Writing Tips and Techniques (Writing Help)

Beginnings and Ends

        Beginning and ending stories, or even chapters, can be tricky. A lot of people feel like they need a prologue and/or epilogue. This is not the case. You don't need to do anything. It's your story; you can do what you want. Prologues and epilogues are for information that relates to the main story but isn't directly connected. For example, prologues in published works are usually past events that affect your characters in the present. Another thing you can do is paste a section of the climax in the front, then leave it off at a cliffhanger. I've read a lot of Wattpad works where people use prologues and epilogues as first and last chapters when they would work just as well simply as the first and last chapter.

        A good technique for beginning stories/chapters can be in medias res, which is Latin for "in the middle of things." What this means is simply to start your story in the middle of the action. For example, instead of explaining that a character (let's call him Zak) is a demon hunter and that he's currently stalking his prey, you can start with him running from a pack of slimy humanoids shooting thorns from their palms. This brings me to my next point: the hook. In medias res is a great way to draw readers in and keep them wanting more. If you start with Zak being chased by demons, the reader wants to know why. What are the creatures chasing him? Why are they chasing him? Is he "the chosen one"? Is he part of a larger group of demon hunters? It also gives the reader the impression that your story is going to be exciting and gives an idea of what the story will revolve around. Of course, you'll still need exposition (background information), but it can come later.

        When you start, you need to draw your reader in. You need something that will interest the person that chose your story out of the other bazillion books in the world. If you start with pages of boring everyday stuff, the reader won't be inclined to continue reading. A big issue I've come across a lot is the info dump. You start off with a lot of information about the character and what their family life is like and where they live... it's boring. Listen to this intro and tell me how interested you are in the story: "hey my name is Jo and I'm a nineteen-year-old college sophomore, who fights crime at night. I have two brothers, two sisters, and I live with my parents in a small town in Pennsylvania. I like to read, write, blah, blah, blah." Not fun to read. You can drip that info into your story gradually. You never have to say outright that you have four siblings. Instead, while your character is coming home, paint a scene of the two sisters wrestling for the TV remote while one brother struggles to focus on homework at the kitchen table, and the other is running around in a diaper with his pants on his head. There. Four siblings and I never had to narrate. The hook is critical!

        As for writing endings, whether it be the end of a chapter or the end of the story, cliffhangers are always a great way to keep interest. If you leave chapters off with a mystery, your reader will need to continue to find out what comes next. If you have different points of views, this is particularly useful. You can start from one pov, cliffhanger, next pov, then back to the first and answer the cliffhanger. 

        At the end of an entire story, you don't have to leave a cliffhanger. If you want, you can answer all questions and solve everything. But if you leave a cliffhanger, you give yourself a window for a sequel. I suggest keeping cliffhangers vague unless you know what your sequel will be about. This gives you wiggle room when it comes to the next story.

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Thanks for reading! I hope this helps. Please vote so more people will be able to use this!

(if you want examples, you can see how I do it with my stories on Wattpad)