Start your novel any way you want when you write your first draft, but keep your reader in mind when you edit.
by Anne R. Allen
There are as many ways to start your novel as there are writers, so be aware that these are not hard and fast rules. But newbies tend to fall into certain patterns when beginning a work of fiction. Those patterns can be less than enticing to the modern reader, who expects a story to start on page one.
Tips like these are more important when you’re editing than when you’re first trying to get your raw ideas down on the page, so don’t worry about this stuff when you are facing a blank page.
Remember that the first draft of a novel is for the writer and the final draft is for the reader. In your first draft, you’re telling yourself the story and getting to know your characters. So you may have many false starts and chunks of backstory. That’s normal. Just don’t leave them in the final copy.
When you edit, you can decide where the story really starts (Some writing teachers say the average student novel starts at chapter three.)
As for backstory–yes, you need it, but you can sneak bits of it into several chapters so it doesn’t choke the flow of the narrative.
Another thing to remember is that a novel has to be about ONE person. (Or, if you’re writing a saga–a series of persons with a thread of family or some other link holding them together.)
When you’re writing your first draft, you may find a secondary character becomes dominant. There’s nothing wrong with that. You can either let that happen and make the book about character #2, or tone that character down and give him his own book later. That’s how many trilogies and series are born.
Here are some things that do exist in published novels, but the contemporary reader is probably not going to enjoy.
1) Faux Starts
These can include:
a) “It was all a dream”
The princess fights the dragon in a fierce blood-and-guts battle and, just as the beast moves in for the kill…a 12 year old girl wakes up in her Disney princess bedroom and we find out it was all a dream.
She then goes downstairs for breakfast and has a mundane conversation with Mom and Dad about school.
You’ve left your readers feeling cheated and they’re not going to want to go on.
b) The genealogy moment
The mage casts a deadly spell on the evil tyrant who has held the land in perpetual winter for 1000 years, and just as he is about to speak the final word, a wraith wafts through the castle walls and offs the mage in a shower of ice crystals.
In chapter two, the great, great granddaughter of the mage wakes up in her Disney princess bedroom.
Again, you’ve set up the reader to expect one kind of story and given them another.
c) Dead man walking
As you start your novel, the pitiful homeless man clutches his meager possessions stuffed into the Disney princess pillowcase that is all he has left of his children and former middle-class life. We learn all about his tragic existence as a shadowy figure stalks him.
Cut to the police detective serving breakfast to her squabbling kids when she gets the call about the dead homeless guy with the pillowcase.
This is a classic opener for TV cop shows, but it doesn’t work to start a novel, because readers will identify with the first character they meet in a book, and if you kill off that character immediately, readers will feel betrayed.
2) Nature Walks
I sometimes call this the MFA opener. People who have been taught in creative writing classes to bring all five senses into every single scene can fall into a habit of overwriting. Writing guru Larry Brooks, writing on Jane Friedman’s blog last week called this the “most common entry-level mistake in the writing game.”
What happens is the author puts so much energy into lovely words and lush images that the first page becomes a lyrical prose poem. We see every dewy leaf on the tree outside the window, hear every twittering bird song, smell the newly cut grass on the suburban lawn, taste the sweetness of the maple syrup and pancakes being served downstairs, feel the silky texture of the Disney Princess bedsheets.
But there’s no story. Nobody is doing anything. In fact, there may be no people involved at all. Maybe the reader is supposed to identify with those songbirds, because they’re the only sentient beings in the story so far.
There is a place for lush prose, but keep it to a minimum until you introduce a character or two and provide some source of tension.
3) Robinson Crusoes
Your protagonist is sitting on a plane, or driving a car or lying in bed on Disney Princess sheets…and musing about stuff. She’s thinking about the dragon she just killed, or who she’s going to meet at the mall, or recapping the catastrophe she’s escaping from.
But nothing happens on the page. There is no interaction with other characters, so nothing happens.
The classic example of this is the “alarm clock” opener protagonist where you see the protagonist waking up and getting dressed in the morning.
This is the chapter you cut when you’re editing. It’s throat clearing. Writing it helps you get to know your protagonist, but the reader wants a story. Stories usually require two or more people. If not, your main character has to be dealing with serious obstacles and maybe talking to a deflated volleyball like Tom Hanks on that desert island.
4) History Lessons
This is the classic trap most new writers fall into. I know I did. We get into storyteller mode: “once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there was a____ who for many years….”
Great for fairy tales. Not so much for modern novels. In a contemporary novel the reader wants to be in the story, not outside telling or hearing about it.
If this is sci-fi or fantasy, your job is tougher, because you have world-building to do, and there’s going to be a huge amount of history to get across. But you don’t have to do it on page one. Slip in the world-building on a “need-to-know” basis.
Do drop a few weighty markers, so we know if we’re on an alien planet or fantasy world or suburban mall, but don’t give us more than absolutely necessary.
Details should come later, once we know more about the characters and the story that’s actually happening on the page.
If you’re deliberately going for an archaic tone, you can use the “once upon a time” type intro, but temper it for the modern audience. Have something happen in real time before the history lesson goes on too long.
5) Crowd Scenes
Lots of new writers are led astray by the rule that you should start a book “in media res” (literally, “in the middle of things”.)
