Opening Scenes

[elizabeth_rice]

Hello! There is still a lot I need to learn about fiction-writing, so I've come to you with a question.

What should the starting point be in a novel? Writers always say to start the story at the point where something important happens. Does this mean that the starting point should be the inciting incident?

There are other writers who suggest starting with the second major plot point. What is the second major plot point of a story? For example, in a romance. ETA: using the three-act structure as a guideline, the first turning point (signalling the end of act 1) is the point where there is a personal stake for the main character, it is the point where the outcome of the problem matters to the main character. Would this be the second major plot point? And is it advisable to start a romance story this way?

Also, would the starting point in a romance be very different from the starting point in a slice-of-life story? ETA: I mean, if the romance story doesn't start with the two main characters meeting.

The starting point in a mystery novel, or fantasy is pretty obvious. It's the romance story or a simple character piece that really confuse me.

Comments

[jazzfish]

Not exactly. More like, make sure your first act has something going for it other than just setup. If all you're doing is saying "bear with me, this will be REALLY COOL in fifty pages!" the reader is going to get bored and find something that's REALLY COOL right now.

And really, the only hard-and-fast rule of writing is "if it works, it's not wrong." :)

[elizabeth_rice]

Oh, so if I take my inciting incident and write the setup around that... okay, that makes sense. This way the setup scene is less painful for both reader and writer.

And really, the only hard-and-fast rule of writing is "if it works, it's not wrong." :)
And if it isn't working, cut the scene. :)

Thanks, again.