glimpse a sea gull, but not a single bird was in sight.” Tick Tock, Dean Koontz

This is also a nice instance of uneasy suspense.

Example: “They were parked on Union, in front of her place, their knees locked in conference around the stick shift, Janna and Justin talking, necking a little, the windows just beginning to steam.” Shared Room on Union, Steven Heighton

7. Quirky or Startling Opening Sentence

Example: “The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted.” The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Stephen King

Example: “As soon as he stepped into the dim apartment he knew he was dead.” Garden of Beasts, Jeffery Deaver

Both of these examples also instill suspense, as they suggest danger and leave the reader anxious to find out more.

8. Compelling Character

Example: “First the colors. Then the humans. That’s usually how I see things. Or at least, how I try.” The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

What kind of character is this you ask yourself, compelled to go on.

Example: “Everyone knows this kid. He is dirty and dumb and sits in a corner, lonely, but not alone. His face has an involuntary twitch, and when he makes eye contact, his lids and cheeks squeeze his eyes shut. We call him Blinky. Blinky rolls with it, though, smiles big and toothy when kids shout his name across the schoolyard.” A Bottle of Scotch and a Sharp Buck Knife, Scott Grand

I chose this for character, but it’s got a big dose of voice in it, as well.

9. Tilting World

Example: “The ravens were the first sign. As the horse-drawn wagon traveled down the rutted track between rolling fields of barley, a flock of ravens rose up in a black wash. They hurled themselves into the blue of the morning and swept high in a panicked rout, but this was more than the usual startled flight. The ravens wheeled and swooped, tumbled and flapped. Over the road, they crashed into each other and rained down out of the skies. Small bodies struck the road, breaking wing and beak. They twitched in ruts. Wings fluttered weakly. But most disturbing was the silence of it all.” The Doomsday Key, James Rollins

Is there any doubt the world in this story is twisting off its axis?

Example: “On the afternoon I met my new neighbor, a woman others in the cul-de-sac would dub ‘Ramba,’ I wasn’t looking for trouble. In fact, I wasn’t looking for anything other than to enter my first full month of retirement with a small military pension and dreams of a hop to Florida or Hawaii once a year until my expiration date arrived.” Many Dogs Have Died Here, James Mathews

Nothing explicit occurs off the bat, but Mathews sets up for the punch. This poor sucker’s world is tilting.

10. Engaging Dialogue

Example: “'You look like crap, Pen.' Pendleton Rozier, my longtime mentor, opened the door wide, then coughed into the crook of his elbow. ‘If only I felt that good.’” Rule Number One, Alan Orloff

Example: “'Which is even weirder yet,’ Gowan said. ‘But that ain’t the best part.’ At approximately which point, Kramer didn’t want to hear any more. It had been a mistake to let Gowan get started. He went outside into the mild March evening to take a leak and get away from Gowan for a little while before hitting the sack. ‘Seriousy, I got the skinny on ‘em,’ Gowan said, unzipping and joining him at the edge of the porch.” Spring Rite, Tom Berdine

You’ll notice writing voice and character here, too.

Invest in a Great Beginning

Spending the time and effort to craft a superb opening for your story is a good investment. However, worrying over it can hold you up. If you’re spinning your wheels over how to start a story, just get something down and move on.

Then, when you’ve reached the end of your story and you have a better understanding of the theme, tone, and characters, you can go back and fine tune or start from scratch to design your perfect beginning.

Beautiful Bookends

In fact, doing so may afford you the opportunity to bookend your story with a beginning and ending that reflect on each other, enclosing your entire story in a nice, thematic package that’s very satisfying to readers.

For instance, my thriller novel Nocturne In Ashes opens with the protagonist, a concert pianist, bombing her comeback performance. Then at the end, after surviving a series of harrowing experiences and battling her inner flaw, she’s gained the confidence she needed and nails the Beethoven that was her downfall.

I’ve touched on some ideas to get you off to a great start, but there are many other types of openings to explore. If you’re having trouble, hit the library and see how others have done it. You’re sure to find something that works for your story. And have fun!

How about you? Do you struggle with how to start a story? What book openings have made an impression on you? Tell us about it in the comments .

Using one of the types of openings outlined above, write the beginning for a story idea you have in mind, or choose from one of these prompts:

Stella is nervous about meeting her ex-husband for dinner.

Darren takes his son on a hunting trip, determined to teach him how to be a man.

Cheryl wants to try out for the girls’ softball team, but the captain is her ex-best-friend.

Write for fifteen minutes and when you’re finished, post your work in the Pro Practice Workshop. And if you post, be sure to leave feedback for your fellow readers!

Joslyn Chase

Any day where she can send readers to the edge of their seats, prickling with suspense and chewing their fingernails to the nub, is a good day for Joslyn. Pick up her latest thriller, Staccato Passage , an explosive read that will keep you turning pages to the end. No Rest: 14 Tales of Chilling Suspense , Joslyn's collection of short suspense, is available for free at joslynchase.com .

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5 ways to start a story: Choosing a bold beginning

Great authors show us there are many ways to start a story. You could begin a novel with a narrator/character introducing himself, like Salinger’s Holden Caufield or Dickens’ David Copperfield. Or you could begin in the thick of action, as Ray Bradbury’s does in his classic novel, Fahrenheit 451.

• Post author By Jordan
• 46 Comments on 5 ways to start a story: Choosing a bold beginning

Great authors show us there are many ways to start a story. You could begin a novel with a narrator/character introducing himself, like Salinger’s Holden Caufield or Dickens’ David Copperfield. Or you could begin in the thick of action, as Ray Bradbury’s does in his classic novel, Fahrenheit 451 .

Have a read of the opening page or pages of authors you love, and explore how each starts a story, and notice how each is distinct from the other. A Stephen King novel will begin very differently from a Lianne Moriarty story, for example. Is there any bad writing? What makes it so, and what can you learn from it? Have they used active voice or passive voice? How does this change the opening? Compare a few to get a sense of the differences, and how each author’s distinct style comes through. 

Before you begin, write down your story idea or your story structure. This doesn’t have to be a outline, but merely a few lines, stating the premise of that story.

Ways to start a story that engage your reader

These five types of story beginnings work:

Introduce readers to a memorable narrator-protagonist

Begin with crucial memories, start with ambiguous action, lead with a purposeful prologue, open with the unexpected.

Watch the summary video on ways to begin stories now, then read discussion of the story beginnings below:

This is how to start a story about a character coming of age or grappling with internal conflict . These novels typically use first person narration. From the first line, the reader gets to know a characterful narrator. Decide whether you will use a first person narrator, or another point of view.

For example, Salinger’s Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye (1951) has a strong voice and clear, disaffected teen persona:

‘If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.’ J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye (1951)

This opening is effective because we get a strong sense of the character’s personality in his terse use of curse words, slang and adjectives (‘crap’, ‘lousy’). Being addressed directly by the narrator creates a sense of closeness and familiarity. This effect is similar to Charlotte Bronte’s ‘Reader, I married him’ in Jane Eyre .

Another strong example of this story opening type, the protagonist/narrator introduction, is Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita (1955). Nabokov begins his entire novel with his depraved anti-hero, Humbert Humbert, musing on the name of Lolita, the young object of his obsession:

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)

Nabokov’s opening is strong because personality and character psychology are present from the first line.

When you start a story with your main character introducing themselves, remember to:

• Give them a distinctive voice: The grandiose language of Humbert Humbert fits the character, as do Salinger’s teen’s own cynical words.
• Show what matters to your character/narrator from the start: Holden values authenticity (‘if you want to know the truth’). We get a visceral sense of Humbert’s creepy obsession with Lolita through his rapture at even saying her name.

Often novels open with narrators recalling memories that are core to the plot. This can be part of the writing process and is of the ways to start a story that builds on a strong hook that is closely linked to your main plot. Tweet This

Starting with memories requires knowing your character well, such as how their backstory guides their goals, motivations and potential conflicts.

This is especially common in novels where a single, unforgettable event casts its shadow over the rest of the book (e.g. the murder in a murder mystery).

Framing an event in your story through a character’s memory gives it weight. It’s also a crucial part of character development. When you begin your novel with your main character remembering an earlier scene, it’s thus important to choose the right scene. As novel writing coach Romy Sommer says:

An issue I see with a lot of beginner writers is they tend to write the backstory as the story itself… that backstory is usually you as the writer writing it for yourself so you can understand the characters. ‘Understanding Character Arcs: How to create characters’, webinar preview here.

Consider that you might be describing too much of a character’s everyday life. While some details are good, remember that doing so should also serve the story, but not bog it it down in too many details. 

Choose a scene that shows a dilemma or choice, or a powerfully emotional experience that is bound to have consequences for your character.

For example, Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time  opens with the 15-year-old narrator Christopher finding his neighbour’s murdered dog:

It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears’ house. Its eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they’re chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog. Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (2003)

Haddon’s opening is effective because it builds up to the revelation that the dog was killed violently. It’s effective because it raises questions we want answered.

When you begin with your narrator recalling a key memory, remember to:

• Choose a scene that immediately starts giving the reader keys to understanding: Haddon’s narrator proceeds to hug the bleeding dog, for example, so that we start to realise that Christopher is unusual in some way.
• Show the reader the memory: Haddon does not just say ‘Christopher found his neighbour’s dog, killed with a garden fork.’ We discover the dog through Christopher’s eyes, and this increases the scene’s impact.

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A little bit of mystery or confusion at the start of your novel can help to reel readers in.

At the same time, make sure your opening isn’t so mystifying that the reader bails in frustration.

Even if the purpose or reasons for your ambiguous opening aren’t clear at first, the action itself must sustain readers’ interest until there is more clarity.

Consider the opening of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 :

It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venemous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history.’ Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

The first sentence is ambiguous – who, or what, is burning? The next slowly fills in context: We learn a character is using kerosene to burn something, to destroy ‘history’, but we still don’t know what exactly. We only learn by the end of the paragraph that the character Montag is burning books.

This way of beginning a story is effective because Bradbury prolongs a mixture of suspense and confusion, yet the character’s action itself is clear.

If you begin a book with ambiguous, teasing action:

• Give the reader answers to at least one (or some) of the ‘5 w’s’. We might not immediately know who is doing the burning (or what they’re burning), but Bradbury gives us a strong why : Pleasure. The relish with which Montag burns the books is clear
• By the end of the first paragraph, give the reader a little more clarity, as Bradbury does

‘Prologue’ literally means the ‘before word’. This separate introductory or prefatory section in a novel has several uses:

• Giving broad historical context that paves the way for the main story
• Showing a scene or event preceding the main narrative, whose consequences ripple through the following story

Donna Tartt uses the second type of prologue to excellent effect in her mystery novel The Secret History . Her prologue tells us that a character is murdered, that the narrator is somehow complicit, and that he will narrate the events that led up to the murder in the coming narrative.

This teaser makes it clear that motive, rather than identity, is the main mystery behind the killing.

Tartt’s prologue wastes no time in revealing key information that shapes our expectations for the main story:

The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation. He’d been dead for ten days before they found him, you know. Donna Tartt, The Secret History (1992).

By immediately framing the story around Bunny’s murder and its aftermath, Tartt’s prologue directs our attention to the ground the coming story will cover. Not the fact of Bunny’s death but the swirl of events that spin out from this crime. It marks out a path into reading and making sense of the story.

Do you want to include a prologue in your book ? Ask:

Do the events in the first part of your book need telling explaining prior events?

If yes, why?

