Why Do Some Writers Start at the Wrong Place?

I have a mentor who is a gifted storyteller.

I met him about ten years ago when we worked at the same company. Through his passion, knowledge, and storytelling, he taught me everything I know about the insurance industry.

I hung on every story he told. But I noticed that not everyone in my office did.

He would spend a lot of time on background information before arriving at the part of the story that others actually wanted to hear. Side stories. Context. Backstory. More backstory. I had the sense it had been going on for a while before anyone realized it.

I've seen the same thing as an editor for several publications and as a spectator at story slams. New writers and performers, especially, fear they will never get the platform again — so they cram every detail they think is remotely relevant before diving into the story.

Most people write stories the way they lived them — start at the beginning, move toward the end. It feels logical. It is, in fact, the single most reliable way to run out of steam before you reach the good part. You get stuck on the setup. You second-guess the opening. You rewrite the first paragraph eleven times and never make it to the moment the whole story is actually about.

Here's what I do instead.

I write the middle first.

Not the opening. Not the setup. The core moment — whatever made me want to write the story in the first place. The thing I wanted, what got in the way, what happened as a result.

Desire.
Obstacle.
Outcome.

Three hundred words, sometimes less. Sometimes the flow takes over and I finish 1,000 words before I even get to what happened before and after. That becomes other essays of their own if we want it to.

Once the middle exists, the beginning becomes obvious — it's whatever the reader needs to know before the middle lands. And the ending writes itself — it's whatever that middle moment means, or what came after.

I have written hundreds of memoir stories this way. Under deadline, with a word budget, two daughters, and a full-time job that had absolutely no interest in me finishing my personal essays.

The middle first.

Every time.

You can't write a strong opening until you know what you're opening toward.

Write the middle of that story you've been meaning to write. Not the beginning. The part that actually happened — what you wanted, what got in your way, what resulted.

Three hundred words. Just the middle.

The rest will follow.

Happy telling!

-Carlos

P.S. In The Story Frame Sprint, you draft your middle on Day 1 and have a complete, polished story by Day 3. Next sprint starts March 9th.