Where do I begin to tell the story...

A recent post in a writing forum asked for help with the start of a story, as the person had an idea but no starting point. It's a common misconception that you need to start at the begining of a story. 

In my experience, the best way to write is to start with what you have. I've written stories which started with an idea or concept, but others where I had a first line, or a last line. 

 It Began in Zanzibar started with an object - a necklace - in a writing class. The exercise involved including someone else's object - which is why the story features a teddy bear. Pride among predators grew from a writing competition prompt, for a story using a collective noun. Conversation in a Utopian Future started with a basic irritation for dystopian fiction, and a desire to write about a better future. The concept of the 'Nanny state' also played a part, but there is irony in that the 'Utopian' future is perhaps not so perfect after all. Creating the pefect garden was one where I had a first line. Real or imagined, I knew how it would end when I started writing. 

Sometimes a story actually works best if you start from an action point, rather than backstory or introductions, because your reader is drawn straight in to the story. I find looking at themes for writing competitions, or calls for submissions are often really good for prompting a story idea. 

However, if you really do want a first line, there is a first line (and last line) contest that you can look at here. 

Once I have an idea for a story (I often think of it as a seed that I nurture), I like to make a note of the idea, and see what I can do with it. If I don't know what to do next, then I either walk and think about the idea, or use a free writing exercise or another strategy to develop it further, and help it grow. Sometimes it takes a while before I know what to do with the story - I always have a folder of WIP stories on my computer, as well as a notebook of ideas and sentences, and when I can't think of anything new, I go back through them. Sometimes several random ideas will come together, and a story grows. I recently wrote a blog series on ways of getting inspired to write, and it's worth checking those to see if any of them will do the trick. 

There are so many ways to be distracted as a writer (the internet, forums, family and even chores if the writing is going badly!) If you have any part of a story, the best thing to do is to simply sit down, and start writing from that point. Once you start working on the story, very often the other parts start to come - you simply go back and write the begining later.

Every writer has their own process and way of writing. There are those who can't move on until they have the perfect first sentence, while others write, and then go back and revise, rewrite and edit. Whatever you decide to do, and however you approach your writing, the most important thing is to write.