In Tartt’s case, giving away key events in the prologue is smart, structurally. Because the identity of the murder victim (and at least one person responsible) is revealed early, the main narrative of the story is free to focus on character motivations and consequences and not just crime-solving.

Would your story flow better if you told earlier events via character flashbacks or a prologue?

Try writing a scene as a prologue, then write the same scene as a flashback. Which fits the scene better?

If you’re unsure how to start your novel, our writing coaches will help you get on track.

The most memorable story openings surprise us and make us pause for a moment.

Take Bradbury’s beginning to Fahrenheit 451 above, ‘It was a pleasure to burn.’ It’s unexpected.

This is partially because of its inner contradiction. We know that getting a burn from a hot plate is painful, and the idea of pleasure is thus surprising.

The ambiguity of ‘it’ means we don’t know initially whether the narrator is describing an odd pleasure in burning himself or burning something else.

Examples from famous books reveal this has always been one of the popular ways to start a story. For example, Dodie Smith opens I Capture the Castle (1949):

‘I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.’

The narrator Cassandra’s choice of sitting place is unusual, intriguing us to read the next sentence. Whichever way you choose to begin your novel, getting the reader to read the second sentence is the first, crucial feat.

Start your own novel now: brainstorm story themes, settings and characters and get helpful feedback from the Now Novel community.

Related Posts:

• How to start a fantasy story: 6 intriguing ways
• Writing a story from beginning to end: How to take…
• How to start a scene: 5 ways to reel readers in
• Tags ways to start a story. story beginnings

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

46 replies on “5 ways to start a story: Choosing a bold beginning”

I feel you have made some excellent choices to illustrate the point of today’s lesson. Each extract is a finely crafted piece of flash fiction as it stands.

Glad you enjoyed the choices, Bob (and thanks for sharing on Twitter).

looking for a way to start my Wattpad story besides starting it with dialougue

Thank you for reading the blog 🙂

This is really interesting thanks <3

It’s a pleasure, Akane-chan, thanks for reading our blog!

Me, deciding how to start my story, brough me here. This gave an idea on how I would want start it. Thanks.

I’m glad to hear that, Daniel! It’s our pleasure, thanks for reading our articles. Good luck with your story.

How do I introduce a death flashback at the beginning of my story???

Hi Karthik, thank you for asking. If it’s a death flashback would that mean your viewpoint character is remembering their death from the afterlife? I’d suggest starting just before the event leading to their death so that the scene is already at a high point of tension. Good luck! We have some advice on writing flashbacks here: https://www.nownovel.com/blog/incorporate-flashbacks-into-a-story/

I’m writing a story where the female lead is posing as a male at this all boy’s school, where he missing father used to attend. I’m unsure if I should start with a history of the school, he family life and motives, a group of males figuring her out or a point in the story where said males already know of her true identity. Any tips?

Hi Eiseley, I would say starting with a high-stakes, high-tension moment (your protagonist’s identity being found out, for example) would be a good beginning – you can always circle back to how it is they came to be attending the school in disguise.

[…] http://www.education.com/lesson-plan/finding-the-moral/http://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/lesson-plans/the-art-of-storytelling/http://www.literacyideas.com/latest/2018/2/3/5-fun-ways-to-use-fables-in-your-literacy-lessonshttp://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/kids-storieshttps://www.nownovel.com/blog/ways-to-start-story-examples/ […]

“it was too late “she sigh. the act was already done .. do not know how to start this short story and include this sentence

Hi Shebekie, you’re getting there! I’d suggest editing to: ‘It was too late. She sighed – the deed was already done.’ To continue it, you could tease out the mystery surrounding the nature of the character’s deed further. For example, you could imply potential consequences (e.g. ‘Now she’d have to tell the others’).

Hi I’m trying to find out how to correctly start my sorry without boring the audience. The story is about a teenage boy transferring to a new high school which he finds a girl that is unloving and careless so he’s trying to win her heart over and prove that she can truly be loved.

Hi Darhnell, thank you for sharing that. I would say you have a good starting point in your MC transferring to a new high school, as that’s a situation that would likely be full of surprise, change, trepidation, anxiety, new friends (or new foes), etc. So showing the first time your character enters the new school, for example, or how he feels in the lead-up to arrival, would be one way to start.

Or you could start in medias res (in the middle of the action) with a significant moment during his first day at the new school. For example, his first interaction with the girl, circling back to how he got there later in the chapter. These are just some ideas. I hope this helps!

Hi, nice tips. I was wondering how to start a short story for 2 boys named Luke and Max stranded in their canoes. They were set on a research expedition on the animals in Antarctica but they got lost and couldn’t find anything. They are trying to head home by following the North star so they could reach their lab in Argentina. Pls, help me start. I was going with the idea of saying. “It was 7 minutes after midnight in Antarctica. The water swayed from ice-burg to ice-burg leaving a sparkling coat. Luke and Max were vigorously paddling their canoes towards the north start hoping at any moment they could get back to their warm and cpzy lab back in Argentina”

Hi Bob, thank you for the feedback and for sharing your idea. Not being much of an astronomer myself I had to check regarding Polaris (the North Star) and apparently it is only visible under certain conditions south of the equator, so perhaps they’d need another navigational technique. A compass, perhaps?

If it is after midnight and they are that far south, hypothermia would be a major risk, so perhaps the boys don’t get that far south to begin with? You can of course bend the rules of physics and geography in fiction if you want to tell a fantastical story. There are a few typos (‘ice-burg’ for ‘iceberg’, ‘start’ for ‘star’ and so forth) but other than that it is a suspenseful situation for an opening. Some readers may question the science behind some of the details mentioned though.

Beginning in the middle of the action is interesting, just make sure the exposition of the story continues to explain why the boys are there in the first place. I hope this is helpful!

Wow so good ways to start a story

Thank you, Priyank. Good luck with your own!

im writing a creative story about an orphan girl and im trying to craete the story but i need help any chance you would help me

Hi Ivokjuca, happily! What do you need help with? Please feel free to mail us at [email protected] too with your challenge.

Thank you very much for the tips… i was wondering how to start my story which i am writing about an incident of my life which is a complete secret to date. i hope this will help me start my piece

Hi Rashmi, it’s a pleasure! Good luck with starting your story and developing it further.

Thank you very much for the tips. it is really very helpful for me. Keep Sharing.

Thank you for your feedback, Anu! We will do so.

[…] https://www.nownovel.com/blog/ways-to-start-story-examples/ […]

Thanks a lot for this. It helped me a lot.

It’s a pleasure, thank you for reading our articles.

Hi there! I am a young writer (13 to be exact), and I am brainstorming for a way to start my first novel. Can you perhaps give me some inspiration? My novel is about three teenagers: Claire Minch, Samuel Ploy, and Sheila Crover. They live on a technologically advanced planet called Gyn, where the whole world’s population receives warnings from their future selves, or so they thought. In the end, I want it to state that instead of being warned by their future selves, the warnings are given by a Krewd (Demon) who has been leading them down the wrong path all along. Please give me some advice. I have been all over the internet, bt nothing really sparked my imagination for the start of my novel.

Hi Anani, thank you for sharing that (it’s great you’re working hard on your writing by the way).

It’s an interesting idea. Given the interesting warning system you described, starting with one of the warnings could be one way to go. How are the warnings broadcast, and is there a schedule (e.g. do they know when the warnings are going to come, do they each get their warnings at the same time, and is it transmitted via tech or something they just hear?).

Keep asking questions, as you will know best what to choose. Are you looking for inspiration for any particular character or part of the story?

I hope the questions I asked help!

It’s always good to read and learn about stories

That it is, Mark 🙂 Thanks for reading our blog.

I am trying to write a thriller and romantic story pls help me

Hi Nish, with pleasure. What aspect of the story would you like help with? Do you have a firm story idea developed already? What about it is giving you trouble? You can find all our articles on writing romantic stories here .

This tips were quite helpful. Though, I still have a few holes on how to start my story.

Thank you for sharing that, Georgina. What are there holes around? You might find this article on how to avoid plot holes helpful.

As a student and teacher of English, I had to read, write and teach a number of stories. I learnt about the essential plot parts, techniques, character-development and so on. The problem with me, while writing my own stories, I forgot mostly what I had learnt about story writing. I thought I was writing some really interesting stories though. I started sending my stories to online, offline magazines, started participating in Flash Fiction Contests where I had my fellow writers commenting on my stories. I felt that I could consider myself to be a competent writer. But aren’t competent, capable writers supposed to have name and fame? Aren’t they supposed to be rich? Even after having written over 500 short stories, forget about being rich, I wasn’t even earning a penny? If I don’t get published, if I don’t get paid by writing, am I going to die an unfulfilled writer? These questions have become paramount in my mind lately. In my early 60s, I am not sure any more if writing is the thing for someone like me with very little economic freedom. Writing is reaching a point in my retired life when it is not sheer fun anymore. My question to you is, would you still advise me to continue writing? Do you still think that there is a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel? Stay blessed.

Hi Rathin, thank you for sharing this personal account of your writing path. I would say it depends on your aims. To make money from writing, it is crucial to approach it as a business and do careful market research, invest time in marketing your work, and use every available resource (social media, Amazon author pages (if you’re listing work there), Goodreads, and other places such as book fairs to build an audience interested in what you have to say.

This being said, writing is lucrative for very few writers and many support their writing with side hustles. Fame and riches are goals beyond one’s immediate control, there being so many variable factors involved in earning them, so I would always advocate writing for passion and the pleasure of creation and communication above money or fame.

It is challenging to have ‘very little economic freedom’ as you describe, as that makes writing more of a luxury if it isn’t contributing income. Approaching it as a pleasure and an escape into creation rather than putting financial pressure on the process may be best for keeping the joy of it alive, though (one can do commercial writing such as copywriting for money as it tends to pay better per hours invested). I hope this is helpful, it is of course a highly subjective perspective.

This was so helpfull. And i think i know how i can start my story! But how will i switch from a prologue to a chapter

Hi Cliffton, thank you for sharing your kind feedback. I’m glad you have an idea about how you want to start your story. That’s a broad question, what information do you plan to share in your prologue? Many effective prologues do a little worldbuilding while creating a little curiosity, then the first chapter picks up with immediate, scene-level action or a character’s voice (the prologue giving more of a general sense of a situation, place or mood). There are so many ways to use a prologue – the main thing is to make it as interesting and curiosity rousing as chapter 1. Here’s something I wrote on prologues you may find useful.

Thanks for this useful tips.

Thanks George, glad you found them useful.

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How to Start a Story: 10 Secret Writing Tips

Every story begins with a blank page, but not every story captures the imagination from the first line. The art of starting a story is crucial, setting the tone, engaging the reader, and laying the groundwork for everything that follows. This guide explores various techniques to start a story, ensuring your narrative grabs attention and sets the stage for an unforgettable journey.

How to Start a Story: 10 Powerful Tips

The beginning of a story is your opportunity to make a memorable first impression. It’s where you grab the reader’s attention, setting the stage for the unfolding narrative. There are numerous techniques to start a story, each with the potential to enthrall your audience from the outset.

1. Start in the Middle of Things (In Media Res)

Starting your story ‘in media res’ , or in the middle of things, thrusts readers directly into the action and captures their attention from the first line. This technique bypasses preliminary exposition, offering immediate engagement with the narrative’s current events. It’s like opening a door to a room where the drama is already unfolding; the reader is compelled to piece together the backstory and understand the stakes involved. This approach not only energizes the narrative but also encourages active participation from the audience as they dive into the swirling currents of your story’s world.

