Zephyr's Creatures

Someone whose opinion I do not respect once told me that a piece of my writing started in a way which was far too jarring. How were we supposed to know what was happening in the scene, if I didn’t start it with a panorama? How were we supposed to know the character, if I didn’t begin by listing all their physical characteristics?

I stand by that piece, but I am very bad at writing beginnings. I like to jar people a little with the first line. Drop them into a dialogue while it’s running, or introduce us to a funny intrusive thought. Sometimes I’ll start us off with my most bizarre bit of worldbuilding, because I know that if I stick the strange stuff up front, it’ll stick with people. I think it comes from my oral storytelling, with which I am much more experienced. When you tell someone a story, you have to work a little harder to keep them interested.

The Odyssey begins like this:

ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ
πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσεν:
πολλῶν δ᾽ ἀνθρώπων ἴδεν ἄστεα καὶ νόον ἔγνω,
πολλὰ δ᾽ ὅ γ᾽ ἐν πόντῳ πάθεν ἄλγεα ὃν κατὰ θυμόν,
ἀρνύμενος ἥν τε ψυχὴν καὶ νόστον ἑταίρων.

“Of man, to me sing, muse, the one of many turns, which very much / he wandered, after the holy citadel of Troy he laid waste to: many men he saw the cities of and knew the minds of, many of which in the sea were subjected to pain which downs souls, striving to win them life and a return home for his companions.”

That’s a very literal translation which goes to some lengths to preserve word order, which is not a thing in Greek. You could also say:

“Sing to me, muse, of the man of many ways, the one who wandered so long after he laid waste to the holy citadel of Troy: of how he saw the cities of many men and knew their minds, of how so many of them suffered in the sea the pain which ends souls. All this, done in an effort to win life and safe return for his companions.”

All translations are my own.

I guess I could start my work with an invocation to the muses, too. I’m sure that I’d be able to provide enough setting details that way. At this point, any beginning at all would be an improvement. I have hundreds of pages of writing, and none of it is chapter one.

I don’t know if, right now, I need a chapter one. This is writing for writing’s sake, to me. I toy with what makes me happy. I send my little words over the page, and whatever happens, happens.

But I’d still like to be better at beginnings.