How to write an opening scene

How to write an opening scene

In my time as a writer, I’ve heard a lot of advice about how NOT to write an opening scene. Don’t start with your character waking up. Don’t start with your character looking in the mirror. Don’t info dump. The list goes on. But… how do you actually write an opening scene? How do you write something strong that will keep your readers turning pages (or keep your viewers’ eyes glued to the screen?) 

Opening scenes do a LOT of heavy lifting. They’re how your audience first experiences the world you’ve created. Typically, they’re introducing your main character and your setting for the first time, while also hinting at the plot. But, at the core, they have one job that’s the most important job in the entire work: keep your audience engaged enough to move on to the second scene, and the one after that. The ultimate goal of your first scene is to reel people in, hook, line, and sinker.

Okay, now that all that is out of the way, let’s dive into how to write an opening scene that will do all that and more.

Start in the right place

You know what I said earlier, about those rules where your story shouldn’t start with your character waking up or looking in the mirror? That’s actually pretty good advice, but it doesn’t get into the why. The reason you should probably not start with one of those things is because they’re weak openings 99% of the time, and the reason they’re weak openings is because your story isn’t starting in the right place. 

So what is the right place? Well, a moment of action. I don’t mean a bloody battle (although, depending on the genre, that could work.) I mean your protagonist should be doing something. It doesn’t have to be the meat of the story (you probably need time to build up to that) but it does need to be active. 

Instead of showing your main character oversleeping, show them frantically trying to rush out the door before they’re late to work… again. Or being lectured by their boss for their chronic tardiness. Instead of showing them driving home from a party and getting lost, show them arriving at home, arguing with their spouse about how they never listen to directions. 

Basically, when I say start in the right place, I mean something should be happening. Ideally, something that gives us clues as to who this character is and what we can expect from them over the course of this story.

That leads to my second point about starting in the right place: you shouldn’t be too far from your inciting incident. The inciting incident is, of course, the catalyst. It’s the moment in the story that kickstarts the whole thing. When your story starts, you want that moment to be just around the corner. Otherwise, your audience will be waiting… and waiting… and waiting.

Don’t forget; the opening scene is a promise

When you write your first scene, you’re entering into an agreement with your readers. You’re saying “this is what this story is going to be like.” You’re promising more of this to come.

Of course, stories are all about change, and things are going to amp up throughout the course of your story. But the opening scene should make a promise that you can follow through on for the rest of this work.

Is your story going to be scary? Make sure there’s a hint of fear. Is it a comedy? Your audience needs to laugh at least once, preferably more. Is it a drama? Include a lot of tension. Otherwise, you may find yourself losing audience members before you even get to the good stuff.

If you write novels, you’ve probably heard that, increasingly, agents and editors don’t like prologues. Screenwriters, this concerns you too, so don’t skip ahead. There is nothing wrong with prologues. No, let me clarify: there is nothing wrong with GOOD prologues. What’s the difference, then, between a good prologue and a prologue that will have people walking away from your story? A good prologue reflects the rest of the book.

The reason so many people get irritated with prologues is because, so often, they’re a way to avoid writing an intriguing first scene. So often they drop the audience in the middle of some delicious tension, with a compelling character, an intriguing mystery, a cool setting… and then, once the prologue ends, you have to get used to something totally different. New protagonist, new setting, often a new time period. And that mystery you were excited about? You can forget about that for a while. This can really alienate readers and viewers.

Now, plenty of good stories have prologues that really work. I’m not here to take your prologue from you. I’m just here to say it needs to reflect your story, and you may be better off rethinking where your story starts if you feel like you really need it. You may be surprised to discover that rewriting the first scene eliminates the need for a prologue, because it allows your writing to speak for itself.

Be prepared to rewrite your opening scene

I truly believe that your opening scene is the most important in your entire story, for reasons I’ve already mentioned. It doesn’t matter how good your climax is if your audience doesn’t get to that point. It truly behooves you to make sure your opening scene is your very best work, so you should be prepared to rewrite it… possibly many times.

When I’m writing a novel, often the first thing that comes to me about the story is the first line. I absolutely love crafting first lines, and it’s easy for me to get attached. But if you get too precious about your first line and absolutely can’t bring yourself to at least experiment with different options? You may find yourself struggling to write the compelling scene you’ve been dreaming of. This is where I get really serious about killing your darlings, advice that I think is overused and often misconstrued. But in this case, it really works. 

When you send your work to someone for feedback, listen carefully to what they say about your opening scene. If they have nothing at all to say about it, that’s bad news, too. Go into each revision prepared to really mix things up, if that’s what it takes to captivate your audience.

Include information thoughtfully

There’s a lot that needs to be communicated in an opening scene, but you need to be thoughtful about how you include all of that information. Your audience is going to feel like you’re patronizing them if you insist on holding their hand throughout the entire thing, explaining exactly what is going on and what’s already happened. You should aim to weave in information artfully; a passing comment, a well-placed flashback, a piece of set dressing that communicates something about your world. If you’re writing a fantasy, don’t state that magic exists; show your audience something magical, no matter how minor. If your protagonist has been arguing with their spouse, they aren’t going to announce it; a snide comment from the spouse in question will be enough to tip your reader or viewer off.

You’ve probably heard a lot about show, don’t tell, which like kill your darlings runs the risk of becoming cliche. However, there’s a lot of truth to it. Sometimes telling is necessary, but it’s almost never necessary in your opening scene. Proceed thoughtfully.