2. Introduce a Compelling Character

Introducing a character as your opening move can create an immediate connection with the reader. This strategy involves presenting a character in a way that showcases their personality, desires, or conflicts, inviting the audience to invest emotionally in their journey. The key is to convey enough intrigue and depth in this introduction to compel readers to follow the character through their trials and triumphs. Whether it’s through a vivid portrayal of their internal monologue, a description of a defining action, or a glimpse into their daily life, this approach can set the stage for a character-driven narrative that resonates deeply with audiences.

3. Establish a Vivid Setting

Setting the stage with a vivid description of the world your story inhabits can immerse readers into your narrative from the outset. Establishing a setting involves more than just describing a location; it’s about creating an atmosphere that envelops the reader, offering a sense of place that is integral to the story’s unfolding. This technique works well when the setting plays a crucial role in the narrative, acting almost as a character in its own right. Whether it’s a dystopian future, a historical era, or a fantasy world, a well-crafted setting can intrigue readers and provide a solid foundation for the story to unfold.

4. Open with Intriguing Dialogue

Opening your story with dialogue is an effective way to drop readers straight into the scene, offering them a slice of life from your characters’ world. This approach can immediately highlight relationships, conflicts, or the story’s central theme without needing a detailed setup. Dialogue can be particularly engaging, as it reveals character personalities and motivations directly and dynamically, encouraging readers to invest in the unfolding drama.

5. Ask an Unforgettable Question

Kicking off your story with a question can immediately engage readers by sparking their curiosity and inviting them to ponder alongside the characters. This rhetorical or literal question can pertain to a mystery, a character’s dilemma, or a philosophical inquiry central to the story’s theme. By posing a question, you set readers on a quest for answers, effectively pulling them deeper into the narrative. This technique not only engages their intellect but also connects them emotionally, as they eagerly anticipate the resolution.

6. Present Intense Conflict

Establishing a conflict right from the start is a powerful way to captivate your audience. This conflict could be internal, pitting the protagonist against their own fears or desires, or external, involving other characters, society, or nature. By presenting a challenge or problem early on, you create a sense of urgency and tension that compels readers to keep turning the pages. They become invested in discovering how the conflict unfolds and resolves, driving the narrative forward.

7. Use Revealing Flashback / Flashforward

Leveraging a flashback or flashforward at the beginning of your story can intrigue readers by presenting them with a glimpse of the past or a vision of the future. This technique allows you to create a narrative bridge between different timelines, enriching the story’s context and depth. Whether it’s revealing a pivotal moment that shapes your protagonist’s journey or offering a sneak peek into the story’s climax, this approach weaves a complex tapestry of time that captivates readers’ imaginations and keeps them guessing.

8. Feature an Unreliable Narrator

An opening that introduces an unreliable narrator immediately sets a tone of intrigue and skepticism. This narrative voice, with its potential to obscure facts, manipulate truths, or even mislead, challenges readers to sift through the presented information critically. Engaging with such a narrator turns readers into detectives, piecing together the actual narrative from hints and half-truths, making the reading experience interactive and compelling.

9. Use an Insightful Epigraph

Starting with an epigraph — a quote, poem, or excerpt that precedes the story — can set the thematic tone and hint at the narrative’s underlying motifs. This chosen piece of text, often from another author or work, can offer readers insight into the story’s moral or philosophical underpinnings. It serves as a conceptual gateway, priming readers for the themes and questions the narrative will explore, and imbuing the story with a sense of depth and universality from the very beginning.

10. Begin with a Dramatic End

Revealing the story’s conclusion at the beginning, a technique known as in medias finis, intrigues readers by presenting the end first, then meticulously unraveling the events leading up to it. This narrative strategy creates a sense of anticipation and depth, as readers are drawn not to discover ‘what’ happens but ‘how’ and ‘why’ it unfolds as it does. By then circling back to the beginning, the narrative takes on a compelling momentum, driving readers forward with the desire to piece together the puzzle.

Common Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them

Crafting the beginning of a story is an art that balances information, intrigue, and pace. However, even seasoned writers can stumble into common traps that disengage readers from the outset. Recognizing these pitfalls is the first step towards captivating narratives.

Overloading with Exposition

Diving deep into background details at the start can overwhelm readers, distancing them from the core narrative. To avoid this, weave exposition naturally into the story through action, dialogue, and brief reflections. Introduce essential information as the story progresses, keeping readers curious and engaged. This approach maintains momentum while gradually building the world and characters in a way that feels organic and intriguing.

Starting Too Slow

A sluggish start risks losing readers’ attention. Jumpstart your narrative by plunging into a significant event or conflict, ensuring the opening scene is charged with purpose and direction. This doesn’t mean every story must begin with a bang; even quieter openings can captivate if they promise intrigue or emotional engagement. The key is to imbue the first pages with a sense of urgency or a question that begs to be answered.

Being Too Vague

While mystery can entice readers, excessive vagueness can lead to confusion and disinterest. Ensure your opening gives enough context to understand the setting and characters, without revealing all your secrets. A clear sense of who, what, where, and why—even if partially obscured—guides readers into your narrative with intrigue rather than frustration, striking a balance between mystery and clarity.

Using Clichéd Openings

Clichéd openings, such as waking up from a dream or a mundane daily routine, can signal a lack of originality and deter readers. Strive for an opening that feels fresh and intriguing. Experiment with unique scenarios or perspectives that offer new takes on familiar situations. This not only grabs the reader’s attention but also sets the expectation of a story that offers something out of the ordinary.

Failing to Set the Tone

The opening should signal the story’s atmosphere, genre, and style, preparing readers for the journey ahead. A mismatch between the start and the story’s tone can disorient and disappoint. If your tale is a thriller, infuse the beginning with tension; if it’s a comedy, let humor shine through from the first lines. Consistency in tone builds the reader’s trust and sets the stage for their immersion.

Ignoring the Hook

The hook is your story’s first impression, vital for captivating your audience. Neglecting this critical element can result in a lackluster start. Craft a hook that not only intrigues but also hints at the narrative’s heart. Whether it’s a compelling character, an intriguing setting, or a provocative question, ensure it’s something that immediately grabs attention and promises an engaging story. Keeping the hook relevant to the story’s core ensures that the initial curiosity blooms into sustained interest.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

In this section, we address some of the most common questions about starting a story, offering insights into why the beginning is so crucial and how to make it compelling for readers.

Why is the Start of a Story Important?

The start of a story sets the tone for everything that follows, acting as the reader’s first impression of your narrative world. It’s crucial because it either captivates the audience, encouraging them to dive deeper into your tale, or loses their interest, possibly leading them to set the book aside. A compelling beginning ensures readers are immediately engaged, setting the stage for character development and plot evolution.

How Important is the First Line in a Story?

The first line of a story is immensely important, serving as the hook that can intrigue readers and pull them into the narrative. It’s often the deciding factor in whether a reader chooses to continue exploring your story or not. A powerful first line establishes the narrative voice, hints at the story’s direction, and raises curiosity, making it a critical element of successful storytelling.

What is the Best Line to Start a Story?

The best line to start a story is one that immediately engages the reader’s curiosity, emotion, or imagination, prompting them to ask questions and desire more information. While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, effective opening lines often introduce an intriguing scenario, a compelling character, or a unique perspective that sets the tone for the story and distinguishes it from others.

How Can I Hook My Readers From the Beginning?

To hook readers from the beginning, start with a line or paragraph that evokes emotion, presents a compelling question, or introduces an unexpected situation. Utilizing elements like strong visuals, intriguing dialogue, or a mysterious scenario can effectively capture attention. The key is to create an opening that promises an engaging story worth investing time in, ensuring the reader’s curiosity is piqued from the very first words.

Yves Lummer

As the founder of BookBird, Yves Lummer has pioneered a thriving community for authors, leading more than 100,000 of them towards their dreams of self-publishing. His expertise in book marketing has become a catalyst for multiple best-sellers, establishing his reputation as an influential figure in the publishing world.

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51 Super Story Starter Sentences

Story Starter Sentences to Ignite Your Mind— We’ve made it easy for you to start your next story. You see, we put together a wonderfully fun and creative list of 51 story starter sentences. Hopefully, these ideas will give you the inspiration you need to get started on your next creative writing project.  

Why Use Story Prompts?

It’s true…

One of the most challenging parts of creative writing can be actually getting a new piece started.

I mean, it’s not always easy to come up with fresh ideas to hone your story-writing skills and before you know it, you can waste 30 minutes looking at a blank piece of paper.

Even if you have an idea, coming up with that opening line to get you started can be a challenge. The great news is once you get started the writing usually begins to flow. But, if you need some assistance getting your creative juices flowing…

Then you may find that our story starter sentences will ignite your mind with great ideas. Plus, they may also give you an opening line to get you going so you don’t spend all your time trying to come up with an idea on your own.

So get to it and use the writing prompts in your classroom today!

51 Story Starter Sentences

• Suddenly, icy fingers grabbed my arm as I inched through the darkness. 
• I suddenly found out that I was heir to a throne…
• She opened the letter and it said she’d won $100,000. 
• When I flipped on the radio that night, I couldn’t believe the voice I heard coming through the speakers. 
• I still remember the day I was born. 
• There was a secret meeting in the morning and she absolutely had to be there. 
• There was something about a music box that always made me think of home…
• I opened my eyes and had no idea where I was…
• He was heading back to the one place he hoped he’d never have to see again. 
• Today she would find out if her entire life was a lie. 
• Shaking, I grabbed his hand and said my goodbyes. 
• A road trip was just the thing for me and my friends.
• I turned on the 10:00 pm news only to see one of the biggest secrets of my life playing out before my eyes. 
• The roller coaster had stopped and we were left upside down…
• For months I’d been crying myself to sleep every night. 
• We were supposed to meet each other on the Bay Bridge at midnight, but he never showed up. 
• When I walked into the living room, huge bouquets of flowers were everywhere, but I had no idea how they got there. 
• I’d been planning the perfect vacation for months, but then…
• There are only three of us left – the only three left alive in the world. 
• The little girl turned to me and said, “The future of the world is up to you now”.
• At first, I thought it was only the dog making noise, but it was…
• It sounded like piano music and it was coming from my living room…
• She’d thought about this moment, imagined it, for years, but she’d never expected what happened…

• The cab driver suddenly turned left instead of right and I had no idea where he was taking me. 
• My boss had given his orders, but I knew what he was asking was illegal. 
• She broke open the fortune cookie, but there was a map on the tiny slip of paper. 
• The waitress walked over and whispered in my ear, “You have to leave because your life is in danger”.
• He decided to spy on his wife, but what he discovered wasn’t what he was expecting at all. 
• She thought her boss was going to fire her, so she decided she’d fight back. 
• He was tired of living in the retirement home, so he was planning an escape. 
• There was a time years ago when I was happy, but those days were over. 
• While I could see hundreds of stars in the sky, there was no moon that night. 
• From the moment he walked into the casino, Lady Luck was on his side. 
• The twins had a secret and they knew that no one could ever find out about it. 
• Every time I heard the ice cream truck go by, I got scared. 
• I was reading on the subway when all of a sudden, we stopped in the middle of a tunnel. 
• I hadn’t planned on becoming a hostage at the bank when I got up that morning. 
• My brother was in Afghanistan and I hadn’t heard anything from him for over a month.
• Walking down the long hallway to my boss’s office, I had no idea what he could want from me. 
• The note said to go to hotel room #33 and I was hesitant to knock on the door. 
• Every Tuesday at 3 pm, flowers were delivered to my house. 
• As I flipped through the photo album, I couldn’t stop the memories from flooding back and the tears from filling my eyes. 
• I had to go on stage in 15 minutes and my clothes were ripped and muddy. 
• Time was running out and he had 11 more blocks to run. 
• I had the same dream every night and it was scaring me. 
• Every time the clock struck midnight, the entire house would go dark for 10 minutes. 
• When she looked at her phone, she was shocked to see she had 33 voicemails. 
• It was my first game to pitch in the majors and I could barely contain my excitement. 
• The music was slowing, and the song was almost over, but we couldn’t stop dancing. 
• She’d been in labor for 48 hours and still no baby. 

