There is no room to waffle in short fiction. Every word counts. Therefore, it’s a good idea to establish the WHO, WHERE and WHEN of your story in the opening lines. The more succinctly you can do it, the better. This will allow the story to get going without any tedious expositions.

Take the following passage for example:

Sunlight was beginning to pour in through the window of the shed, but James still hadn’t written a thing. He was thinking about the argument he had with Emily last night— their first in eight years.

This is only two sentences, but it conveys a lot of information that draws us into the fictional world. First, and most importantly, it answers the three basic questions of who, where and when:

• The protagonist is a man called James
• He is in a shed
• It is early morning.

Additionally, we safely infer:

• James is a writer of some description
• He is in a long-term relationship with someone called Emily
• The relationship was going well until last night (this could be the story’s inciting incident).

Once you have established these crucial details, it’s easier to jump straight into the action without preamble.