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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/47284
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/47284
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

You should definitely tell the story you want to tell, and not some backstory that leads up to it. You are not starting your story at the point that would make sense if you were writing a comprehensive history of your fantasy world. You are starting your story at the point where your chosen character arcs, or the interesting situations you are putting your characers in, start. You gradually reveal as much of the backstory as is necessary for us to understand the characters and their experiences, choices, etc (and, often, no more than that).

You should not worry too much about the beginning (as in, the first page or chapter of the story). The beginning is often [based on what I've heard from authors talking about their process] written last. Oh, you usually write a beginning to your story first--but then you go back and re-write it. So you should be fine starting anywhere that's OK for _your_ flow, even if it does not fill in the backstory well, then writing the rest of the book, and then going back and figuring out how you actually need to start.

You should not try too provide all the backstory. Basically any fantasy book you read will have a huge amount of backstory that is never told. And, what is told will come gradually, as it is relevant to understanding the characters and what happens with them as the story progresses.

You need not even worry too much, while writing your first draft, about providing all the backstory necessary for us to understand the plot. You can add that in when you edit the full draft, in a future iteration. Initially, provide the backstory that makes sense in terms of showing us the characters--what motivates them, what shapes their personality, etc. It will be easier to fill in the gaps when you have an actual draft to read, analyse, and find what's missing in it.

An extra point: don't try to "save up good ideas" for other novels in a series. Ideas will come to you. Use as much of your best material as you can, to make _this_ story as good as you possibly can.

Original score: 23