I hope you enjoyed this list of story starter sentences.

Discover More Ways You Can Write Your Very Own Stories

If you want to create and write your own stories, then it’s essential you learn how to develop the plot of a story. This is why we’d like to encourage you to take a look at our article :

Six Steps to Develop the Plot of a Story and 15 Fresh Writing Prompts Ideas .

There’s a treasure trove of excellent writing information for you in that article.

So get to it and check it out today. I think you’ll be glad you did!

More Links & Resources for You

• Prompt Generator
• Story Writing Tips and World-Building Prompts for Middle Schoolers
• Short Story Ideas for Kids
• Narrative Writing Topics for All Writers

If you enjoyed these  Story Starter Sentences, please share them on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest. I appreciate it!

Sincerely, Jill journalbuddies.com creator and curator

PS – Need help concluding your story? Take a look at 100 Ways to End a Story !

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Creative Writing Prompts

When the idea to start a weekly newsletter with writing inspiration first came to us, we decided that we wanted to do more than provide people with topics to write about. We wanted to try and help authors form a regular writing habit and also give them a place to proudly display their work. So we started the weekly Creative Writing Prompts newsletter. Since then, Prompts has grown to a community of more than 450,000 authors, complete with its own literary magazine, Prompted .  

Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted on our Reedsy Prompts page.

Interested in participating in our short story contest? Sign up here for more information! Or you can check out our full Terms of Use and our FAQ page .

Why we love creative writing prompts

If you've ever sat in front of a computer or notebook and felt the urge to start creating worlds, characters, and storylines — all the while finding yourself unable to do so — then you've met the author's age-old foe: writer's block. There's nothing more frustrating than finding the time but not the words to be creative. Enter our directory! If you're ready to kick writer's block to the curb and finally get started on your short story or novel, these unique story ideas might just be your ticket.

This list of 1800+ creative writing prompts has been created by the Reedsy team to help you develop a rock-solid writing routine. As all aspiring authors know, this is the #1 challenge — and solution! — for reaching your literary goals. Feel free to filter through different genres, which include...

Dramatic — If you want to make people laugh and cry within the same story, this might be your genre.

Funny — Whether satire or slapstick, this is an opportunity to write with your funny bone.

Romance — One of the most popular commercial genres out there. Check out these story ideas out if you love writing about love.

Fantasy — The beauty of this genre is that the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

Dystopian – Explore the shadowy side of human nature and contemporary technology in dark speculative fiction.

Mystery — From whodunnits to cozy mysteries, it's time to bring out your inner detective.

Thriller and Suspense — There's nothing like a page-turner that elicits a gasp of surprise at the end.

High School — Encourage teens to let their imaginations run free.

Want to submit your own story ideas to help inspire fellow writers? Send them to us here.

After you find the perfect story idea

Finding inspiration is just one piece of the puzzle. Next, you need to refine your craft skills — and then display them to the world. We've worked hard to create resources that help you do just that! Check them out:

• How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published — a free, ten-day course by Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn.
• Best Literary Magazines of 2023 — a directory of 100+ reputable magazines that accept unsolicited submissions.
• Writing Contests in 2023 — the finest contests of 2021 for fiction and non-fiction authors of short stories, poetry, essays, and more.

Beyond creative writing prompts: how to build a writing routine

While writing prompts are a great tactic to spark your creative sessions, a writer generally needs a couple more tools in their toolbelt when it comes to developing a rock-solid writing routine . To that end, here are a few more additional tips for incorporating your craft into your everyday life.

• NNWT. Or, as book coach Kevin Johns calls it , “Non-Negotiable Writing Time.” This time should be scheduled into your routine, whether that’s once a day or once a week. Treat it as a serious commitment, and don’t schedule anything else during your NNWT unless it’s absolutely necessary.
• Set word count goals. And make them realistic! Don’t start out with lofty goals you’re unlikely to achieve. Give some thought to how many words you think you can write a week, and start there. If you find you’re hitting your weekly or daily goals easily, keep upping the stakes as your craft time becomes more ingrained in your routine.
• Talk to friends and family about the project you’re working on. Doing so means that those close to you are likely to check in about the status of your piece — which in turn keeps you more accountable.

Arm yourself against writer’s block. Writer’s block will inevitably come, no matter how much story ideas initially inspire you. So it’s best to be prepared with tips and tricks you can use to keep yourself on track before the block hits. You can find 20 solid tips here — including how to establish a relationship with your inner critic and apps that can help you defeat procrastination or lack of motivation.

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Novel writing ,

10 great examples of how to begin a short story.

By Dan Brotzel

In a short story, where a whole world or emotional journey can be summoned up and dramatised in the space of a few pages, every line and word has to count – and that’s especially true of the way you begin. Here, for inspiration, are a range of starting strategies from some great exponents of the form…

1. The Telling Detail

“One Dollar And Eighty-seven Cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheek burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.”

From ‘ The Gift of the Magi’, by O Henry

Sometimes known as the American Maupassant, O Henry’s stories are tightly plotted narratives of ordinary lives with lots of humour that usually end with a classic sting in the tale that, while surprising, flows with unerring logic from the story’s premise.

In this classic tale, we know the whole set-up within a few lines. It is Christmas and Della has no money to buy a present for her beloved husband James. In their whole house they possess only two things that they really value: his gold watch and her golden hair. In a formula that has been much copied since, we watch Della sell her golden locks to raise money to buy a fancy fob for James’s watch, while unbeknownst to her he has pawned his watch to buy her a set of ivory combs that she has long coveted for her (now departed) hair!

It is a tale that sounds tragic, but is actually heartening, because in the end the couple are confirmed in their real gift: the love they bear each other. (Plus, of course, Della’s hair will grow back!) But it all stems from a single telling detail: that opening cinematic detail of a tiny sum of money, piled up in pennies and scrimped from tense negotiations with tradespeople, that is all Della thinks she has to show James how much she loves him.

2. The Paradox

“In the beginning, Sanford Carter was ashamed of becoming an Army cook. This was not from snobbery, at least not from snobbery of the most direct sort. During the two and a half years Carter had been in the Army he had come to hate cooks more and more. They existed for him as a symbol of all that was corrupt, overbearing, stupid, and privileged in Army life…”

From ‘ The Language of Men,’ by Normal Mailer

Published in 1953, ‘The Language of Men’ tells the story of an over-sensitive, frustrated serviceman who, after years of being passed up for promotion and never finding his niche in the army, ends up as a cook – the thing he hates most about the army. Immediately we are curious: What will happen to a man who becomes the thing he most despises?

Carter feels that he never manages to understand other men, to feel either equal to them or able to lead them. ‘Whenever responsibility had been handed to him, he had discharged it miserably, tensely, over conscientiously. He had always asked too many questions, he had worried the task too severely, he had conveyed his nervousness to the men he was supposed to lead.’

Even after starting to enjoy his work as a cook, the story builds to an incident where the men come to him and ask for a tin of oil for a fish fry-up they are organising – a party to which he is not invited. Carter stands his ground, and earns some grudging respect, but then undercuts it all again after the event with his ‘unmanliness’ – the true source of his self-disgust.

The whole drama of a man failing to fit in with and gain respect among other men is foreshadowed in the paradox that’s set in motion in the story’s opening lines.

3. The Historical Backdrop

“Paris was blockaded, starved, in its death agony. Sparrows were becoming scarcer and scarcer on the rooftops and the sewers were being depopulated. One ate whatever one could get. As he was strolling sadly along the outer boulevard one bright January morning, his hands in his trousers pockets and his stomach empty, M. Morissot, watchmaker by trade but local militiaman for the time being, stopped short before a fellow militiaman whom he recognized as a friend. It was M Sauvage, a riverside acquaintance.” From ‘ Two Friends,’ by Guy de Maupassant

A protege of Flaubert and the author of the novel  Bel-Ami , Maupassant wrote over 300 short stories, many of them – like this one – set during the Franco-Prussian war, and showing how innocent lives are swept up and crushed by futile, brutal conflict.

This story starts with a brief paragraph of context and another telling detail: the absence of sparrows. At this point in the conflict, the Prussian army has established a blockade around Paris and is seeking to starve out its citizens.

The two friends of the title were passionate fishermen in peacetime, and after a chance encounter they convince each other to go off and fish once again. As well as the hunger they feel, they are motivated by a hankering for a return to the innocent pleasures of their pre-war lives.

They slip out past the French lines, to an area where they think they will be safe, but after a brief interval of bliss the Prussians detect them, with tragic consequences…

The opening line describes the war situation in vivid, journalistic terms, after which we are plunged into the tale of these two innocents. In a few telling phrases, it provides context and general background for the very particular tragedy which is about to ensue.

4. The Anecdotal Approach

“Margot met Robert on a Wednesday night toward the end of her fall semester. She was working behind the concession stand at the artsy movie theatre downtown when he came in and bought a large popcorn and a box of Red Vines. “That’s an… unusual choice,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually sold a box of Red Vines before.” From ‘ Cat Person,’ by Kristen Roupenian

‘Cat Person,’ reportedly the first short story ever to go viral, tells a simple tale of a doomed romantic encounter. Margot, a student, meets an older guy, Robert, and they begin a flirtation that turns into a date that turns into a rather unsatisfactory (for her) sexual encounter.

Robert starts off as rather funny and charming, but over time we see that he is needy, insensitive, possessive, and utterly unaware of what Margot is thinking or feeling. Margot regrets the whole thing but doesn’t know how to tell him; Robert, when he is let down, turns all-too-predictably toxic. In short order he goes from mooning after her to demanding who she’s slept with to calling her a ‘whore.’

This sequence of events struck a chord with many, many people because it is clearly so familiar. The story emphasises the banality of the whole progression by narrating events in a straightforwardly chronological, anecdotal style, right from the opening paragraph. This approach serves to underline the depressing banality of Robert’s misogyny while implicitly asking the question: Why should women have to accept this as normal?

5. In Media Res

“And after all the weather was ideal. They could not have had a more perfect day for a party if they had ordered it. Windless, warm, the sky without a cloud. Only the blue was veiled with a haze of light gold, as it is sometimes in early summer. The gardener had been up since dawn, mowing the lawns and sweeping them, until the grass and the dark flat rosettes where the daisy plants had been seemed to shine. As for the roses, you could not help feeling they understood that roses are the only flowers that -parties; the only flowers that everybody is certain of knowing. Hundreds, yes, literally hundreds, had come out in a single night; the green bushes bowed down as though they had been visited by archangels.” From ‘ The Garden Party,’ by Katherine Mansfield

Literally ‘in the middle of things’, an  in media res   beginning is where the story drops us into the middle of the action of the narrative, so that we are instantly caught up in events. In this case, we are plunged into the excited bustle of a well-to-do family preparing a sumptuous garden party, and the story does a fantastic job of building up the anticipation and painting a picture of the affluence of the hosts. There is a marquee to put up, a band on its way, an enormous delivery of fancy flowers, fifteen kinds of sandwich, and a retinue of servants to ensure everything is ready.

