How to start a story in the best way?

[kendvp]

Does anyone remember the name of the movie with Billy Crystal? He started with "The night was" but couldn't go any further.

[Theresammoore]

I don't have that problem. I get strong ideas just looking at art on the wall. I am certainly not one of those people who can sit down in front of a typewriter and just stare at it. The problem I have is with finishing it, and finding the strength to keep real life from destroying the flow. I have taught myself to stay away from the manuscript until I am calm enough to dismiss everything to the background and just write stream of consciousness. I use everything around me to craft word pictures, and I use a cinematic style, approaching the story like a screenplay. I have to keep in mind that the story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. But at the moment my workflow is such that it's difficult to get back into the zone. Which is why I have been trying to finish my latest book since yearly last year.

I am watching "The Human Heart" on PBS right now, about an aspiring writer and journalist who finds himself trapped in a life where he can never actually write anything but short articles. The novel is languishing somewhere between his brain and his hands. And in the second episode, his associations with famous writers and royal celebrities have become a nightmare. I can only note that some of the best authors in the world were not discovered until after their deaths. Yeesh.

[Lita]

Starting a story is difficult o_o that's why you need to do a lot of things beforehand, such as: outlines, brainstorming, taking notes, writing whatever thought comes to mind: ALWAYS KEEP A NOTEBOOK WITH YOU. Something you can take anywhere, and believe me, you'll have GREAT ideas

Then just start writing random things, trying to organize something and then you'll see something will come out of those ideas. Then you just need to put everything together and tada! xD

[Vogin]

Sit down and write. Be it gibberish, be it nonsense, but simply write. Your brain will kick in and you should do this until you actually get a beginning you think is valid.