So they start the story in the middle of the battle between the Trolls and the Orcs and we see four different hand-to hand combats going on and gallons of spurting blood and we have no idea who to root for because all these people are so frenzied, and awful things are happening to every one of them and…who is this story about, anyway?
As I said above, every story needs ONE protagonist. Yes, books can be about groups, but one of them has to be the hero. (Or in the case of a saga, a series of heroes.) I’ll be writing more on the protagonist/hero in another post.
Let us know who the protagonist is on page one unless you have some really compelling reason to hold back.
6) Reader-Feeder Conversations
Many writing teachers warn against starting a novel with dialogue. This isn’t because starting with dialogue is intrinsically wrong.
But newbies tend to use dialogue for “As-you-know, Bob” passages like this:
“It’s getting dark, Alice,” said Bob with a shiver. “You may be my big sister, but I don’t think you know where you’re going. We could get lost in this dark, scary forest if we don’t get back to our cozy suburban home before nightfall.”
“We can’t stop now, Bob,” Alice said boldly. “As you know, we are looking for the lair of the evil Dragon of Amazonia and we must slay him before morning or he will destroy the entire Kingdom of Mall.”
You hear conversations like this in plays and TV scripts. It’s not always the kind of rotten writing I’ve inflicted on you here 🙂 but it’s not the way to hook a novel reader.
Of course, even Shakespeare used some reader-feeding in his dialogue. When Duncan arrives at MacBeth’s castle, the scene starts with Duncan’t line, “This castle hath a pleasant seat…” Banquo chimes in with seven more lines describing the setting. That was necessary because Shakespeare couldn’t put an actual castle on stage, so he had to describe it in the dialogue.
But novelists don’t have that problem. We can show our readers all the castles and dark scary forests we want. We don’t need to convey conflict or setting via unrealistic conversations. So if you start with dialogue, make sure that what’s being said needs to be given in dialogue and not narration.
Don’t Kill Your Darlings: Save them for Later
If you follow these guidelines, you may end up cutting a lot of stuff you love from your first chapter. But your writing doesn’t have to be wasted. Whenever I have to cut more than a sentence or two from a novel, I put it in an “outtakes” folder for use later in the series or maybe even a short story.
It can also help you write your series “bible” if you turn the book into a series.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) April 23, 2017
What about you, scriveners? Do you end up having to cut a lot of your opening chapter in the final draft? What’s your favorite way to start your novels? What kind of openers work for you as a reader? What kind of opener tells you this book is not for you?
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Excellent! Not that anyone asked, but I draft my first chapter first and keep on. I “write” it last, after the whole book is done. 😉
Ruth–Me too! I just get some placeholder stuff on paper, then forge ahead. The final part of the final edit–work on that first chapter! (Sometimes it can take weeks!)
Thanks for this–I don’t feel like such a dolt, re-writing (and re-writing) that first chapter after all is said and done. I always thought, What kind of dolt doesn’t write the first chapter first?! But lately I’ve been doing it, and it feels a little like cheating.
Historewriter–“Dolts” who make the NYT bestseller list isi who. You read it here: writing the first chapter last is what pros like Ruth Harris do. Agatha Christie did it too. 🙂
Hey Anne — I think in the last 20+ years I may have committed every one of these crimes while writing first drafts. Thankfully, because of blogs like yours, perceptive critique groups, retreats & workshops, revision erases such foolishness before it sees the light of day. I’m particularly fond of one of your labels: “As-you-know, Bob” beginnings — ha! Perfect.
As you know, Charlie, 🙂 I have too. I love to put way too many characters in my openers.
Excellent advice, Anne.
I hate novels that begin with pages of backstory. By the time I reach the point where the backstory would prove useful, I’ve forgotten the details.
Keeping it about one person? Yes! Game of Thrones as a TV series works better than the novels, in my opinion. The books have so many characters and details that it’s impossible to know who and what are important.
I’d be tempted to add internal monologue to your list. Little bits work well, revealing important details about our POV characters. However, when overused, IM pulls readers out of the narrative.
Kathy–Casts of thousands work fine in film and TV, where you see a mosaic of scenes and the actors show us what’s going on with their characters and show their motives. But you can’t do that in a novel without a POV character. And of course what George RR Martin does is keep killing off the POV characters, so we have no idea who to root for. Works for him, but don’t try this at home, folks. 🙂
I think the internal monologue problem is covered in the Robinson Crusoe category. Even if a character is in a setting with other people, like on a plane, if he’s musing in his own head, that’s just him with no interaction, so he might as well be on a desert island.
Yes, definitely. Internal monologue is covered by the Robinson Crusoe category. I was referring to the type of IM that involves several sentences or paragraphs in italics–especially when it’s done incorrectly.
Wrong: Robinson wondered if Friday would ever find his way back to the cove.
Right: Robinson wondered if Friday would ever find his way back to the cove.
Right: I wonder if Friday will ever find his way back to the cove.
Kathy–Don’t get me started on the italics thing. This is a convention taken from mid-century pulp fiction that has apparently made it into mainstream fiction via YA novels in the 1990s. It should be used sparingly if at all. (Many agents hate it.)
Thanks for demonstrating how to do it right!
