A writing guide · updated 8 November 2026

How to start a story

Start as close to the moment of change as you can, with a specific person in a specific place, and give the reader one question to answer. Here are 10 ways to do it, the openings to avoid, and a free generator for when you are stuck.

By the Feldar team · examples from public domain classics

The short answer

Start as close to the moment of change as you can, with a specific person in a specific place, and give the reader one question they need answered. Then cut everything before that point. Almost every strong opening, from a 500 word story to a 500 page novel, does those things in its first paragraph.

Start late. Begin on the day things change, not the day before.
Put a person on the page. A named character doing something, not a landscape.
Raise one question. Why is she lying? Who sent the letter? The reader keeps going to find out.
Be specific. "A laundromat in Duluth in January" beats "a cold city".
Sound like the story. The first line promises a tone. Keep the promise.

Stuck? Get five openings for your story

Describe your story and the generator writes five different first lines, each using a different technique from this guide. Use one as a spark, then write your own.

10 ways to start a story

Each technique with a classic example (all from books old enough to be in the public domain) or one of our own, and when to use it.

1. A voice that talks to you

"Call me Ishmael." Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851)

Three words, and a narrator is standing in front of you. Use it when your narrator's personality is the hook. Works best in first person.

2. A bold claim

"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 (1813)

A statement the story will test, or mock. Use it for comedy, satire, and any story with an argument at its heart.

3. A strange fact, stated plainly

"All children, except one, grow up." J. M. Barrie, Peter and Wendy (1911)

The calm tone makes the impossible feel true. Use it for fantasy, fables and magical realism.

4. A situation already under way

"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day." Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)

It sounds like weather, but it is really about being trapped. Start in the middle of a life, with a constraint the character feels.

5. A death, or an ending

"Marley was dead: to begin with." Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1843)

Starting with an ending creates instant pressure: what happens now? Note the twist in "to begin with". Use it for ghost stories, mysteries and family sagas.

6. A general truth about people

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1878, translated by Constance Garnett)

A line about everyone that narrows to someone. Use it sparingly: it only works if the story earns the claim.

7. Action, already moving

Ours: "By the time Nell reached the ferry, the rope was already off the post and the gap was two feet wide."

Drop the reader into motion with a clear goal and a clock. Keep the sentence simple so the reader can see it.

8. Dialogue that raises a question

Ours: "'Don't tell your mother I was here,' the man said, and handed me her wedding ring."

Dialogue openings work when the line is strange or loaded. Avoid greetings and small talk; start with the line that matters.

9. An image with a wrong detail

Ours: "The bakery had been closed for six years, but every morning at four the ovens were warm."

One concrete picture with one thing out of place. The reader leans in to resolve it. Ideal for mysteries and horror.

10. A contrast

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)

Two opposite truths held together. Use it when the story is about a divided world, a divided family or a divided person.

Openings to avoid, and what to do instead

Waking up. The alarm, the stretch, the sunlight. Readers have seen it thousands of times. Start when she is already late.
Weather alone. "It was a dark and stormy night" is a famous joke for a reason. Weather works only if it changes what the character can do.
The mirror description. A character describing their own face. Let the reader learn appearance from how others react.
A dream that turns out to be a dream. It breaks trust on page one.
The history lesson. Three paragraphs of backstory before anything happens. Put the backstory in later, one line at a time, when the reader wants it.
Too many names. Four characters in the first paragraph and the reader remembers none. Start with one, add the second when they matter.

How to start a story when you are stuck

If you know your story but not its first line, try these in order:

Write the scene before the story starts. A page of the ordinary day. Then delete it and start on the first line where something is different. That line is often your opening.
Ask what your character wants on page one. Not in the whole story, just right now. Start with them trying to get it.
Write five openings, fast. One with action, one with voice, one with an image, one with dialogue, one with a mystery. Pick the one you would keep reading. The generator above does the same thing if you need a push.
Start in the middle and come back. Many writers write the opening last, once they know what the story is about.

Once you have a first line, the next job is the rest of the story. If you want help planning scenes and drafting chapters, with every AI suggestion waiting for your yes, that is what Feldar, our writing app, is for.

Questions

What is the best way to start a story?

Start on the day things change, with a specific character doing something in a specific place, and raise one question the reader wants answered. Cut whatever comes before that moment.

How long should the opening of a story be?

The first line sets the tone, but the opening's job is done when the reader knows who the story is about, roughly where they are, and what is at stake. In a short story that can take a paragraph; in a novel, a page or two.

Should I start with dialogue?

Only if the line is strange or loaded enough to raise a question on its own. A greeting or small talk is a weak start; the line that changes the scene is a strong one.

Is it okay to start with a description of the setting?

Yes, if the description shows something wrong, strange or under pressure. A setting that is only pretty is a slow start.

Is the first line generator free?

Yes. There is no account. Each person can get up to 20 sets of five openings a day. We do not store what you type.