Trouble with Beginnings

I think I have trouble with beginnings. I'm trying to get back into Black Hole Son, and Character B's storyline, and it feels like I'm just vomiting all over the page.

The problem is the character just doesn't have anything to do now. He's lost, and this is my opportunity for world-building. The problem with this kind of world-building is that there's no events, and thus no story. I have to establish the environment, before I start rolling out the action. I don't think there's a way I can avoid this sort of thing, in order to establish the mood I want. I think my best solution is just to get through it as quick as I can.

Looking back, I realize that none of my beginnings have ever been very strong. They start very slow, and never have much of a zippy first line or first event to capture the reader. Many times I've cheated by giving a melodramatic prologue, or some kind of meta-fictional thing that doesn't have anything to do with the story (see Baby Blocks and Blood: I Live Again).

In Black Hole Son, Character A starts the story, and his part I'm not worried about. That's zippy enough. Character B, however, is starting kind of slow and meandering, not much focus on what he's doing. Plust since both A and B's origins are the same, that they're parallel and I'm trying to make them be the same person, I also have to avoid treading on trodden territory, tiger (alliteration!)

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