#3 gets a bad rap because of how description is taught. If it’s pulled from the character’s opinions, it can be riveting and not overkill. The problem is that description is often disconnected from the characters AND the story, so it becomes checking the box. No one’s going to read anything like that, even in the middle of the story.
Linda– You’re right. A little description is great in an opener, to set tone and tell us where we are. But it’s the show-offy stuff that bogs the reader down. And yes, even in the middle of a story, if we have a “pause for a word from our author” who gets hung up on descriptions, you’ve lost the reader.
Linda, that’s a nice way to remember how/when to handle description–a lesson I’ve learned, but not quite so consciously I could have put it into words. Very useful.
Interesting post again. Many thanks.
One point I don’t agree with though: that a novel has to have only one main character. In my second novel (in press) I have two equally important characters, and two alternating/parallel points of view, which seems to work. They are both in the first chapter (but not both on the first page).
Also, you might be amused to have an additional possible no-no. I had my first page read by an agent at a Writers Festival event. She said NEVER put a sex scene on the first page. I have not taken her advice.
Barbara–I have alternating POVs from 2 characters in most of my books, but there’s always one character who has the primary story arc–which with mine is solving the mystery. You’ve probably done that without realizing it.
No sex on page one! I did not know that. I mostly write “closed door” romance scenes, so I’ve never been tempted, but that’s good to know. I wonder if it applies to erotica though. I’d think that’s what the reader is buying the book for.
Re your first para – no, I have deliberately given them equal weight and their separate stories sort of merge.
Re sex in first scene – n.b. it was just one person’s opinion, albeit a respected agent. I do think “rules” of this kind need to be taken with a pinch of salt. And I’m sure you are right about erotica, tho not a genre I know much about.
Excellent post, Anne, many thanks. I did know most of those things but I love the way you’ve put it, and I’ve been guilty of (1) c , that is: Dead Man Walking (in my case it was a dead woman).
Alas, it’s still out there and every once in while I contemplate the possibility of bringing down my book and changing the beginning. I probably should do that some of these days, but you know how it is: Once published, it’s just such a hassle to pull it down and rewrite…But I imagine you’re going to tell me I should and you’d be right of course!
Claude–No, I’m not going to tell you to rewrite your published novel. That kind of opening is common and there’s nothing wrong with it, It’s just that there are better choices, should you write another one.
Catherine Ryan Hyde told me one of her secrets of success is to accept that a novel is finished–even if you’re dying to “fix” it–and move on to the next one. Writers can be such perfectionists that we could spend forever writing and rewriting (and republishing) the same two or three books.
Great advice so we don’t start off a novel by immediately leading the reader down the proverbial garden path. By the time we are in the final stages of a novel, we should be able to be clear about the type and pace of the story we are telling. I often go back and revise the first chapter when i’m done with the whole novel to make sure it sets up the story but isn’t a dumping ground for every clue and bit of backstory.
For example, I wrote a great first chapter for Awakening Macbeth, all about a body falling out of a window; the whistling sound as it came down, the shock of the bystanders as it lands on a Boston sidewalk. And then realized the scene set up the book as a crime novel instead of romantic suspense. Gripping, yes. Relevant, not enough. Hard to swallow but I deleted it and ended up with a much stronger narrative.
Carmen–I hope you saved that discarded scene to use in a story! It sounds compelling.
I always write my first chapter last. Ruth says she does too. 🙂
Lots of pretty prose up front – Tolkien, anyone?
I had a gentle start in my first book, but I got better about introducing other characters quickly so there was interaction right from the start.
Tolkien was a Classicist as I remember. He was used to reading the odes of Horace and the bucolics of Virgil and all that “rosy-fingered goddess of the dawn” stuff. So I guess he may be forgiven. But I have to admit I’ve never got through the entire Lord of the Rings. Only the Hobbit.
Writing a series presents different problems with the openers. We want to catch newbies up on what’s happened before, but we don’t want to bore the faithful who have read the series from the beginning. We get to be better writers with each book, but each one presents new problems with backstory. It’s a problem for me anyway. 🙂
Yes, Tolkien, Asimov, London, and many other immortal classics — as well as quite a few modern bestsellers like Tom Clancy! And I, too, followed in their footsteps — my first novel begins with a detailed description of a polar station (or, rather, a bit of dialogue followed by setting the scene), so I’m in good company here!
Many thanks, as always, for a thoughtful post, Anne. I was struck by this paragraph:
“Remember that the first draft of a novel is for the writer and the final draft is for the reader. In your first draft, you’re telling yourself the story and getting to know your characters. So you may have many false starts and chunks of backstory. That’s normal. Just don’t leave them in the final copy.”
I’m sure the concept presented here has been the subject of some past post, but wondered if you might cover it in a future post? As an editor, I was struck by the first two sentences, as they precisely speak to two things no author should ever forget. Maybe it’s just because it’s Sunday afternoon and a perfect Spring day — but it suddenly seemed important to me to highlight the simple truth of those two sentences.
Maria D’Marco
Maria–Thanks! That’s one of my craft post standbys, so I have written about it many times. But that may have been in older posts you haven’t seen. I do think it’s one of the most important things to learn about writing fiction. Maybe I’ll write a post about first drafts and focus on that.
