Writing the beginning to a story is hard.
Thankfully there’s an easy exercise you can do to instantly have an awesome opening to your story.
…just steal somebody else’s!
During the last stream, a subscriber requested that we write the opening to her story by “stealing” the opening to the Hunger Games, and changing it step-by-step into a completely different story.
Watch the full video here or scroll down for highlights.
We’ve done this exercise before with Harry Potter, and it was a lot of fun. Essentially what you do is you copy the opening to a story, word for word, and then step by step transform it into your own completely new thing.
Here’s the the steps look like to transform a “stolen” opening into your own:
- STEP 0: Copy the first 1-2 pages of your favorite book.
- STEP 1: Change the character names, setting locations, easy small changes.
- STEP 2: Change some details, how the characters look, act, etc.
- STEP 3: Add/remove things that your new story is starting to need/not need
- STEP 4: Final touches to remove any remnants of the original opening
The subscriber requested that we change the opening to Hunger Games to her story about people living on a snowflake. Here’s what we came up with after going through all four steps:
When I wake up at the first sign of dawn, the snow-blankets on my bed—usually cloud-fluffy and comfy beneath me—are compacted into sheets of ice. I must’ve been rolling around having nightmares. Again.
I slowly creep open my eyes, looking over to the bed beside mine in the dorm. L*Eight is sleeping there like a baby Lumian, her pearlescent skin and hair practically blending into the soft blankets around her. Her blankets are still nice and fluffy. Amazing how she manages to stay calm through the night, even on the day before the Riming.
Light starts to creep in through the dorm window. Krystallos Prime, the snowflake we live on, is beginning to rotate toward the sun. Just beginning to awaken. But I’m up before anyone else.
There’s enough light in the dorm room to see the other eleven Norilumi sleeping in their sparkling beds, along with our matron Niore. With her perfectly dewy skin, she almost looks our age, but her pink tint—and her name—proves that she is much older. Niore was a legend during the Riming in her time, or at least that’s what I’ve heard.
I make a move to creep out from under my covers, when something squeaks beneath me. Peeking out from under my bed with its fluffy body and big round eyes is Gus, the snow mite, my pet for the past week. She’s looking right at me, wriggling her snowy behind, dropping little bits of fluff onto the ground. Naming her Gus was L*Eight’s idea, since she was brought to us by a gust of wind on our walk home from school. L*Eight thought that we’d abandoned Gus, but I snuck her in under my jumpsuit. Now she happily feeds on the diamond dust that collects under our beds and pretty much everything else that’s made of ice and snow. I haven’t had to clean it myself for a week.
So far, Niore hasn’t found Gus. If she did, Gus would be squashed in an instant. And so would I.
I reach down to pat Gus on the head, to tell her to hide back under the bed, which she does with a reluctant hoot. I slowly pull off my covers and slide into my snow boots, hardened ice that’s molded to fit my pale, glistening feet. With the snow boots on, I glide silently over the icy floor to the trunk in front of my bed, and pull out my standard issue uniform: a light-blue jumpsuit with my name, L*Twelve, embroidered on the chest. I slip it on over my thin pajamas and quickly wrap my long, pale hair up in a tight bun. I can’t have it getting in the way for what I’m about to do.
When I stand back up, fully dressed, I notice something on the floor next to my trunk. It’s a little galee, a sweet icicle treat with a minty-fresh center, wrapped in a snow sheet so thin it’s transparent—and, more importantly, edible. I crack a smile. This must be L*Eight’s gift to me on Riming day. She knew I’d be up early, and she knew I’d need some nourishment encouragement. I put the galee carefully in my pocket as I glide silently across the dorm floor and through the door, outside.
Our opening is completely different from the original opening to Hunger Games, so much so that it’s nearly impossible to tell that’s where we got our inspiration from!
Be sure to check out the video so you can see how the story changed slowly but surely each step along the way.
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Featured image: Pakutaso (edited by me)