Beginning with ‘and’ adds to this effect, giving us to understand that garden-party fever has been going on already for days, and seeming to hark back to earlier worries about what the weather would be like on the day. But against all this blithely affluent gaiety comes the story’s turning point: news that a poor workingman living in a cottage nearby has died in a sudden accident.

Laura, a daughter of the house, wonders if it appropriate to continue with the party, especially as all the noise and music and bustle will carry to the grieving widow (who also has six children, we later discover). But just as happens to the reader with the introduction, she is swept along by the occasion, and only really reconsiders the incident at the end of a successful party, when her mother suggest she take a basket of sandwiches from the party down to the widow. Laura’s reaction to this difficult task is initially ambiguous, but ultimately it seems as if again she finds a way to paint the tragedy in complacently optimistic colours, choosing to find a serenity and beauty on the dead man’s face and so blind herself to the grim reality of the tragedy and the agony of the grieving wife.

6. The Refrain

“The thing about being the murdered extra is you set the plot in motion. You were a girl good at walking past cameras, background girl, corner-of-the-frame girl. Never-held-a-script girl, went-where-the-director-said girl. You’ll be found in an alley, it’s always an alley for girls like you, didn’t-quite-make-it girls, living-four-to-a-one-bedroom-apartment girls. You’ll be found in an alley, you’ll be mistaken for a broken mannequin at first, you’ll be given a nickname. Blue Violet, White Rose, something reminiscent of Elizabeth Short, that first girl like you, that most famous one. The kind of dead girl who never really dies.” From ‘ Being the Murdered Extra,’ by Cathy Ulrich

Cathy Ulrich’s extraordinary ‘Murdered Ladies’ flash fictions present a series of stories – there are 40 of them in her collection,  Ghosts of You  – which always begin with the same line:  The thing about being the murdered extra/girlfriend/moll/classmate/witch/dancer [etc] is you set the plot in motion.

It’s a thought-provoking line, which grows in power with every repetition. On the face of it seems strange to see these women as setting the plot in motion, when they are all victims of male violence. But we start to see that what they set in motion is actually the story that the people who survive them will appropriate from their lost lives, and blithely relate in their absence.

Each woman may set her plot in motion, but in each case she is not alive to explain how everyone gets her wrong, or projects their own version of events to absolve themselves too easily. We see that this theft of each woman’s own story is another violence that is done to them, something the stories seek in some small way to redeem. As Ulrich says: ‘Every story is looking for the lost girl from the title […] I am looking for the lost in these stories. I don’t know if I will ever find them.’

7. Setting The Rules

“The north and the west and the south are good hunting ground, but it is forbidden to go east. It is forbidden to go to any of the Dead Places except to search for metal and then he who touches the metal must be a priest or the son of a priest. Afterwards, both the man and the metal must be purified. These are the rules and the laws; they are well made. It is forbidden to cross the great river and look upon the place that was the Place of the Gods—this is most strictly forbidden. We do not even say its name though we know its name. It is there that spirits live, and demons—it is there that there are the ashes of the Great Burning. These things are forbidden—they have been forbidden since the beginning of time.” From ‘ By the Waters of Babylon,’ by Stephen Vincent Benét

In any story that seeks to build a world that is not ours, there is some work to be done in establishing the reality of that world – its customs, its landscape, its people, its rules. World-building stories can sometimes fall down when they indulge in too much of an expository info dump, as the accumulation of background detail can quickly dent narrative momentum.

What’s so clever about the start of this story is that the rules are themselves the engine of the plot. We pan cinematically across the edges of the story’s territory, and understand the legends and forbidden areas of this world. But the quest of the narrator – who is indeed the son of a priest – will take him east, into the forbidden Place of the Gods (about which, of course, we are already very curious). At the outset of the story we do not the time in which the story is set, what kind of being he is, or where he lives. But all these things will be revealed as the narrator’s journey through a post-apocalyptic, post-technological world takes him to places that gradually start to seem very familiar…

8. Beginning With The Inciting Incident

“The day my son Laurie started kindergarten he renounced corduroy overalls with bibs and began wearing blue jeans with a belt; I watched him go off the first morning with the older girl next door, seeing clearly that an era of my life was ended, my sweet-voiced nursery-school tot replaced by a longtrousered, swaggering character who forgot to stop at the corner and wave good-bye to me.” From  ‘Charles,’ by Shirley Jackson

Screenwriting guru Robert Mckee describes the inciting incident as a moment that ‘radically upsets the balance of forces in your protagonist’s life’. It’s the moment when our main character is plunged out of their normal routine and a challenge or quest appears which will shape their journey, and with it the rest of the story. It’s common to locate this point near the start of the story after some introductory ‘normality,’ so that we can understand how the main character’s life is to be disrupted. But here the inciting incident is placed by mystery and horror writer Shirley Jackson – best known for  The Haunting of Hill House  – at the very start of the story. Everything that happens flows from Laurie starting kindergarten. Laurie gets cheekier and less innocent with each passing day, as he brings home increasingly hair-raising tales of an even naughtier boy called Charles. The whole story deals with the comic escalation of Charles’ behaviour, as reader and narrator alike become ever more curious to meet the errant child and speculate on what his parents are like.

I won’t spoil the ending, except to say that there is perhaps a clue in the mother’s lament in the opening paragraph about the end of an era of innocence…

9. The Thought Experiment

“MY LOVER IS experiencing reverse evolution. I tell no one. I don’t know how it happened, only that one day he was my lover and the next he was some kind of ape. It’s been a month, and now he’s a sea turtle.” From  ‘The Rememberer,’ by Aimee Bender

Aimee Bender’s story begins by asking the reader to imagine something extraordinarily counterfactual: that her lover is regressing through millennia, going through the evolutionary process so fast – a million years a day, in reverse – that we can actually track his progress by the day. One day he is a baboon, another a salamander; eventually he is no longer even visible to the naked eye.

As with so many of Bendee’s stories the result is mournful, strange, poetic and profound. She takes a surreal thought like this and turns into a powerful meditation on memory, the difference between evolution and maturity, speciesism and loss. And it all begins with that challenging idea which confronts us in the very first sentence.

10. THE CONUNDRUM

“1-0. Who would expect the Embassy of Cambodia? Nobody. Nobody could have expected it, or be expecting it. It’s a surprise, to us all. The Embassy of Cambodia! Next door to the embassy is a health center. On the other side, a row of private residences, most of them belonging to wealthy Arabs (or so we, the people of Willesden, contend). They have Corinthian pillars on either side of their front doors, and—it’s widely believed—swimming pools out back. The embassy, by contrast, is not very grand. It is only a four- or five-bedroom North London suburban villa, built at some point in the thirties, surrounded by a red brick wall, about eight feet high. And back and forth, cresting this wall horizontally, flies a shuttlecock. They are playing badminton in the Embassy of Cambodia. Pock, smash. Pock, smash.” From ‘ The Embassy of Cambodia,’ by Zadie Smith

This subtle and absorbing story from Zadie Smith opens with a mystery: an embassy, set in a leafy north London suburb rather than a grand central district of the city, and a wall, behind which a mysterious game of badminton is being played. The rest of the story picks at this mystery and uses the imagined score in the ongoing game-playing as a backdrop to the unfolding tale of Fatou, a domestic servant to the affluent Derawals, who has escaped servitude and dodged abuse in Africa only to face privations and hardships in London.

Each mini-chapter of the story is headed with a score from the badminton match – from 1-0 up to 21-0. This mechanism provides a rhythmic framework to the tale. We may never learn who actually holds the rackets, but we see that the back-and-forth motion behind the wall of an embassy – an institution with the power to grant deny or people access to whole a country – is a fitting counterpoint to the enforced travels of impoverished migrants, and to the desperate movements of Fatou’s hopes and fears in a world where she has little agency or resources, and only one friend.

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Now you’ve seen how these authors have done it, it’s time to get stuck into actually putting pen to paper – or fingertips to keyboard – and start writing your short story. For more from Dan, check out his top 10 steps for writing short stories (with even more examples!).

About the author

Dan Brotzel’s debut short story collection, Hotel du Jack , was published in 2020. He won the Riptide Journal short story competition in 2018, and was highly commended in the Manchester Writing School competition. He is also co-author of Kitten on a Fatberg (Unbound, forthcoming), a comic novel-in-emails about an eccentric writers group. For more on Dan, see his website , Twitter , or Amazon author page .

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Columns > Published on June 6th, 2024

How to Write a Short Story: A Writer’s Ultimate Guide

The short story is a deceptive medium. Though it’s short by definition, it often requires more intense focus than writing a novel does. I personally love writing short stories, and I still sometimes find them just as challenging as when I took up the form a decade ago!

But with a short story, the challenge is half the fun; there’s nothing more rewarding than squeezing an interesting premise, conflict, and conclusion into just a few pages. This is why so many esteemed writers, like Stephen King and Sally Rooney, come back to short stories time and time again — finishing one is a thrilling achievement, even for a novelist.

Here, I’ll give you my best tips on how to come up with your short fiction premise, construct great characters and conflict, and wrap everything up in a satisfying way. I’ll also talk about what my own short story process is like, in case that illuminates anything for you.

Let’s start by talking about what a short story is (and what it isn’t) and the key ways in which a short story differs from a novel.

What is a short story?

If you’re reading this post, you probably know what a short story is. But just to recap, a short story tends to be:

• 1,000-7,000 words in length;
• Focused on just 2-3 key characters and a few events; and
• A vehicle for a single powerful message or theme.

The brevity of short stories tends to create a more “intense” reading experience than novels do. As a result, it’s best to go into the process of writing a short story with a specific goal or theme in mind, so you can really narrow in on it!

A short story can be up to 10,000 words, but this length is best left to true masters of the form (think Alice Munro, Lorrie Moore, Jhumpa Lahiri). In general — especially if you’re just starting out — you should stay within that 1,000-7,000 word range. In my own work, every single short story I’ve written has ended up somewhere between 3,000-5,000 words (except when I’ve tried out flash fiction just for fun).

Key elements of a short story

All fictional narratives — whether it’s a short story, novel, or even a film or TV show — share the same core elements: characters, conflict, and themes. The difference with a short story is that you must convey these elements  quickly and efficiently , because you simply don’t have as much space as with other mediums.

On that note, here’s how to think about each of these elements specifically in a short story, and how your approach should differ from that of a novelist.

👤 Short story characters

Again, a short story should have 2-3 main characters at most — and unlike in a novel, their characterization should be almost entirely implied. A single line about a character in a short story must do the work of several pages in a novel.

For example, in one of my own recent short stories (titled “IOU”), I’ve included a line about a character tipping $5 on a $10 Uber ride. In the context of the story, this conveys that she’s generous and doesn’t mind covering her friends’ expenses, but also that she’s well-off, privileged, and perhaps a little naive — something that comes into play later in the story.

🤼‍♂️ Short story conflict

A short story’s conflict should center around one thing; this conflict is often internal , though it may have external manifestations. Once again, this differs from a novel, which may have multiple conflicts, subplots, and issues that arise after previous conflicts have been resolved.