Considering your books about writing, I figured I’d missed your post(s) on this topic. I find myself regularly ‘explaining’ to new authors about how important these ideas are, because they are so immersed in their current project and ‘getting it out’. You know? The passion has driven their writing and tunnel vision has set in. Then, they find an editor and can’t understand why the book isn’t ‘done’.
I’d love to see a first draft post — not just the writing, but the mental perspective. Does that make sense?
Thanks again- Maria
Maria–I’ll put that in my “blog ideas” folder. “How to Write a Sh**ty First Draft” 🙂
Another great post for my students to follow! I see the examples you give every single term, Anne. Love your “MFA opener” description. I am laughing in Oakville…
Oh, boy. Even as I’m finally coming to grips with structure-structure-structure and why I need to learn it, I’m still hanging on to a multiple-main-character technique, at least in my WIP. Like Barbara H.above I have two “equal” MCs–and you may well ask, why not make them one character? In terms of plot that would be no problem, but part of their character development is learning from their Jungian Shadow, or something along those lines.
Then there are two secondary MCs! Let’s just say I’m writing a saga! I suspect when I put the scenes and story through the STRUCTURE wringer we’ll see if I’m right or not. At least in terms of hard plot, these four characters remain on the same side, with the same goal. It’s because I like juicy character arcs so much there are four. Er, maybe there are five. A tertiary MC? Ugh. But I like the way it gives me a rotation to the scenes.
Histoirewriter–I don’t think you should make two characters into one. Just give one the main story arc–the one that gets resolved after the climax. Think of ensemble TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy. Some character arcs take over for a while, but in the end, it’s always about what Dr. Grey has learned or is going through.
Sometimes the protagonist isn’t even the main character. Look at The Great Gatsby. It seems to be about Gatsby, but it’s Nick who learns and grows from the experience.
Anne his could not have come at a better time. Sometimes I swear you’re peeking over my shoulder! I spent this morning moving–rather than killing–some of my darlings. I also chopped two paragraphs of backstory from the first chapter and it’s WAY better. I have a crowded first scene (takes place in a commune) but hopefully the protagonist is clearly in the spotlight. Thanks for yet another brilliant workshop on self-editing.
Eldonna–Actually, I thought of this because I’m coming to the end of a WIP and realized I have to totally rewrite the opener. We’re always learning and re-learning this stuff. And I learned the hard way not to actually kill my darlings. Just give them a little time out 🙂 I’m glad it helped!
Late to the party, any soda left? This is brilliant advice, Anne, you’re stealing any ideas I could have had for a library talk! Maybe I’ll just not tell them… and brava for your last point, about saving the cuts. What excuse could there be, not to do that in the digital age? Who knows what tales will come later, and if it was good now it will be good then.
Will–No soda, but there’s still plenty of Le Croix Tangerine flavored seltzer. You’re welcome to use this in your library talk, as long as you mention I have a whole book of this stuff called HOW TO BE A WRITER IN THE E-AGE. 🙂 .
I do think that some “darlings” take over and diminish the work they’re in, but can be showcased in a shorter work later.
One of the best lines I ever wrote got buried in a minor scene in The Gatsby Game. I wish to hell I’d cut it and saved it for later.
“She had the kind of pansexual magnetism that comes from good bone structure and an unquestioning sense of one’s own self-worth.” Alas.
Thanks, Anne, but I have started my novel so many ways, that now I’ve taken a bit from all the warnings and walked down my own path. And actually Donald Maass just did a column about CASTING A SPELL and it’s about ONCE UPON A TIME. Everyone has a rule and they’ve all been successfully broken.
Beth–Finding an original way to start your novel is what it’s all about. I know Donald Maass has lots of great tips!
Oh, yeah…I recognize some of these mistakes. My first novel was filled with them. I’ve learned so much since then with a LOT of help from editors. Great post, Anne.
Patricia–I think all our first novels have this stuff. We learn from critiques, editors and beta readers. They all help give us the education we need. Learning to write isn’t as easy as some people think!
I think I’m pretty good at not breaking those rules and when I’m done my novel, I spend a lot of time reworking the first chapter to make it as “perfect” as possible for the story.
Darlene–That’s the way Ruth and I do it too!
To the annoyance of probably all the commenters here, I use italics heavily in my stories. I have to, since internal sentient beings are major characters in my stories (i.e. symbionts, hair and a tail). If I didn’t use italics to differentiate characters speaking internally to one another, I would have the kind of dialogue that I would tear what little out what little hair I have left on my head.
I started one of my novels with a telephone conversation, but for the most part I try not to start them right of the bat with dialogue.
GB–Sometimes italics or other contrasting fonts are absolutely necessary for clarity. I think Kathy was talking about overuse of them for internal dialogue. That’s certainly what I was referring to.
I use the Tom Clancy convention regarding italics: I use them for inner thoughts, foreign words, and sometimes for emphasis. And anyone else who wants to use them in these manner should feel free to do so — if it’s good enough for The Old Man, then it’s good enough for everyone else!
Thank you for focusing on the underlying reason things like navel-gazing and “It was just a dream!” are problems, rather than mistaking the common implementation of the problem as the problem.
