If you haven't written anything yet, then this is officially the section that should get you writing. Only, you don't know where to start!
Start at the beginning, of course! In the case you decided to not have a prologue, then your first, opening sentence should draw the reader in on-the-spot.
Drawing In Reads
Your story should start by creating tension. Don't EVER start with, "An alarm clock blares in my ears.." or something of the sort. That's a turn off. That's not action, unless it's the life story of the main character. Even then, why would we want to read about some boring character?
We wouldn't.
Back on topic. Start out in the middle of some action. By action, I mean a meaningful moment of the story. Not the grand finale. Let the reader get to know the scenario. Your opening scene needs to provoke questions in the reader's mind. What is going to keep them from scrolling or turning to the next chapter if you failed to create any tension or twist?
To experiment for yourselves, open up some of your favorite books and read JUST the first 2-3 lines of the actual story. Don't read anything else. What questions do you have about the story just from reading the first few lines? Do you want to find the answer to those questions?
I'm going to recite some opening lines and provide some commentary just to give you a good idea of what I'm talking about.
"Every summer, Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu." from "Waiting" by Ha Jin."
This is an unexpected opening sentence. "Divorce" is usually a one-time deal, but the words "every summer" suggest that this is a repeating occurrence. Immediately the reader is enticed to discover the meaning of this line. What is the relationship between Lin Kong and Shuyu, why does he want a divorce, and why does this specifically happen every summer? Off the bat, I have three questions I want the answers to.
There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." — C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Immediately we are introduced to a character and the narrator's point of view on said character. What did he do to "almost deserve it?" This is a pressing issue that demands the reader to read ahead and understand the meaning of this question.
The following open line is one of my own, which I have PRIVATELY PUBLISHED and COPYRIGHTED. I do not take lightly for those that try to copy my work.
"I am nameless."
Mind you, I'm commenting on my own work. But we have an unexpected character introduction, but instead of their name, we are told that he/she/they have no name. Immediately there is this mystery surrounding the narrator, with the pressing question, "Who are they?"
The Options Panel
You remember the Options Panel, where we can change the story details? Well, we will be going into MUCH greater detail with that.
Genre- Choose the genre the story will be in. You should know what the story is. Choose the biggest factor(s) of the story and decide the genre.
Tags- What does the story consist of? Tags are searchwords that make your story easier to find. For example, if someone typed in "Orange" in the search bar, they would get all results with Orange as a tag or if it's in the title.
Rating- Please please please please PLEASE choose your rating correctly. I HATE clicking on "PG-13" only to find it should really be mature. Let me help you choose your rating.
Your choices are All Audiences (Ages 13+) and Mature Content (Ages 17+). If your story has "bedroom" themes, drugs, foul language, it should probably be Mature. Please be smart. Nobody likes an improperly-rated story.
Language- If you are reading this, there's a good chance you will be writing in English. English is recommended because a majority of Wattpad speak English (and aren't bilingual). Bilingual people, however, have a much bigger library.
Visibility- You can choose how your story is viewed. It can be Public, which lets everyone read it, or Private, which will restrict the part to you and your followers only. If you are doing a secret mission, then you should do Private. Otherwise, be public.
Copyright- Since I really suck at this stuff, just put your mouse over the "i" and click "Learn More about the different options". It'll show you the different copyrights.
That's a wrap! I hope this helped you out somewhat.
Go now, and open the doors of your story with the best opening sentence in the world.
-OrangeGuy
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