To continue using “IOU” as an example, the main conflict is between the narrator and her friend — the one who’s generous, but also somewhat emotionally stunted. When the narrator first meets her, she’s impressed by her wealth and generosity… but over time she begins to see it as a cover for refusing to engage more meaningfully with people.

This clash also triggers something of an internal crisis for the narrator, who is insecure about her own financial situation. When the characters argue at the crux of the story, it’s the combination of internal and external conflicts — though around the same set of values/ideas — that (hopefully) makes the climactic scene more impactful.

💡 Short story theme

Lastly, let’s talk about the theme of your story. This should explore some aspect of the human condition. You don’t have to provide a definitive moral ruling — in fact, it’s usually better to keep things ambivalent — but it should be thought-provoking for readers and contribute to the overall conversation around the issue. Unlike in a novel, you don’t have 300 pages to address your theme, so once again you must keep the narrative focused.

For instance, in “IOU”, the theme is arguably how money — or the lack thereof — makes people interact with and perceive each other differently. However, I’ve left the story fairly open-ended by cutting out quickly after the main characters’ argument, with no firm resolution between them.

It’s then up to the reader to interpret the story as they see fit; as the author, I would mainly just hope they found the theme to be interesting, whatever conclusions they draw.

How to come up with short story ideas

Having reviewed those key elements, let’s discuss how to come up with short story ideas. Even if you already have an idea you want to pursue, this section might help you sketch things out and figure out how to structure your story more effectively.

Try some writing prompts

If you don’t already have something to build your story around, writing prompts can be a great place to start! This vast collection of 2,000+ prompts allows you to filter by genre and scroll through until something inspires you.

You can even enter a weekly contest based on some of these prompts — so if what you really need is a hard deadline, perhaps a prompts-based competition will help.

That said, if you’re just looking for prompts alone, here are some of the most popular writing prompts from the aforementioned contests:

• Write a short story that consists entirely of dialogue.
• Write about a character who’s running away from something – literally or metaphorically.
• Write a story about a character with some sort of obsession or addiction.
• Write about a character who yearns for something they lost, or never had.
• Write a story about someone facing their greatest fear.

Note that none of these is limited to a specific genre — so if you’re just looking for somewhere to start, why not run with one of them? Whether you want to write literary fiction, fantasy , humor, horror , or anything else, you can use literally any of these prompts to get started.

Consider your story’s POV and structure

As we’ve touched on, every element in a short story must be considered carefully. In that vein, your story’s structure and narrative point of view (POV) are just as important as the subject matter — indeed, more so than in a novel — in terms of overall impact.

For example, in my story “IOU”, the narrator is the girl who’s struggling financially. As a result, everything is filtered through her insecurity and angst, her internal monologue escalating until it results in an all-out fight with her friend.

You might accurately call this story a drama. But if it were told from the other girl’s POV, or in third person, it would be less dramatic and therefore more of a classic “lit fic” story, or even a comedy (with the rich girl being totally oblivious to her friend’s turmoil).

The length and structure of “IOU” also contribute to its final iteration; it’s told in a linear, straightforward way, but if it had flashbacks or tried to conceal information from the reader, it might be more of a thriller.

Just think about the effect you want to convey, and how various elements of your story will create that effect. If you’re still unsure of how to proceed, check out the short story examples at the end of this post! These will give you a better sense of how different types of narration and story structure produce different effects for the reader.

How to write a short story

We’ve covered the definition of a short story, its key elements, and how to come up with story ideas. Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty of writing it.

How to start a short story

Kurt Vonnegut always said to start a story “as close to the end as possible.” My interpretation of this: however you phrase the first few lines or paragraphs, avoid excessive exposition or scene-setting.

Instead, start your story by immediately piquing the reader’s interest — whether by dropping them in medias res (“in the middle of the action”), raising an interesting question about the characters, or simply presenting an image too vivid to turn away from.

Here are some of my favorite short story openings of all time:

On the way to the dental clinic they talk about going home for Christmas. It’s November and Marianne is having a wisdom tooth removed. Connell is driving her to the clinic because he’s her only friend with a car, and also the only person in whom she confides about distasteful medical conditions like impacted teeth.

— from  “At the Clinic” by Sally Rooney, a story published in 2016, from which she would develop Normal People

During the interview, I realized almost immediately that the woman was pregnant — I guessed she was about halfway along — but she didn’t remark on it, and of course neither did I.

— from “The Richest Babysitter in the World” by Curtis Sittenfeld, published in 2021

Every year Thanksgiving night we flocked out behind Dad as he dragged the Santa suit to the road and draped it over a kind of crucifix he'd built out of metal pole in the yard.

— from  “Sticks” by George Saunders, a microfiction story published in 1995

How does each of these openings work?

As you can probably gather, each of these openings represents (in my opinion) a different method of starting a story. The Sally Rooney opening, while it might not sound exciting, exemplifies in medias res — rather than starting with Marianne’s initial tooth pain or its diagnosis, the story starts with her going to get it removed.

The first line of “The Richest Babysitter in the World”, meanwhile, raises intriguing questions about the characters involved. Most notably: why is this woman hiding her pregnancy? It’s not exactly “in the middle of the action,” but it does a neat job of engaging the reader in a single sentence.

And finally, the brilliant opening to George Saunders’ “Sticks” introduces an image you simply can’t ignore, paving the way for an intense, engaging microfiction story about the front-lawn crucifix — and the embittered man behind its decoration.

There are countless other ways to start a short story, but these are three of the most common techniques that work in any genre, for just about any length of story. Again, for even more useful examples, check out the “short stories to study” at the end of this post!

Developing your narrative

Now we come to the “messy middle” of your story, which is the toughest part for many writers. If you’ve already considered characters, conflict, point of view, structure, and theme — as covered above — you’ll hopefully have a decent sense of how these next few thousand words will play out.

If it all still feels a bit nebulous, though, try doing what I do: sketching out a bare-bones outline before writing on. Most of the time when I’m writing a story, the beginning — especially the first line — comes to me very clearly, but I’m often not sure how the middle or even the ending should look! That’s where this sort of outline comes in handy.

If it’s your first short story and/or you’re having trouble figuring out what to include, the following (very basic) suggested structure might help:

• Start of the story – something that grips the reader right away
• Exposition to provide context – but again, don’t go overboard or give too much away
• Significant event #1 – something important happens, though its importance may not be obvious right away
• More exposition/explanation – potentially shedding more light on event #1
• Significant event #2 – something else important happens
• [Continue alternating events/bits of exposition until…]
• The climax – things come to a narrative crux, and the story ends soon (or immediately) afterwards

Of course, your own story’s structure might well diverge from this, particularly if you’ve chosen an experimental form, perspective, or plot.

But because it can be applied across many different genres — and because you can repeat the alternating event/explanation pattern ad infinitum — it’s a solid place to start if you don’t already have your beats in mind.

Story beat breakdown: “The Lottery”

To give you a sense of how those beats would actually work in a short story, let’s look at one of the most famous stories of all time: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. First published in 1948, the disturbing subject matter caused outcry from readers — yet it remains widely read in schools and is often cited as an exemplary dramatic short story.

You can read “The Lottery” right here in the New Yorker . As you do, think about how each beat aligns with the outline given above. Something like:

• Start of the story – The villagers gather in the town square, prompting the reader to wonder why they are there.
• Exposition – We learn they’ve gathered for something called the lottery, an annual civic ceremony involving a box of paper slips.
• Event #1 – Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson, matriarch of the Hutchinson family, arrives late to the ceremony and apologizes.
• More exposition – The lottery drawing is about to begin. Men typically draw for their families, though women can do so if their husbands are unable.
• Event #2 – The villagers are called forth to draw slips from the box.
• More exposition – As the lottery unfolds, the villagers talk about how some villages have stopped doing lotteries, implying it’s an old-fashioned tradition.
• Event #3 – Mr. Bill Hutchinson draws the marked paper, meaning his family has been chosen for the ceremony.
• More exposition – Tessie begs the townspeople to re-draw, implying that being chosen is not a good thing.
• Event #4 – All members of the Hutchinson family draw their own slips of paper. This time, Tessie’s is the marked slip.
• Climax – We discover that the “winner” of the lottery will be stoned to death as part of the ritual. The story ends with the villagers advancing upon Tessie, throwing their stones.

Whether this story is to your taste or not, you can’t deny it’s a perfectly executed (no pun intended!) work of suspense. It starts by raising a simple question — what are these people doing here? — that makes you want to read on, then gradually drips out information.

As the story progresses, events occur more rapidly and the exposition sections get shorter and shorter. The final few events then happen in a breathless rush — leaving the reader agape at what the lottery really is.

It’s certainly not a cheery story, but it’s thrilling to read, especially as a writer. The simple yet shocking premise, the careful pacing, and even small bits of characterization in the dialogue are all testaments to Shirley Jackson’s genius. No matter how much flack she caught for it at the time, “The Lottery” remains a classic for a reason.

How to end a short story

Just as there are many ways to start a short story, there are many ways to end one, too. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to figure out! Once again, especially if you’re a short story novice, it may be best to stick to some “tried-and-true” ending conventions.

I’ve written extensively about how to “stick the ending” on your short story for another site, Women on Writing. That post reviews a few different types of endings with examples to illustrate them (Curtis Sittenfeld, one of my favorite authors, makes another appearance). If you’re struggling with how to end your own story, I’d definitely recommend checking out the full post!

But in a nutshell, here’s how to wrap up just about any short story in a satisfying way:

• Find the “natural” conclusion. Here I’m referring to what actually happens in terms of plot, rather than simply how it’s phrased. Think about the characters and world you’ve set up and ask yourself: what would really happen here? You might come up with a few possible answers; try to narrow it down to the ending that feels the most “true.”
• End on a standout line of dialogue or narration. Now let’s talk style and presentation. It might sound obvious, but your last line — or last few lines — should be resonant and impactful for readers. Don’t just trail off when you can’t think of anything else to say! Your ending should be as meticulously crafted as your beginning, and if you’ve done a good job, readers will remember it long after they’ve finished your story.
• Drop the mic and get out. You might have noticed that the story structure suggested previously does not include “falling action.” This is because, in a short story, you don’t have space for falling action; it’s most effective to simply end either at or very soon after the climax of the story. Think about the ending of “The Lottery” and how powerful it is, because of where Jackson cuts out:

“It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.

Gives me goosebumps every time!

For one last example, let’s take it back to my own short story, the one about the girls in different financial circumstances. Here are the final lines of my story, “IOU”: 

I watched her walk away from me, heels clicking against the pavement. A few weeds pushed up through cracks in the sidewalk; several pieces of gum were stuck to the ground. Up ahead, a glint of silver — a quarter. She strode by it without even slowing down.

I personally love this ending because it can be interpreted in a few ways. Does the girl — the narrator’s rich friend — ignore the quarter because she’s so well-off, she doesn’t need street change? Does she simply not notice it? Is there even a quarter, or is the narrator just seeing what she wants to see ? What does it all mean for their friendship?

As noted in the section on theme, I decided to end this story after an argument between the two main characters; this passage appears immediately after that argument, and then the story is done. I’ve intentionally left it ambiguous, so you can draw your own conclusions about what might happen after the story fades to black.

How to edit a short story

Having given you all that advice about short story writing, the truth is that a lot of stories only come together in the editing phase.

Consider Raymond Carver and Gordon Lish. Carver is one of the most revered short story writers of the 20th century, but he never would have gotten so far without Lish, his ruthless editor. (If you haven’t read  this sample of Lish’s edits on “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” it’s a fascinating glimpse into the editing process!)