(This post is still making part of me want to sit down and come up with a short story that embodies some or all of these in a way that actually works, but I’m ornery like that. ^_^)
Misti–See the comment below..I’ve just taken a break. New commenters have to be moderated because of some attacks on the blog.
My first comment got eaten, so let’s try this again…
Thank you for focusing on the root causes that make those openings problems, rather than focusing on the common vehicles abused to house those issues (ex. “It was all just a dream!” can actually be used appropriately to fit the right kind of story).
Part of me still wants to sit down with this list and see how many I can get into a short story that actually works, but I’m ornery like that. ^_^
Misti–The webmaster has set the comments so that new commenters have to be approved. That keeps the spammer and scammer population down a bit. I did take a break to eat dinner. This has been a popular post.
I’m like you. I love to find a way to break the rules. I’ve opened books with dialogue, weather reports, etc, just to show it can be done without sounding like a rank newbie. Have fun with it!
Good for you! As for me, I refuse to accept these “rules”, period — many immortal classics blatantly disregarded these “rules”, and if it was good enough for them, then it’s good enough for me!
Thank you for that, you truly made my day. I laughed so much whilst reading, and even now cannot stop and kick my brain into gear to pen a sensible reply.
Francine–I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it. Maybe you’ll have to go to your Disney Princess bedroom and lie down? 🙂
I recently tried to read a book that is very popular–everything you mentioned is in this one and more.. Long, long inner thoughts, pages of description of places, apartment, spa–probably more, but I had no empathy whatsoever with the main character. But my guess is this book is meant for much younger readers who could care less about what bothered me.
Marilynn–I think I know the book you’re talking about.:-) It’s often very tough to see why one book takes off and becomes a mega-hit. Often they do break all the rules of good writing. But they have some gimmick that makes them go viral. Recently that gimmick has been the unreliable narrator. But I think that may have played itself out now. I enjoy an unreliable narrator in a comedy, but in a thriller, it’s hard to sustain interest when you don’t like or trust the protagonist.
Wonderful post! Seems like every fantasy book I beta suffers from 1C, and I always try to call them out on it.
I think the one that cracks me up the most as a reader, since I read a lot of YA, is a very specific Robinson Crusoe – looking in a mirror. “She examined her aquiline nose, her big violet eyes covered with long lashes, the rivulets of blonde hair escaping from a Disney princess bandanna, and the pouting pink mouth that just cried out to be kissed. God, she was SO UGLY. How would she ever find true love before her eighteenth birthday?”
Irving– Haha! Dead Man Walking is such a tired cliche. But it’s fresh and exciting compared to the “heroine looking in the mirror” one. Every romance novel written in the 1970s and 80s seemed to have that opener. Yours is hilarious! Thanks for the laugh.
That made me laugh. I didn’t know every romance novel in the 70’s and 80’s had that opener. And geez, I had that opener a year ago NaNo. Totally stuck for a first chapter and had to get on with it.
Gone With the Wind also started with 1C, but that didn’t keep it from becoming an immortal classic!
Margaret Mitchell was not competing with smartphones, Netflix and cats riding Roombas. I’ve made it very clear in the opener of this post that these are guidelines for writing for a *contemporary* audience.
In that case, I advise that you read Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and see what he (in the guise of the teacher character Faber) has to say to that!
Orange–I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time accepting the existence 21st century. I often want to ignore it too. 🙂
But nobody says you need to write for publication. Writing fiction is a tough way to try to make a living.
Maybe you can write for the inhabitants of Vonnegut’s Trafalmadore, as I once did.. Here’s my post I wrote about that for Nathan Bransford in 2010
http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/01/guest-blog-week-you-may-be-bestseller.html
And maybe you’d like to read my recent post on how I learned to give up my intellectual snobbery and get real about a career.
https://annerallen.com/2017/05/10-writing-career-mistakes/
If writing for publication means writing for a dumbed-down audience with a 1-second attention span (most of whom are also snowflakes and therefore NOT my target audience), then my answer is SCREW IT — I will NOT take part in the further dumbing-down of the public, but will FIGHT this trend by any means necessary!
I agree with your point about killing off everyone you begin to know in the first chapter. I read a book recently by an american author about 2 immigrants to France and before the end of the first chapter or 2 I felt that I had spent the first hour getting to know a couple of characters – and then as soon as I was getting engaged, they were dead. I felt that the next chapter was a new book and it was a new decision to start all over again!! I did but I was cautious not to get too involved with any character till I saw if they had any part to play. It was a bit off-putting.
Shona–You’ve put it very well. A “dead man walking” opener is a fake beginning, so you have to start the book all over again–so it’s book two. And of course, you’ve just finished a very depressing “book one”, so a lot of people won’t want to stick with the author for the new story.
You can do it in military fiction, but only if you also introduce his squad-mate who survives and becomes the main protagonist!
Great advice! I think I always rewrite my first chapter. Usually because when I start a story I don’t have a clear idea where it is going. I love all the Disney Princess references. Made me giggle.
Christine–I figure the original chapter one–especially of a new book or series–is just a place holder. When you know where the story is going to go, you can revisit it.
