Writing for the Week: How to Properly Begin a Story

When I started writing my first novel, I didn't do any planning. I went straight to a Google Doc with a story ending and a handful of names. Even as someone who is pretty good at making something up on the spot, it fell apart by chapter two. Why? My characters had no personality and they wandered aimlessly in an unformed world. How can this be fixed? Simple. Take the time to plan. It may seem boring at first, but as you go, worldbuilding can become fun!

I suggest creating a Planning Doc. This can be done in a notebook or on a device. Your first section will include your title if you have one, your genre, and what you want readers to take away from your story. Next, give life to your characters. Not only should you add names, but also fears, misbeliefs, personality, and how they will turn their lives around throughout the book. All of this will help with character voice. For side characters, they don't need all this, but they still need a splash a personality to make them interesting.

At this point, you will probably know the setting for your story. If you are using a non-fictional place, you don't have to make any thing up as far as the world. If you are creating your own fictional settings, add names, landmarks, places, and other important details. You can go as far as creating flora and fauna unique to your world, and even people types and languages. Get creative with this process! If you are feeling artistic, you and draw a map on paper or make one on a online site. This is an easy way to see where everything is.

If you have scene ideas you can add them to this same doc to save for your character's next adventure. Same thing with notes, thoughts, or other ideas for the book, you can dump them there for later.

The next helpful thing is planning the twelve steps of the hero's journey. All good stories follow these -- even unknowingly. Here are all the steps explained (not all my own words).

1. Ordinary World

We are introduced to your main character and their status quo. Before they’re pulled into the meat of the narrative, we must know what their ‘normal life’ and ‘normal world’ looks like.

2. Call to Adventure

This is all about booting the protagonist out of their comfort zone. They are confronted with a problem or challenge that they cannot ignore. At this stage, the story’s central conflict and stakes are revealed.

3. Refusal of the Call

The protagonist knows what needs to be done, but they know that the road ahead is not an easy one. They might feel, justifiably, that they aren’t ready or equipped for what’s to come. So for a hot second, they will resist the call to adventure.

4. Meeting the Mentor

Just as Luke Skywalker has his Obi-Wan Kenobi, your protagonist will encounter a teacher, mentor, sage, trainer, or veteran. This mentor provides practical training or profound wisdom.

5. Crossing the First Threshold

Now the protagonist is ready — and committed — to the journey. This marks the end of the Departure stage and is when the adventure really kicks into the next gear. As Christopher Vogler writes: “This is the moment that the balloon goes up, the ship sails, the romance begins, the wagon gets rolling.”

From this point on, there’s no turning back. By this checkpoint, you must have stated the central conflict, established the stakes, and established your themes.

6. Tests, Allies, Enemies

As the protagonist leaves their ordinary world and enters “the special world,” they might be discombobulated by this unfamiliar reality and its new rules. This is generally one of the longest stages in the story, as our protagonist gets to grips with their new surroundings.

As the name suggests, this is the section where they make allies (Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy meet the beavers), learn who their enemies are (Katniss Everdeen meets her fellow Hunger Games contestants), and run up against a series of mini-conflicts that stand in the way of their goal.

7. Approach to the Inmost Cave

This isn’t a physical cave. Instead, the “inmost cave” refers to the most dangerous spot in the other realm — whether that’s the villain’s chambers, the lair of the fearsome dragon, or one step closer to becoming Editor-in-Chief of their magazine.

Note that the protagonist hasn’t entered the Inmost Cave just yet. This stage is all about getting close to it.

8. Ordeal

Of all the tests the Hero has faced, none have made them hit rock bottom — until now. Vogler describes this phase as a “black moment.” Campbell refers to it as the “belly of the whale.” Both indicate some grim news for the Hero.

The protagonist must now confront their greatest fear. If they survive it, they will emerge transformed. This is a critical moment in the story, as Vogler explains that it will “inform every decision that the Hero makes from this point forward.” The Ordeal is often not the climax of the story. Think of it as the main event of the second act — the one in which the Hero actually earns the title of “Hero.”

9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)

Our protagonist has been through a lot. However, the fruits of their labor are now at hand — if they can just reach out and grab them! The “reward” is the object or knowledge the Hero has fought throughout the entire journey to hold. This, however, has greater ramifications for the story.

Vogler’s examples of ‘reward’ include: Luke rescuing Princess Leia and obtains the Death Star plans that allow him to defeat Darth Vader; and Dorothy escaping from the Wicked Witch’s castle with the broomstick and the ruby slippers her keys to getting back home.

10. The Road Back

The story’s not over just yet, as this phase marks the beginning of Act Three. Now that he’s seized the reward, the Hero tries to return to the Ordinary World, but more dangers (inconveniently) arise on the road back from the Inmost Cave.

More precisely, the Hero must deal with the consequences and aftermath of the previous act: the dragon, enraged by the Hero who’s just stolen a treasure from under his nose, starts the hunt. Or maybe once they’ve secured the job they’ve always wanted, they realize what they’ve sacrificed for their success. All further obstacles which the protagonist must face down before they can return ‘home’.

11. Resurrection

Here is the true climax of the story. Everything that happened prior to this stage culminates in a crowning test for the hero, as their antagonist gets one last chance to triumph over them.

Vogler refers to this as a “final exam” for the hero — they must be “tested once more to see if they have really learned the lessons of the Ordeal.” It’s in this Final Battle that the protagonist goes through one more “resurrection.” As a result, this is where you’ll get most of your miraculous near-death escapes, à la James Bond’s dashing deliverances. If the hero survives, they can start looking forward to a sweet ending.

12. Return with the Elixir

Finally, the Hero gets to return home. However, they go back a different person than when they started out: they’ve grown and matured as a result of the journey they’ve taken.

In the resurrection, they may have realized that what they “wanted” at the start of their journey wasn’t what they “needed” — in abandoning the former, they may have found the latter — and gained new knowledge or insight.

Once you understand the hero's journey, all that's left to do is start your writing, carefully connecting the dots through your writing.

If you have a certain topic you want to touch on for next week, or a question you want answered, let me know in the comments! Happy writing! - Aviya ❤️