From this, you might gather that you should actually have someone else edit your story for you — and indeed, if you’re invested in the process, hiring a short story editor could be immensely valuable.

That said, for those who are committed to editing their own stories (or who at least want to give it a shot before going pro!), here are my top tips for self-editing your story.

⌛ Wait a few days — or more — to start editing

More so than any craft-based tip, this is my number-one piece of advice when it comes to editing: after you finish writing your story, take some time away before editing it. This allows you to come back with fresh eyes and revise almost as another person would.

In that vein, the more time you can afford to wait, the better. Even if you have a submission deadline coming up, try to finish drafting your story a few days before the deadline, so you can still take a breather between writing and editing.

And if you don’t have a deadline, consider leaving your story alone for weeks — or months! — before coming back to edit. If you’re anything like me, this time away will make you less precious about your initial draft and give you perspective about how you really want it to look.

🧐 Examine each individual scene

You’ll likely come back after your “story breather” and immediately land on things to cut. But if you’re still not sure where to start with editing, I’d suggest taking it scene by scene. Literally just look at each individual scene in your story and ask yourself:

• What purpose does this scene serve?
• Is it redundant — that is, does it overexplain, or does it accomplish the same thing as another scene in the story?
• Can the reader understand what’s happening?
• Does it lead naturally into the scene that follows?

In my own experience, the first two questions are by far the most important to ask. I’ll often reduce my word count by 25-30% in the editing process, simply by removing scenes and descriptions that aren’t crucial to the story.

Once the fat has been trimmed, think about the overall clarity and “flow” of your prose. Is it clear what’s happening (or if it’s unclear, is that intentional — perhaps leading to a big reveal later on)? Lastly, is there a natural flow from one scene to the next — even if your story is not presented chronologically, does it follow its own internal logic in terms of order?

Having squared away these key elements, you can finally move on and… 

💅 Do a final polish

The term “copy editing” typically refers to this phase of editing: sentence-level tweaks, phrasing edits, and switching out individual words for other words. At this point, your story’s plot should be basically set in stone — now it’s just a matter of how you’ll present it stylistically.

At this stage, you should ask yourself questions such as:

• Is there enough variety in my sentence structure?
• Are any sentences or paragraphs simply too long?
• Does each word — particularly verbs and adjectives — create the desired effect? If not, what word(s) could I use instead?
• Are there any clichés? If so, can I remove them?

You might want to give your story a couple of passes with these questions in mind. While I’m personally quite confident about my scene-level edits, I can go back and forth on word choice for days. (Most of the time when this happens, I end up reverting to whatever word I had in the first place!)

Lastly, don’t forget to do an absolute final proofread before submitting your story anywhere official. There’s nothing worse than finding a typo in your story after you’ve already sent it to your dream publication.

Indeed, if you’re not too self-conscious, I’d strongly recommend getting someone else to proof the final version of your story — all they have to do is point out where you’ve misspelled a word or misplaced a comma, so you don’t embarrass yourself in front of a contest judge or lit mag editor.

✅ Submit your story

And after that, the only thing left to do is submit or publish your story! Check out this Storyville post from Richard Thomas for a crash course in submitting to publications, along with a massive list of lit mags to try (last updated in 2023).

You can also have a look through this thorough literary magazine directory , or this database of writing contests to enter . Make sure to always read the submission guidelines and, of course, adhere to any deadlines stated.

Short story examples to study

Throughout this post, we’ve referenced short story examples you can (and should!) study if you want to become a great storyteller yourself.

In this final section, I’ll link to some brilliant short stories — including the examples previously cited — that you can read (and learn from) at your leisure. Here are 10 short story examples that, in my opinion, represent the very best of the form:

• “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson (published in 1948)
• “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl (published in 1954)
• “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” by Raymond Carver (published in 1981)
• “You’re Ugly, Too” by Lorrie Moore (published in 1989)
• “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri (published in 1998)
• “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” by Alice Munro (published in 1999)
• “At the Clinic” by Sally Rooney (published in 2016)
• “Cat Person” by Kristen Roupenian (published in 2017)
• “Ten Year Affair” by Erin Somers (published in 2021)
• “The Richest Babysitter in the World” by Curtis Sittenfeld (published in 2021)

These stories align with my own tastes — mostly literary fiction, with a particular focus on domestic drama — so while I hope you like at least one of them, I’d also encourage you to find stories that specifically suit your own! Especially if you write science fiction or fantasy, try reading more genre-based short fiction — for example, stories by Ursula le Guin, Isaac Asimov, or Gabriel García Márquez — to get a better handle on your own field.

And with that, I sincerely hope I’ve given you sufficient information and guidance to try writing a short story of your very own. You may not ever completely master this unique form (I still haven’t quite!), but I guarantee you’ll never be bored when writing short fiction. Best of luck!

About the author

Savannah Cordova is a writer from London. Her work has been featured in Slate, Kirkus, BookTrib, DIY MFA, and more. She loves reading and writing short stories, and spends much of her time analyzing literary trends into the ground. You'll often find her with an iced vanilla latte, a book, and a furrow in her brow.

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Daily Writing Tips

20 great opening lines to inspire the start of your story.

As Glinda the Good Witch says in The Wizard of Oz , “It’s always best to start at the beginning.” That’s where editors and literary agents generally get going, so perhaps you should, too. Here are some strategies, accompanied by exemplars from literature, for making the first line of your novel or short story stand out so that the reader can’t help but go on to the second and the third and so on to see what else you have to say:

“‘Take my camel, dear,’ said my Aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass.” — Rose Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizond

Are you in the mood for amusement? This opening line makes it clear that farce is in force.

“The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children’s games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill

Astute observations accompanied by a implied sigh of disgust are tricky to master, but Chesterton, one of the most multifaceted men of letters, lights the way for you with this sample of the form.

“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” — William Gibson, Neuromancer

Oh, by the way, just in case you missed the forecast? Don’t expect any fluffy bunnies or fragrant blossoms or dulcet giggles to show up in this seminal cyberpunk story. A spot-on metaphor expresses the story’s nihilism, letting you know what you’re in for and lugubriously inviting you in.

4. Confiding

“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” — C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The author of the Chronicles of Narnia no sooner introduces by name a new character in the latest installment than, in just five more words, he succeeds in telling you everything you need to know about him. Well, got that out of the way.

“Justice? — You get justice in the next world, in this world you have the law.” — William Gaddis, A Frolic of His Own

Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning — and maybe the bed’s shoved up against the wall, and that attitude is a permanent condition. The stage is set for an unhappy beginning, middle, and ending.

6. Disorienting

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” — George Orwell, 1984

Ho-hum — huh? Orwell’s opening line creates a slight but immediate discordance that sets you up for an unsettling experience.

7. Enigmatic

“Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.” — Anne Tyler, Back When We Were Grownups

It will not surprise you to learn that the protagonist sets about retracing her steps and striving to correct the error, but after reading this subtle but striking first line, can you resist finding out how she does it?

8. Epigrammatic

“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” — L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between

This offbeat observation from Hartley’s novel of painful reminiscence is a blindsidingly original statement that one will feel compelled to read about just how the writer acquired this wisdom.

9. Expository

“In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing. We lived at the junction of great trout rivers in Montana, and our father was a Presbyterian minister and a fly fisherman who tied his own flies and taught others. He told us about Christ’s disciples being fishermen, and we were left to assume, as my brother and I did, that all first-class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen, and that John, the favorite, was a dry-fly fisherman.” — Norman McLean, A River Runs Through It

By the end of this paragraph, you already know a great deal about the narrator’s family (especially the father) — but thanks to the introduction, as clear as a snow-fed mountain river, you want to know more.

10. Foreboding

“I have never begun a novel with more misgiving.” — W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor’s Edge

The author is a bit intrusive here, true enough, but it is kind of him to let us know that we’re in for a bit of unpleasantness. But if he can express such profound reluctance, it must be quite a story.

“There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.” — Raymond Chandler, Red Wind

Chandler, the master of hard-bitten crime noir, makes it obvious that this story is not going to end well. You can almost hear the smoky, whiskey-soured, world-weary narration in your head. And this quote comes from one of Chandler’s half-forgotten short stories.

12. Inviting

“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” — Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

Dickens extends his arm toward the passageway within, welcoming you to enter what promises to be an entertaining story.

13. Picaresque

“In the last years of the Seventeenth Century there was to be found among the fops and fools of the London coffee-houses one rangy, gangling flitch called Ebenezer Cooke, more ambitious than talented, and yet more talented than prudent, who, like his friends-in-folly, all of whom were supposed to be educating at Oxford or Cambridge, had found the sound of Mother English more fun to game with than her sense to labor over, and so rather than applying himself to the pains of scholarship, had learned the knack of versifying, and ground out quires of couplets after the fashion of the day, afroth with Joves and Jupiters, aclang with jarring rhymes, and string-taut with similes stretched to the snapping-point.” — John Barth, The Sot-Weed Factor

Oh, but you know this novel is going to be juicy. This snide introduction to the main character conveys a promise of a continuous feed of schadenfreude.

“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.” — Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Every once in a while there comes an opening line that seems to have an entire story folded up inside it. But it’s just the label on the envelope. And I challenge you to withstand the urge to open it up and read the message.

“We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall.” — Louise Erdrich, Tracks

A somber, stately metaphor draws us in despite the pervasively gloomy imagery.

16. Prefatory

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” — Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Many people associate Dickens with whimsy and eccentricity, but A Tale of Two Cities is a stern study of the insanity of mob rule, and this floridly eloquent prologue sets the stage like the presenter of a Shakespearean prologue: “Epic Ahead.”

17. Romantic

“He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.” — Raphael Sabatini, Scaramouche

Romantic, that is, in the sense of lust for life, not love for another. This author of swashbucklers like The Sea Hawk and Captain Blood (and, of course, Scaramouche ) lets you know right away that you are about to meet someone larger than life.

18. Sarcastic

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” — Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Austen didn’t invent the word snark — but she certainly refined the application of the quality. Notice, though, how subtle this line is. It’s a bon mot — understated, yet with teeth behind that prim smile.

“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” — J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Can you find it in your heart to forgive this young man his grievously bad attitude? More likely, you’ll be impressed by — and want to immerse yourself in more of — his insolence.

20. Unexpected

“Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu.” — Ha Jin, Waiting

This seemingly pedestrian introduction upends itself with an intriguing premise that raises a question in the reader’s mind that must be answered.

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22 thoughts on “20 Great Opening Lines to Inspire the Start of Your Story”

Thank you for sharing these fabulous opening lines! I love Jane Austen — Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books.

Thanks for posting this list. It’s a lot of fun and a great way to start a writing day 🙂

Well I have to share my favourite opening lines now:

“It was the day my grandmother exploded!” – The Crow Road, Iain Banks

“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink” – I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith

In fact the full opening from the Crow Road is even better:

“It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach.”

I’m simultaneously inspired and intimidated. I can hardly imagine writing anything that draws readers in the way these introductions do. Must keep practicing!

What a great list of opening lines!

4, 5, 12, 17 & 20 are my favorites.

Thank you for compiling this list. I thought a lot about my own style and strategies while reading it, and I’m pretty much all over the place. I do notice my tendency to start each book with dialogue, whether the style is sarcastic, foreboding, or bleak etc. Most often, the dialogue is pushed behind a beginning paragraph during edits, changing the feel of the opening.

Thanks for the great read, Allure Van Sanz

I will always love “Once upon a time, ” the best.

