A good short story starts with a beginning that quickly captures the reader. The opening is all you have to make a first impression, and you don’t want to lose your reader before the first paragraph. The beginning of a story sets the tone of the narrative, and begins the setup towards the middle and ending—which won’t be satisfying to the reader unless built up properly. A good beginning will hook your audience and keep them interested in discovering the world you’ve created.
You have far fewer pages to write a short story than you do regular fiction and non-fiction, which means you need to cover a lot more ground in a lot less time. There are so many different ways to start a short story that can immediately draw your audience in from the first chapter, and keep them there until the end:
- format). The inciting incident is the moment your protagonist is pushed into the central conflict of your story, which can be an enticing scene to start with, and clues your viewers in on what kind of story this is going to be.
- 2. Introduce the lead character. Starting you short story by introducing your main character can be an effective way to draw the audience in emotionally—especially if this character is written in first person, thereby establishing their worldview. Try giving your main character a unique voice or quirk that makes them interesting and intriguing to your readers. When readers care about someone, they want to know what’s going to happen to them and will keep reading—establish this feeling with your readers quickly within your short story to have an effective beginning. To find out more about protagonists and main characters, use our guide here.
