Lost opportunities in story writing

Getting there is half the fun!

Many students choose very interesting places to go in their stories, the result being an engaged, involved reader. Such papers are fun to read and to write!
Sometimes however, before the reader even realizes it, they are off and running in an adventure with no clue as to how they got there, or what the trip was even like. This is a lost opportunity! As the title states, it can be "the gettin’ there" that is half of the fun. For example, if the writer decides to take the reader to a strange place he's never been before, the reader would most definitely want to know how he ended up there. Maybe he would like to go himself some time! It would be impossible for me to include all the countless ideas I've read that people have used to get themselves (and their reader) to interesting story settings, but I want to include a short list which I think you'll enjoy: drying your hair and you get pulled inside the blow dryer, taking a shower or bath and being sucked down the drain, looking for something in the refrigerator or freezer and being pulled in by a new character, using the microwave or oven and ending up in some hot place, touching a special object that transports you to another place, eating or drinking something that takes you to another dimension, finding a normal object that turns out to be a type of time machine, going through a door or opening to find a new world on the other side, pushing a button, switch, or lever that sends you to your special place, meeting a strange character that asks you to follow him to his world. I think you get the point: instead of already just being there, one way to add interest is to include how you got there, especially if you go about in an unusual way.