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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35816
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35816
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

EDIT: This answer still applies after modification of the question; the answer is to focus on the important person (or some important persons if there will be several POV in the novel) first, in **minor** conflict; not the main conflict, as an introduction into the world of the novel.

The aspects of this person to focus on are (IMO) probably NOT their superpower (too soon to bare all on that), but something that shows their normality and is **related** to their superpower. For example, if my protagonist is a super warrior, I may show her with some of her crew on a battlefield **after** it is over; so I can show she cares about her crew (e.g. somebody is injured or dead), because I want to show she is a killer but not heartless or callous; just a soldier doing her job.

If my girl is a seer, perhaps she is being briefed on the aftermath of a mission instigated due to one of her visions.

In one of the Mission Impossible movies; the action opens with Tom Cruise fearlessly free-climbing some mountain. This does echo later (climbing a skyscraper with suction cups), but otherwise the mountain climb has nothing to do with the story at all; it just engages the audience and shows a character trait, and shows something of his world.

The opening pages need conflict; but it can be throw-away conflict (not central to the story) if it shows characters traits that **are** central to the story, and it can also show some of the setting, time period, etc. But always subordinate to the character(s).

--- Orignal below.

+1 Galastel; good insight.

My own stories are always about one person, an unusual MC with a dilemma. Thus my first sentences always refer to this person (indeed my title contains at least their first name), doing something and feeling something, but generally this is to illustrate their normal world and character and something about the setting. It is not the inciting incident that causes their central dilemma, it is more of an orientation for the reader.

If I were writing more generally about a setting, I would still recommend focusing on **people doing something.** I would probably open with a pair or group effort. The reason is, if I open with one MC and hold that for pages, the story seems to be about them instead of several people, and if I want to write about "Space Station Alpha" or "Earth 2" in the more general sense, I would need several people in various places in society.

I can do that by taking different POV every chapter, and still might, but I'd rather establish from the **first sentence** that multiple characters will be involved in the tale, so don't get attached to the first POV just because somebody has to be first. I would invent a scene (always with conflict, even if it is a meeting) that involves two or three of the future POV interacting.

I think it is a mistake to open a book and talk about the setting. That is (IMO of course) inevitably a list of facts and descriptions untethered to anyone and inherently rather boring. I would much rather hear that described from a POV of a person, which demands opening with a person.

I consider it important that the first page contain conflict, and that requires at least one person reacting to something. One person **can** be reacting to a fire, a storm / hurricane / tornado / flood, being lost, escaping something, an "event" (she accidentally cut her finger, or narrowly avoided a car accident because she is distracted), news she saw on TV or heard on the radio, etc. All of those are (loosely speaking) "conflict" in the sense they require decisions and actions, and this propels the reader forward to find out what happened, even though this little bit of drama is not ultimately a part of the story. (I usually "close it out" by making a minor reference to it later by that character, e.g. "I almost had an accident this morning.")

Even though the incident may last only a few pages, that is two pages where you build some character and setting and sneakily introduce a slightly larger dilemma.

Previously I have likened this to building a rope bridge across a canyon: First you throw (or carry) a thread to cross the canyon. Then use it to pull a cord across, then use the cord to pull a rope, then that rope to pull a bundle of a dozen ropes that will support the planks of your bridge.

The beginning of a novel can be similar; a tiny [thread] conflict to introduce a character, then she is done with that but pulled into a slightly larger conflict [cord] (say an ongoing relationship conflict with lover/boss/parent/sibling), that can pull her into the ACT I (30% of the way through the novel) crisis that is the point of the novel.

All of this can apply to a group as well; e.g. The Mission Impossible team or The Expendables or the Saving Private Ryan squad.

Original score: 7