Great, great ideas here, Anne. Especially the don’t kill your darlings part. I’ve often gone back to stalled stories or paras and musings that I cut from stories–often rich character descriptions or complete scenes I saved in files (paper and computer files)–and they later became short fiction or short memoir that I managed to place in lit mags and journals. You never know when the must will kick in on some of this “discarded” material. Good for folks to know. Especially new writers. I had to learn this the hard way.
Yikes, I meant the muse. Must be auto correct again. 🙂
Paul–I’ve done that too. I’ve mined old novel discards for short stories and even new novel ideas. I once threw out a whole novel in a fit of despair–back in the days before computers–and I’ve always regretted it. If I read it now I’d probably find it awful, but I’ll never know now.
A lot of good info here!
Traci–Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for this post. I’ve gone back to my first chapter many times to refine it – and I haven’t written is completely in first draft! I especially needed to read the gem that the first draft is for me. It lifted a huge burden. Now, I believe I can continue with the first draft to its completion THEN go back with the reader in mind as I make my edits. Doing it the other way was stifling me! Thanks again, Anne!
Whoops, sorry for the typo – it should be “… and I haven’t written it completely in first draft!”
Rhonee–We all do that when we’re starting out. I sure did. And I knew one author who had been writing and rewriting the same first chapter for years. We have to learn to let it go and get on with the story. Then rewrite the first chapter LAST.
These days with autocorrect, typos follow us everywhere. Sigh.
Hi Anne! I’d like to say that I find this a bit upsetting. You paint these options as rules, when they are suggestions. Yes you did point out that they aren’t hard rules, but yet your title of the blog has the word “not” in all caps referring to when to use these. You come off as a grump teacher full of herself in a “you must respect me because I am the teacher and you probably didn’t open your book” kind of way.
Now to pick it apart further. I have read many books using all of these openers, and they are some of my favorite books. But wait, you said that readers hate these? Something doesn’t add up here.
Another thing, is a single MC focus is great, but sometimes a story has to be told through multiple people. For example, the Heros of Olympus series jumps from the first book being about primarily two heroes, Jason and Percy. By the last book you have six to eight heroes as main characters, and it works. Why? Because that’s what the story calls for. Your “suggestion” for one hero may work for your writing, but not for everyone else’s.
Just because something didn’t work for you doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else. What started as possibly decent advice for those not well rehearsed in the craft has turned into a dictatorship of the craft, and it is extremely saddening to see.
Now these “suggestions” may work strictly for one genre, like contemporary fiction, but if that’s the case, you may want to specify that they’re meant for one genre at the beginning of your article.
Just a suggestion or two of my own.
Jace–I think you skipped my first line. “There are as many ways to start your novel as there are writers, so be aware that these are not hard and fast rules.”
I agree that there are no “rules” for writing. Only guidelines. I’m sorry you took my humorous tone as dictatorial. I assure you that’s your own projection. Nothing in this post is meant to put down any genre. If you’d read it more carefully, you ‘d see I said “sagas'” like your Olympian epic have different conventions..
You might enjoy my post on the “Writing Rules Police” and why to ignore them. https://annerallen.com/beware-writing-rules-police/
I’d add two more things:
1. No prologues. They are rarely needed. If you feel the information is absolutely necessary, use a flashback instead or, even better, introduce the information naturally as the narrative flows.
2. Your main character waking up in the first paragraph. Hardly ever interesting unless they’re waking up in an unusual situation (e.g., “He woke up suspended above a pit of alligators.”)
Re characters telling each other things they already know.
This is usually bad form. The one exception is if they’re arguing — arguments usually are about people shouting things at each other that they both already know.
The situations you mention are definitely worth avoiding. Yes, you can ignore the guidelines, but you’d better have a damn good reason to ignore them. And if you can’t think of a damn good reason that you could fully articulate, then don’t do it.
Chuck–I purposely didn’t include prologues here, because discussion of prologues always creates a drama. 🙂
I have many posts devoted to the pro- and anti-prologue arguments. Epic fantasy seems to require prologues, while they bog down most contemporary genre fiction (and annoy readers unless they’re really short..) Agents hate them in debut fiction, so for first timers–no prologues is a good rule.
The infamous “alarm clock opener” is covered under the “Robinson Crusoe” category. But you’re right that it probably deserves more emphasis. It’s the obvious and therefore most cliched and boring opener possible. I saw a statistic that 78% of student films start with the alarm clock. It’s throat clearing. Skip it!
I like what you say about having a reason to break the rules. “If you can’t articulate that reason, then don’t do it.” Great advice!
The fact that immortal classics like Asimov and Tolkien did it is a good enough reason!
I think John Varley must have been having fun with rule breaking when he wrote Millennium. It starts with a very short prologue (half a page) and then a character waking up to an alarm clock/phone ringing. And Varley totally makes it work. But he’s doing some very special things with both, involving situation-specific tension and a strong character voice.
J. M. Lots of pros break these “rules” all the time. But like Varley, they know the rules and break them on purpose, instead of stumbling into a path of newbie cliches.
I started my last Camilla mystery with a “weather report” just to see if I could. I think it works. It also brings in an important metaphor that is the theme of the chapter..
All of these “guidelines” are ignored all the time by pros. But you need to know the rules in order to break them effectively.
