: Re: Is starting a story with dialogue bad? (Apologies if this question has already been asked. I've looked around but can't find this specific question, only related ones.) The general advice seems

@Lee1909368

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As a reader, I'd rather not have a story start with dialogue, and it's more about background and voices rather than context per se.

Why? I create particular voices for characters in my mind when I read them, and it's annoying to have to change those voices. Giving me dialogue without any details on the character 'locks in' a voice that may be radically different than the character's voice really 'should' be. Especially if this opening dialogue keeps revealing a bunch of information about motive, background, etc., then I spend a ton of mental energy just updating voices.

Analyzing your example by this metric, at first I'm forced to choose between a dark, commanding voice and a desperate, high-pitched voice for that first sentence. Voices are only settled at the end of the second sentence, since now I know which person was making threats and the power dynamics. Everything from then on is fine, voice-wise.

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