This is fabulous – thanks for sharing!

Phew! I’m glad I didn’t bypass this e-mail. By the title, I thought this article was going to offer 20 sentences that subscribers could expand upon.

I love the format this article is in, though. 🙂 I knew these different types of beginnings existed, just not consciously.

I like the openner which is something like this:

“Well unlike last time when I got too involved and gave you the run arround, this time I’m going straight for the jugular and cut out all that crap about my private life”.

of course he doesn’t.

The author is Don von Elsner.

Superb! This is a charming, outstanding and quite practical posting. These devices are such wonderful tools to be used to enchant readers, create flows, spark drama, awaken minds… and so much more.

Practice is key. What I deeply love about such tools is they may be applied to so many forms of writing such as fiction, poetry and most other types of narrative. Even “tweets”!

With “tweets” in mind I will have a least 20 new tweets to apply and practice these ideas on today. I am cheating here a wee bit.

Creating tweets for “bestdeedswords”, helps understand how to apply these tools and also selfishly carves them into the dark caverns of my eclectic memory facilities. This is a simple personal way to store them for later use.

Mark, these great posts are very useful. Thanks for your hard work and research. Thanks so very much.

Personally, I like the way I have started all my stories. I love getting right to the action, and explaining later or in different, unique ways. I am only 14 and on my 3rd story.

Great post! I’ve been testing out story ideas at the Creative Copy Challenge and received favorable feedback. I think it’s time for me to write a novel.

Well unless someones already done it I think it would be not only right but, satisfying to have endings as well.

That’s the subject I’ve been researching today – one spot of advice I read was to leave the first and last lines until the novel was complete – I think it’s a useful excuse for procrastinators like me.

Great post! I’ve read some of these books and never really gave any thought to the reason why. Now I know.

These are all good lines. Good lines are what matter, not their location in the book. Go back and look at your favorite literature. Most of mine begin with ordinary lines. The opening sentence and paragraph do not truly need to stand out. All the better if they do, but it is not necessary.

All seem to have missed Snoopy’s classic: “It was a dark and stormy night.” One of my favourites.

Although the lines are intriguing, and certainly I am appreciative of this post, I am more impressed by the one who compiled it. Your comments and labels were as educational to read as the quotes themselves. Thank you for sparing the time to educate us both with the wit of others and your own unique style of narration to spur us onward to the end.

The opening line of a book I read freshman year of high school still sticks with me. “When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure out this or that way and run it down through my head until it got easy.” -Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons I still think that to this day that line motivated me to read the book in half an afternoon.

I’ve always enjoyed the (usually ignored, always contradicted) first line of “Gone With the Wind:”

‘Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful… though her suitors rarely took notice of this when as enthralled by her charm as the Tarleton twins.’

I love this article! This was great!!! My favorites were 1, 5, and 6! I used something similar to 6 in my book! Too funny!!!

I made this one up: When I was overtaken by poisonous vines, I never thought I would grow wings.

And also this- The teacher said “if John has nine pancakes, and Adam gives him eighteen pencils, why are ant green?” I knew, of course, that the answer was horses have six legs, but I let a newer student get it wrong. “It’s because aliens don’t wear hats.” his words went up in pitch at the end, showing he was unsure. The teacher said,” try again, Mark.”

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80 Creative and Fresh Writing Prompts for Students of All Ages (+ Bonus Interactive Tip to Run a Writing Activity in PowerPoint)

Ausbert Generoso

Writing prompts are essential tools for helping students explore their creativity and improve their writing skills, potentially even sparking a love for writing. While there are many instructional methods available, encouraging students to stitch their words together and bring their ideas to life through writing remains superior. Why?

• Writing helps students organize their thoughts clearly. It turns abstract ideas into coherent and structured arguments.
• Regular writing sharpens critical thinking. Crafting essays or stories encourages deeper analysis and problem-solving.
• Writing fuels creativity. Engaging with diverse prompts pushes students to explore new ideas and perspectives.
• Writing builds confidence. Seeing their ideas on paper boosts students’ belief in their own abilities.
• Writing prepares students for the future. Strong writing skills are essential for academic success and professional communication.

As straightforward as it may be, writing prompts need to be directly tailored to students at different levels. Considering their age groups, environment, and how they’re engaged, targeted writing prompts will better connect with their interests and developmental stages.

Fun Writing Prompts

Creative writing prompts, personal writing prompts, imaginative writing prompts, persuasive writing prompts, reflective writing prompts.

• Career-Oriented Writing Prompts

Critical Thinking Writing Prompts

Writing prompts for students in elementary.

• If you could have any superpower for one day, what would it be and why?
• One day, it started raining candy from the sky, and I…
• Imagine your pet could talk. What would they say about their day?
• If you could invent a new holiday, what would it be called and how would people celebrate it?
• You’ve just discovered a hidden treasure map in your backyard. What do you do next?
• Write about a world where kids make all the rules for one week.
• If you could swap places with your teacher for a day, what would you teach?
• If you had a magic backpack that could carry anything, what would you pack for an adventure?
• You’ve just met a friendly alien! What questions would you ask them?
• Describe the best birthday party you could ever have—who’s invited and what do you do?
• The dragon was afraid of flying, so he decided to…
• Imagine you found a door in your room that leads to a magical land. What’s the first thing you see?
• If animals could form their own town, what would it look like? Who’s the mayor?
• You’ve been chosen to design a brand-new theme park. What’s the theme and what rides do you create?
• Every time I sneezed, something strange happened. Suddenly…
• A talking tree asks for your help. What does it need, and how do you help it?
• You’ve just opened a box with mysterious objects inside. Pick one and write a story about it.
• Create a story about a kid who finds out they can jump into books and become part of the story.
• If you could fly anywhere in the world, where would you go first and what would you see?
• One morning, I woke up and realized everything in my house was made of chocolate…

800,000+ educators and professionals use ClassPoint to boost audience engagement right inside PowerPoint.

How to run a Short Answer activity in PowerPoint:

• Create a slide with a writing prompt from this blog as text.
• From the Inknoe ClassPoint tab on your PowerPoint, click on Short Answer to immediately insert a quiz button to your slide.
• Enter slide show mode to get your class code, which your students will use to join your class from their devices.
• Click on the inserted Short Answer quiz button to send the slide to your students’ devices, where they can submit responses back to your PowerPoint real-time.

Writing Prompts for Students in Middle School

• Think about your best friend. What makes them special to you?
• Write about a time when you faced a challenge and how you overcame it.
• If you could travel back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
• The most exciting day I’ve ever had was when…
• What’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself in the past year, and how has it changed you?
• What’s something you do that makes you feel proud? Why?
• Imagine your life 10 years from now. Where are you, and what are you doing?
• Write about a time when you had to make a difficult decision. How did it feel, and what did you choose?
• If you could spend a whole day doing anything you wanted, what would it be?
• Write about a moment when you helped someone. How did it make you feel?
• I discovered an old book in the attic. When I opened it, I was transported into…
• Imagine you’re a detective solving a mysterious case in your town. What’s the mystery, and how do you solve it?
• You wake up one day with the ability to talk to animals. What do they say to you?
• Write about a future world where robots and humans live together. How does society work?
• One day, I discovered I had the power to control time. The first thing I did was…
• Imagine you’ve been given the chance to design a new video game. What’s the story, and who’s the main character?
• If you could switch places with any character from your favorite movie or book, who would it be and why?
• You’re the last person on Earth. What do you do first?
• Write about an invention that changes the world. How does it work, and who uses it?
• While hiking in the woods, I found a hidden door in a tree. When I stepped through it…

Writing Prompts for Students in High School

• Do you think school uniforms should be mandatory? Write a persuasive essay on your stance.
• Write about why it’s important to protect the environment. What actions should be taken?
• Convince someone why your favorite book or movie is the best. What makes it stand out?
• Do you believe that social media has a positive or negative impact on society? Support your argument.
• Write a letter to a local government official about a community issue you care about. What solutions do you propose?
• Persuade your reader why a specific hobby or activity should be included in the school curriculum.
• Argue for or against the use of technology in the classroom. What are the benefits or drawbacks?
• Write about why everyone should participate in community service. What are the benefits to individuals and society?
• Should the voting age be lowered? Present your case with compelling reasons.
• Should schools implement more mental health programs? Discuss the potential benefits.
• Reflect on a challenging project or assignment you’ve completed this year. What strategies helped you succeed?
• Write about a time when you had to balance multiple responsibilities, like school, work, and extracurriculars. How did you manage it?
• Think about a recent decision you made about your future (like choosing a college or career path). What influenced your decision?
• Reflect on a class or subject you struggled with and how you improved or overcame the challenge. What did you learn from the experience?
• Write about a moment when you felt proud of your achievements in school or extracurricular activities. What did it mean to you?
• Describe how your goals or interests have changed since you started high school. What events or experiences contributed to this change?
• Reflect on a time when you worked as part of a team on a school project or activity. How did you contribute to the team’s success?
• Write about a mentor or teacher who has had a significant impact on your high school experience. How have they influenced you?
• Reflect on your involvement in a school club or sports team. How has it shaped your personal growth and skills?
• Think about a recent school event or experience that made you see things differently. What did you learn from it?

Writing Prompts for Students in College

Career-focused writing prompts.

• Write about your ideal job and the steps you need to take to achieve it. What skills and experiences are necessary?
• Imagine you’re starting your own business. What is your business idea, and how will you make it successful?
• Reflect on an internship or job experience that influenced your career aspirations. What did you learn from it?
• Write a cover letter for your dream job. Highlight your strengths and explain why you’re the best fit.
• Describe a professional mentor or role model who has impacted your career goals. What lessons have you learned from them?
• Discuss the importance of networking in your chosen field. How do you plan to build and maintain professional connections?
• Write about a career-related challenge you’ve faced and how you overcame it. What did this experience teach you?
• Explore the impact of technology on your desired career field. How do you plan to adapt to these changes?
• Imagine you’re giving a TED Talk about your field of interest. What key points would you cover to inspire your audience?
• Reflect on how your college education has prepared you for your future career. What skills or knowledge have been most valuable?
• Analyze a current event or issue that interests you. What are the key perspectives, and what is your stance?
• Discuss the pros and cons of a controversial policy or practice in your field of study. What are the implications?
• Evaluate the effectiveness of a recent technological advancement. How has it impacted society or your area of study?
• Consider the ethical implications of a major decision or trend in your industry. What are the potential consequences?
• Analyze the role of social media in shaping public opinion. How does it influence your field or area of study?
• Debate the impact of global issues, like climate change or economic inequality, on your future career. What are potential solutions?
• Write about a significant cultural or societal change and its effects on your field. How can professionals adapt to these changes?
• Assess the impact of educational reforms on your academic and career goals. What changes would you advocate for?
• Critique a popular theory or belief related to your field of study. What are its strengths and weaknesses?
• Explore the role of interdisciplinary approaches in solving complex problems. How can combining fields enhance solutions?

More question lists for your next presentation

350+ Insanely Funny Trivia Questions from A-Z that Will Make Your ROFL

261 Versatile Hot Seat Questions from Funny to Philosophical

90+ Truth or Dare Questions for Kids to Unleash Laughter in the Classroom

131 Most Hilarious Family Feud Questions and Answers of All Time  😂

150 Fun Fill in the Blank Game Questions Across Different Categories (Free Downloadable Template Available!)

100+ Short Answer Questions Across Bloom’s Taxonomy Levels

About Ausbert Generoso

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