You can show action without any immediate explanation , creating more perplexed questions. Character goals and motivations help us relate to the cast of a novel.
When you introduce characters along with unique voices early, there is an emotive element for readers to connect with. By the third paragraph of the first book in J. Character goals and motivations are core to character and story development.
Introducing goals and motivations early gives your story an immediate sense of direction. The story already starts to move towards a chain of events driven by character psychology and the cause and effect of the beliefs, needs and desires characters hold. Obstacles for characters, tension and conflict emerge over the course of a story. Laying the foundation for future tensions and complications at the beginning of your novel, however, creates anticipation and suspense.
By telling us a murder happens at the start of The Secret History , Donna Tartt makes us anticipate a great reveal from the very first page. Your first chapter could introduce two characters who share obvious physical chemistry, for example, but trade insults and put-downs.
The tension becomes whether either will go too far, despite their romantic potential. This sense of narrative tension, the feeling that things could pan out in a number of ways, creates a compelling start. Enigma and mystery are fundamental to satisfying stories. Knowing how to begin a novel means knowing how to craft not only a great first chapter but also a great first sentence. What makes a first line good?
It could be a vivid, intriguing setting description. Why would clocks strike thirteen when they usually follow twelve-hour cycles? And why is this detail important? The words seem like an oxymoron. The sentence is a fitting opening for a book about a dystopian society that burns books.
It only emerges later on the first page that this is the type of burning being described. As an exercising, to improve your first lines, read just the first lines of at least 10 books and note:.
Read a list of 30 opening lines from celebrated novels here. A discussion of how to begin a novel would be incomplete without a mention of chapter endings. What does an effective chapter ending do? When beginning your novel, think of new departures you could arrive at by the end of the first chapter. Does a new character arrive? Is there a change of setting? An event such as this opens out new possibilities for your story. Weiland is the award-winning and internationally-published author of the acclaimed writing guides Outlining Your Novel , Structuring Your Novel , and Creating Character Arcs.
A native of western Nebraska, she writes historical and fantasy novels and mentors authors on her award-winning website Helping Writers Become Authors.
Under the emotion of the narrative. Which brings me to another necessary element of good fiction. An emotional connection. I was born running. At the end of that opening paragraph we are hanging up in the air, wondering… Okay, which is it? But that is precisely the strength of the paragraph. We stay to find out what kind of times it is. This is about as far away from intimate as a writer can get. A tale of cities? My goodness, who the devil cares about stories of cities? And this, too is part of the magic of fiction.
What are the odds that such an opener would thrive over the passage of time? Here is another truth. I must read it again. I like it! And I agree with you. I think this is exactly what the best authors do: follow the rules but do it so smoothly we never notice.
I remember you talking about Wayfarer before in your other posts. When does it come out? I needed this. Especially the bit about the opening chapter not being the Inciting Incident— I tend to forget that. This has given me some ideas. Thanks so much. I think the idea that the Inciting Event has to be in the first chapter is one of most damaging and misleading for writers struggling with their First Act.
Finding a balance between set-up and action has always been tricky. Same here. Again, I think finding that balance goes back to your reading preferences. As a reader, I much prefer stories that take their time with excellent character development upfront to those that dump me into the action before giving me someone to care about.
Prologues are special. A prologue lets you use a different voice or POV than in the rest of the book. It also lets you frame the book within a larger situation, e. It lets you show vital backstory that takes place in a much earlier time frame. Never more than a page, max. Half a page is usually better. This was a good recap of the structuring your novel book, which I need to keep reading, but it was great with the examples included from your own work.
I remember the Jane Austin one from the book. I think, like an introduction of an essay, its something you need to keep coming back to as I think it could easily change as the story develops. I believe thinking about the character of the book is important, as to capture that in the intro also gives the reader a clear feel of the writing style.
What you say is true, although interestingly enough I find that my best first lines are almost always those that I wrote right from the beginning—perhaps even knew before starting the first draft. Something like that. His apparent interests, background, and general profile make him a shoe in for the next messy corpse. They have separate threads, each with at least one central character.
I seem to be in the minority of writers who enjoy writing first chapters. Great point about it not being the inciting incident! I like writing first chapters too—when they go well! The antagonists debut too soon, it needs a complete re-write to better flesh out the circle of main cast early on that drive the story these are all characters the reader is supposed to care about later on. Nope, definitely not too early. I would love to give a quick thumbs-up to many of the comments appearing here.
Such fun. That would be fun! Or the novel would feel broken? Theme always arises from plot—and plot always represents theme. The choices the character makes there will reflect the theme. I had a bit of trouble with this myself, during a recent planning phase.
Love, religion, education… other stuff. It all converges in the first few pages of the story, to the point of this article. And yet, at least in my opinion, it is one coherent work. According to Dramatica, despite the capacity to have diverse subject matter within a single story, there comes to be one overall message. Great post. However, I have a question about the first scene domino you were talking about.
A lot of times my inciting incident happens in chapter one because I feel like if I put it later and add something else in the beginning, people will get bored before the actual plot kicks off.
Is there a Call to Adventure happening there—or at least a plot turn that pushes the character closer to the First Plot Point? What an education! I think I have a great first sentence, or hook, for my WIP. My main focus is to finish it.
I would like to reach at least 50, words. Thank you for your encouragement to writers like myself. Have a great day! Hurray, I got someone else hooked on your awesome stuff! I brag about you all the time, Katie. Great article, do you keep a journal when you have ideas for your characters? I am writing two WIP then more typing. Do you write free hand type or both?
I write outlines freehand, then type the first drafts. I am having a touch of trouble making this clear. They might be written in a different point of view than the rest of the story but remember to be consistent throughout your book once the story starts! That said, the prologue should still introduce the reader to the journey ahead, and these seven elements.
Consider using each of them as you can. First drafts are hard. First drafts of first chapters are really hard. Introduce your protagonist in a sympathetic way so your readers can fall in love with them. Does your first chapter meet all of these steps to writing a first chapter? Let us know in the comments. Put the first chapter checklist to use with your story. Does it hit all seven steps of the checklist? Which of the seven characteristics of sympathetic characters does it touch on?
What is it missing? What can you change to make sure you hit all of the steps? Take fifteen minutes to write, then share your answer in the comments section.
Join over , readers who are saying YES to practice. Building an Author Website. Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest. What is your First Chapter Checklist? Set the scene through physical movement Before you can get into the action and drama of a scene, the reader needs to know when and where they are.
Introduce the protagonist Your protagonist is the lens through which you tell your story, so introduce them to the reader in the very first scene. The 7 Characteristics of Sympathetic Characters Takes action.
Show your protagonist being proactive. Show them making a hard choice when faced with a dilemma and taking action to get what they want. Treated unjustly. Show your character being bullied, persecuted, treated unfairly, or the victim of injustice.
Shows competence. Readers are interested in people who are really good at things. Let it shine! Has friends. Just by having a friend, it makes us more interested in someone. Show your protagonist is likeable by surrounding them with other interesting characters from the beginning. Does a good deed.
Has a quirk. Quirks are especially important for side characters, but a simple quirk helps us quickly get to know a protagonist.
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