Oh, I know. I wasn’t disagreeing with you. Just contributing to the conversation. And realizing long after I first read Millennium< (more than 30 years ago) exactly what Varley was up to and chuckling. 😉
Great tips, Anne. I am attempting a novel; I actually wish I had a way of knowing if the unpublished short story it is based on is strong enough to fuel a novel. One thing I am curious about is whether or not it is okay (I’m thinking it isn’t) to write an entire chapter as a flashback to a scene in the past where a particular character entered the life of the main character.
Thomas–Best of luck with the novel. Many stories have been successfully expanded into novels. Long flashbacks are tedious when they’re in the head of the protagonist. But you can have chapters set in the past or a different time period from the main action. If you date the chapters or section of the book that happens in the past, the reader won’t be confused and it can add richness to the story.
You could also make their meeting the first chapter. 🙂
Like Stephen King did with the first chapter of Revival. 🙂
I’m beginning my first novel with a hen-pecked guy trying to escape his mother-in-law’s house in the early morning, without her or his wife finding out. It is the day he wakes from his life of subjection to them and makes his first big decision to find his lost sister.
It’s rather internal, sometimes, but he does interact with people, if only on a superficial level, due to his painful upbringing.
I want to flashback a bit, to show his sad story (in an childish adventurous and gently humorous way) and will indicate his age in one way or another, to keep the reader from being lost. For instance, part of the story will include him crawling under furniture, indicating he is a small child. Another time he tries on an adult pair of overalls and finds that they fit, showing he’s grown a lot.
However, the majority of the plot will be as he is a 25 year old man squeezed into this humiliating situation in his mother-in-law’s trailer, having to sneak out, because she torments him. I know that all sounds depressing, but I hope to color it with a glimpse of his insanity, showing how he thinks mixed up thoughts and how he breaks free, which is his true goal. Probably kinda highbrow for a first novel, but maybe I’ll just enjoy writing it for myself. 🙂 I’m a sort of Dostoevski-loving type. 🙂
Home–Literary fiction can break all the rules if it’s written in heartbreakingly beautiful prose. Lots of us try our hand at it, but you may be one who succeeds. Best of luck!
Literary fiction. Hmm. What separates that from other fiction? First time I ever though of it that way… I can break all the rules? Nuts. I’ve been so careful! 😀
That’s way too big a topic to get into here. You mentioned your model is Dostoyevsky. That would be considered literary fiction by a modern audience.
If you want to write modern literary fiction, read people like Don Delillo, Thomas Pynchon, Jonathan Franzen, Michael Chabon, Michael Cunningham, Margaret Atwood, Anne Tyler, Zadie Smith, Toni Morrison, etc. And there’s David Eggers’ “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.” 🙂 They can break a lot of the writing “rules” because they are geniuses with language.
Mostly they start writing short literary pieces for smaller literary magazines, then get into the biggie literary magazines like the Paris Review and the New Yorker. And they make their money teaching in academia. So it helps to have an MFA.
I have never been able to write the last sentence or paragraph first. Mainly because I have no idea how. I tend to write my outline either as I write the first draft or after just so I can keep the characters the same and with the same name. My current WIP is written from a different perspective and takes place after several murders are committed and the murderer is caught. So the first draft was a backstory that I am using to help write this one. (I was in the middle of rewriting the first and when I read it back, it was boring even to me, so a 3rd draft was in order.)
So all of this to say…. thank you and how do you write the last first?
Debra–You’re taking on a lot to write a mystery that doesn’t have the normal mystery structure. That is–it’s not a standard whodunnit.
When I say I write the last chapter first, it’s usually the revelation of the murderer. But since you’re writing a howdunnit or a whydunnit, then your last chapter isn’t going to be that revelation, So doing what I do wouldn’t help you.
But Donna Tartt’s Secret History has the murderer revealed in chapter one, and it’s mostly a whydunnit that was very, very successful, so studying her technique might help more than mine. Best of luck with it!
Dear Ms. Allen Thank you I will look into Donna Tartt’s secret History and see what I can learn from it.
Thanks a lot for for dropping this bit of wisdom on me, I really appreciate the time it takes to put something like this together. I’m a self taught writer with a lot to learn, and this post has actually got me a little stumped… I’m guilty of breaking a lot of your rules (which make perfect sense) and I’m not exactly sure how to fix it, but at least I now know what to look for, so thanks for that.
Mark–The trick is to finish the whole book, let it sit a while (maybe work on a short piece or your next book) then look at it with a new eye. You may see that the book could start sooner or later in the story.
Also write a logline and short synopsis and a product description for the novel.Those can really help focus on what your reader needs to know up front about the story.
I’ll try that, thanks again
Not quite — many classic authors (including Jules Verne, Isaac Asimov, J.R. Tolkien, Jack London, Margaret Mitchell and many others) started with what you call a “nature walk”, quite a number started with what you call a “history lesson”, and at least one modern-day classic begins with a dream sequence! Does that mean all these people were wrong? NO — it means that YOU are wrong when you say these are mistakes to avoid!
Agent–It’s lovely that you’ve read all those classics. It’s too bad you were unable to read the introduction of this post.
