: Re: Bad to start story with VR/non-real scene? I'm coming up with an outline for a cyberpunk story. I want to establish (at some point) that the main character has marksmanship proficiency by starting

@Si5022468

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There's nothing wrong with starting your story with a fantasy VR sequence. This is known as a Fake-Out Opening (TV Tropes link warning!).

What you want to avoid - and what you do seem to be concerned about - is confusing the reader. The last thing you want is them picking up your cyberpunk novel, getting a few pages in, and putting it down because they don't realise what's going on and think you lied to them in the blurb. "I came here for cyberpunk, not World of Warcraft!"

I'd say you have two options:

Make it immediately obvious that the scene takes place in a VR world (up to you how to do this).
Make the scene short enough that it ends before anyone becomes convinced that your story isn't actually cyberpunk. I understand that the intent of the scene is to set up the protagonist's aiming skills, but devoting an entire chapter to that, in a VR setting that will never be mentioned again, seems a little excessive.

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