First Chapters: The Dos and the Don’ts

So, you want to write a book. An idea has taken hold and is begging to be released into the world. Sometimes a writer knows exactly where to start and other times it is unknown. Perhaps the writer has an inkling of a plot and characters floating around, or maybe they have figured out the entire plot in excruciating detail. Either way, the first chapter has to be written.

Some give less importance to the first chapter, thinking that once the story takes off, everyone will read until the end, but that isn’t usually the case. The first chapter is an extension of the blurb’s promise to the reader, a promise that the story is worth the time to read. If the promise isn’t strong enough, the reader is likely to put the story down and never pick it up again. Keeping that in mind, it is something that needs to be handled carefully. I won’t sit here and say, ‘never start a story with a character waking up’ or ‘something crazy has to be going on’, because that’s not true. Understanding why people give those recommendations is much more insightful and promotes better understanding of craft.

Let’s touch on that very first one. Everyone has heard it: “Never start your story with your character waking up. It’s bad! No one will read it!” While the advice comes from a good place, even some people giving it sometimes don’t understand it fully.

It comes back to one crucial point. Every scene needs a reason to make it into the final product. If, and only if, you want to transform the product into the best version of itself for sale. That isn’t everyone’s goal, and that is okay. But if it is your goal, ask yourself the important questions.

Is this needed to tell the story?

Does this provide necessary information to the reader, and is it important to know from the start?

Does it give the reader a promise and then pay it off afterwards?

Just having the character wake up and get ready for their day rarely conveys these things properly. And if there isn’t anything pertinent, no one is interested because everyone that’s reading it knows exactly what waking up entails. People read for many reasons, but one of them is to have a break from reality. Even those that like to read stories based within reality, the first few pages usually aren’t the best place to put such mundane aspects of life.

With that in mind, there are ways where a wake-up scene is appropriate and makes complete sense to start with. If you want to write that wake-up scene, do it! If it turns out to be unnecessary, then you can eliminate it later. Don’t let these made up ‘rules’ paralyze your ability to write.

As for the idea that something must be happening. That’s true. BUT it doesn’t have to be as crazy as some people make it out to be. Spilling a beverage isn’t exactly a crazy thing that people would see as an action packed first scene, but it can showcase a conflict, or give insight into the character’s mind. Are they panicking because they made a mess in public? Are they shaking as they clean it up? Did the person spill the beverage onto their boss on their first day as his new secretary? OR did they purposefully dump it over the head of someone that pushed them too far?

Simple things can start a story. It doesn’t have to be an action-packed car chase or a brush with death. Once again, don’t let any rule paralyze your writing. Especially in the drafting phase. Get your story out in any way you can, then edit it to the best of your abilities. A round of beta readers can tell you if your opening scene is strong, or if a wake-up scene doesn’t seem to work for your story.

Whatever you do, be yourself, be happy in creating. Being creative is so underappreciated in so many aspects of life, so don’t underappreciate your own ability. The technical aspects of any craft will come with time.

As always, happy writing. I believe in you.

-Jess

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