Include Me!

So you are sitting at your computer and racking your brain for something to write about...

Here is a short list of story starters:
1. A werewolf walked into a bar...
Trite? Nay! You can go anywhere with this! Examples:

a. Everyone else had better costumes. Feeling stupid and insecure, Jessica tugged at her sleeves awkwardly. She wasn't sure how anyone had talked her into this. Werewolves were soooo last year.

b. He was hungry. His suit disguised his nature but he was on the prowl...

c. The studio cameras rolled and the only real werewolf, the director, grinned at the irony.

See? You can go many directions with even an overused idea.

2. The sound of the slap rang out across the room, loud in the sudden silence.

No, you don't have to start with back story. Actually, DON'T start with back story. Ever.

If you can in anyway jump the reader into the action and spread the explanation out later, do it. Hook first, storytelling later. Don't info dump. Don't prologue the info dump. Don't.

Okay, this stuff can be fine if you are working on your first draft. Also fine for NaNoWriMo purposes... But remember, you can be bold.

You can hook em and tell em a story.

After are...
You are the storyteller.

3. Blood dripped onto the pavement. How did she end up at this point?

One of the few times I have found a prologue amusing was when the main character was dying right at the beginning of the book. Good stuff. Love it. Not every author pulls it off. I gotta say, me personally after reading a few chapters of Bella's saga in Twilight... I wanted her to die. I loved Breaking Dawn. The other three books... I kinda wanted Edward to eat her. That said, other authors did it well. If you think you can, do it.

Okay, I said it was a short list. How is your NaNoWriMo going? Are you behind yet?
;)
I am. Everyone in my house got sick this week. So we are running behind on everything. But... I have developed an overwhelming love for the nasty taste of cough meds... The pic above is me playing with my camera while my youngest and I waited at Doc Pirate's office yesterday. :)