Q&A for How to Write the Beginning of a Novel

As the author, you can start your novel any way you want. Starting it with a fighting scene isn't cliché, but you want to make sure you explain why the fight is taking place, either right before or right after the scene, so the reader isn't confused.

You can use whichever option feels best to you! Some people find it easier to write on paper because computers can be distracting, but others like writing on computers because you can utilize spellcheck and save your work easily.

Check out examples of historical fiction/nonfiction for ideas of how this can work. Essentially any work that narrates a real historical event with imagined characters or imaginatively rendering the inner lives of real characters will fit the bill.

If you have a publisher in mind, ask them which language they'd prefer. Otherwise, choose the language in which you're most comfortable, and later you could offer a translation in the other language.

As the author, it's your choice to make. Consider, however, that most people would be more likely to enjoy (and recommend) a story with a "happy" ending.

Yes, some authors will choose a title while they're still planning to write the book. In other cases, the title develops during the writing process.

Start feeling like it. A book without a title would have a very hard time becoming known to potential readers. The same would be true of characters. There have been characters created without a name (Clint Eastwood's character in Sergio Leone's "spaghetti westerns", for example), but that usually results in critics, viewers and readers simply inventing names for them. Readers need a simple way to identify books and their characters.

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You should have all of the book in the same style, unless it changes from character to character each chapter.

Yes, it is. It's especially good to start a novel in a way you've never seen any other author use. Give your readers something so creative and unique, they'll never forget it. The same is true for your ending.

See Get Over Writer's Block and related articles.

It's a great idea and it will hook the readers and make them want to know what is happening next. Just be careful it fits into the genre you want it to.

Start now. Just realize that later you may want to change what you've written originally. Your perspectives and abilities will mature with time.

Side character plots are great (ask Tolkien, he seems to really enjoy them), but sometimes they can distract from the main plot of the story. If you choose to include side character plots, it's best to keep them brief or tied in with the main plot. It's nicer if they're fast-paced, as side plots usually tie in action, but it's ultimately your decision!

No. Many novels have been set in fictional places (especially -- but not exclusively -- science fiction novels).

Come up with a good attention-getter. If you're writing from a first person perspective, a good idea would either be an inner thought or a self-talk.

Some common ways to begin stories are by describing how certain characters meet, starting with a backstory or flashback of one of your characters, or setting up the main conflict. However you choose to start, It's advised to introduce your character almost immediately and to have conflict start to happen on the first page. It creates intrigue and gets readers invest in the story/characters.

It's okay if your book is written a bit out of order, just make sure that readers won't be too confused.

Yes, it is. Your story can be written in any way, shape or form you like. As long as it is interesting to read than you will be fine. If you don't feel like your story should have a sad ending don't give it one, if you do then do it. When writing a novel, it's all about gut instinct. The more you feel and put in the story the better it will be. If you write a sad ending maybe, you can write an epilogue for more? It's up to you when writing a novel, every single novel is unique, so make your story how you feel.