Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

71%
+3 −0
Q&A The problem with beginning

You don't have to just say "He ran", your opening sets the stage for where the action takes place and gives us insight into the character. You can state things about the environment, what the chara...

posted 6y ago by BKlassen‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:16:09Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40433
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar BKlassen‭ · 2019-12-08T10:16:09Z (about 5 years ago)
You don't have to just say "He ran", your opening sets the stage for where the action takes place and gives us insight into the character. You can state things about the environment, what the character is thinking as he is running, what the character looks like or what their background may have been like before they had to run.

> Shadows danced over the graffitied walls and dumpsters of the alleyway as he ran past streetlights and illuminated windows.

or

> It seemed as though the shadows themselves were chasing him as he ran through the graffitied walls and dumpsters of the alleyway, no matter how fast he ran the shadows kept up.

or

> His tailored suit flapped wildly as he ran along the graffitied alleyway, his slicked back hair disheveled from his frantic running.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-11-30T17:16:00Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 3