“There are as many ways to start your novel as there are writers, so be aware that these are not hard and fast rules. But newbies tend to fall into certain patterns when beginning a work of fiction. Those patterns can be less than enticing to the modern reader, who expects a story to start on page one.… Here are some things that do exist in published novels, but the contemporary reader is probably not going to enjoy.”
You need this advice for EVERY scene. Trust the readers – they’re perfectly happy being dragged into something compelling and interesting, and catch on very quickly to the slightest hint they’re in a bar. Or church. Or on Pluto.
After a while, you have to force yourself to go back (or get someone else’s comments on when they get lost) to make sure there is enough time/date/place information present somewhere in that scene, before the reader gives up in confusion.
In my latest scene, you are pretty sure who the woman is, more sure as you read if you have been paying attention to anything that went before, and don’t get the confirmation of her name until the very end.
And I write literary fiction.
Why do you equate using all five senses (through the character’s senses) with “lush prose”? smh
Harvey–It’s not an equation. But I’m saying that new writers who are told to bring in all the senses often spend 2 sentences on the sound of the alarm clock, 3 on the texture of the sheets, another 4 on the smells in his bedroom, 5 more on the colors of the clothes in his closet, and 6 more on the taste of breakfast and…you’ve lost your reader. Readers aren’t there to admire your descriptions. They are there for story..
Of course an accomplished author can bring all this in while creating plot and tension. But newbies get lost in the “rules” and forget to tell the actual story.
I write literary fiction at the end of the spectrum where story is primary, and everything else must not interfere. One of my favorite reviews left a compliment: ‘literary but not pretentious.”
The difference? It takes longer to WRITE – but that’s not the reader’s concern. The reader only cares that the story slides smoothly into the brain. And that they care about the story and the characters, of course. Once a reader starts to skim past the language and elaborate descriptions, you’ve lost.
Alice–You’ve put it very well. “Once a reader starts to skim past the language and elaborate descriptions, you’ve lost.” Accomplished writers know how to “slide the story smoothly into the brain,” but newbies get lost in their own “brilliance.”
All of these “no-nos” are things pros can get away with, but newbies can’t. You need a certain level of expertise to carry them off.
And it is the newest writers who are most likely to overestimate their own skills. I sure did. Haha.
The only real “rule”, as a matter of fact, is to start creating suspense from the very beginning — in the case of action-adventure novels, for example, by dropping little hints of danger on the first page (which will definitely keep the reader from starting to skim along, if you do it right). As long as you do it, though, ANY kind of opening (including the ones you advise so strongly against) will do just fine!
Great advice! Thank you!
Tom–Thanks for stopping by!
There’s a practical reason not to start a book, or start chapters, with dialog. Quote marks create formatting issues for paperbacks, and affect design choices. For instance, a drop cap looks weird with a quote mark, and is conventionally done without one even if it’s dialog. Readers expect the quote though, so drop caps now look weird.
PD–Thanks for the formatter’s perspective! I never thought of that. But it is another excellent reason to give your reader a little information before you jump into that dialogue. Thanks!
My most recent novels started in the wrong place… but not by much. In one, the character woke up – fine for a first draft to get my thoughts going, but in a revision, I cut the first few sentences and started the book at the confrontation with his father that takes place a few minutes after he wakes up. In another, nothing much really happened, so I cut most of the heavy description and pushed the story along with more action and interaction. That book still isn’t quite right, but it’s harder to start a novel with a “soft” opening that doesn’t have super stimulating action.
PT–It’s logical to start with that alarm clock. But it’s more entertaining to start a little further on in the day. That’s why most of us start with “alarm clock openers”–but as you say, we can discard it in the final draft. But we often need to write it that way at first to get to know our characters. That writing wasn’t “lost” it just needs to be considered the “journal” phase of your writing rather than the part that gets published.
I like your use of the word “interaction.” The story doesn’t have to start with physical action, but with something going on, which is often conflict between two people during an interaction.
I’ve seen every single one of these on wattpad and more, or books that start of gripping then get super confusing as ten plus characters are introduced each with their own chapter until I can’t remember who is who anymore because a few of the names start with the same letter and look alike.The characters often sound alike too, the writer (was doing a critique swap with them) Always has an excuse to defend why they can’t fix this as, “insert excuse here” I had to bow out of that swap as one I was getting annoyed as all hell that they wouldn’t stop obsessing the lack of italics for thoughts and two would argue against everything I suggested. (Politely and gently mind you.)
Their main defence was that writing rules/guidelines don’t apply their book. Oy. It’s one thing to go with your own style it’s another to confuse readers… As for her advice she did have a point on my ms needing more backstory. I won’t do it on the first chapter like she wanted though, kind of hard to think about the past when a city is being melted to the ground. xD
Is there a posting in her about book middles? I’d like to review things again as I’m getting close the the middle in my revisions.Thanks ^o^
Robin–Google “Saggy Middles” and you’ll find a lot of advice. I can also recommend Nathan Bransford’s How to Write a Novel. He’s down to earth and absolutely trustworthy. Former agent with Curtis Brown.
It also sounds as if you’re in the wrong critique situation. You might want to read this. Why You Should Ignore Most of the Advice from your Critique Group https://annerallen.com/2014/08/why-you-should-ignore-most-of-advice/