by Anne R. Allen
Writers know the opening chapter of a book is the most important. That’s when we grab a reader who’s browsing in a bookstore or clicking on the “look inside” function for online retailers — and persuade him to reach for that wallet and buy the book.
A new writer can spend months stuck on an opening chapter, afraid to move on with the story before they get that opener honed to perfection. They can spend days on that first sentence alone. (Um, yeah, I have to admit I’ve done that.)
Here’s Ruth Harris’s post on great first sentences.
But obsessing over the opener when you don’t know where a book is going is pretty much a waste of time, even if you work with a well-defined outline. What you want to do is sketch out a place-holder opening and get on with telling the story. Get that book out of your head and onto the page.
My #1 Opening Chapter Tip
Once the book is written, go back and write the opening chapter. You may find you need to start further along in the story than your original opening, because the story doesn’t really get going until chapter 3. Or you may want to start earlier, so you don’t have to put in so many flashbacks in later chapters.
In any case, the opening chapter is the last thing you should write when polishing the manuscript. That’s what I’m doing this week — rewriting the opener of my WIP, Catfishing in America.
I’ve had feedback from beta readers, as well as my editor, and even though they all had very different things to say, they all agreed my first chapter needed work.
Googling for More Opening Chapter Tips
I admitted I needed help. So I decided to Google “Opening Chapter” just to get a refresher in what to be looking for while editing that opener.
The first thing that came up on Google’s SERP was this:
“An ideal first chapter should do the following things:
- Introduce the main character. …
- Make us care enough to go on a journey with that character. …
- Set tone. …
- Let us know the theme. …
- Let us know where we are. …
- Introduce the antagonist. …
- Ignite conflict…
- Tell us what your protagonist wants…
- Present an exciting, life-changing inciting incident…
- Introduce other major characters…”
My first reaction was to ask — what know-it-all wrote this? That’s a whole lot to pack into one poor little chapter. And what about genre? Can we really intro the antagonist in a mystery, where the whole point is the antagonist is unknown?
But the list also seemed vaguely familiar…
That Know-It-All Author was…ME — in 2013!
As I read more on the Google search results page, I found the identity of Ms. Know-it-All. It was Anne R. Allen. Yours truly. Yup. I wrote that list in my 2013 blogpost 10 Things Your Opening Chapter Should Do.
Did I know stuff 9 years ago that I’ve simply forgotten? Or have I learned a little more about how complicated writing an opening chapter can be?
Maybe it’s a little of both.
A Revised Checklist for that Opening Chapter
1. Introduce the Main Character.
I still stand by this one. As a reader, I hate to spend energy on a minor character or one that’s going to get murdered within a few pages. So let us meet the protagonist right there on the first page. It’s so much friendlier to the reader.
2. Make us Want to Spend Time with that Character
This is true too. But don’t obsess too much about whether your protagonist is “sympathetic.” Here’s my post on “sympathetic characters.”
You don’t need a main character to be a reader’s BFF. Would you like to have a BFF like Sherlock Holmes, Scarlett O’Hara, or Jay Gatsby? What we need is to show the character is interesting enough to be worth the reader’s time.
3. Set the Tone
This is important. Every genre has a broad spectrum of possible tones and we need to let the reader know what to expect. So start creating atmosphere on page one.
If your mystery is dark and gritty, you don’t want to start with clever cute-meet flirtation, and if your romance is beachy and breezy, it’s best not to open on a dark and stormy night. ????
4. Hint at the Theme
I’m changing this to “hint” because too much theme stuff can slow a story to a crawl, especially in the opener. Most writers have a theme in mind when they start a book, and we want to let the reader know. But don’t hit them over the head with it.
5.Tell Us Where We Are
Even if your character is delivering a fascinating monologue, or there’s lots of witty banter, we need to know if we’re in a homeless camp on an LA sidewalk or in the throne room of a palace on a planet far, far away. You don’t need to go into intricate detail about the smells or the bedbugs, and keep the worldbuilding to the bare necessities, but some is necessary.
In later chapters you can give us all the important details of your setting. The reader will need them. Last week Ruth Harris told us how much the setting can influence the plot. And here’s a post from William L. Hahn on “sneaky” worldbuilding.
6. Ignite Conflict
It’s not a story if everybody has a very nice day, the end.
So if you want to start your story on page one, you have to give us some conflict on page one. New writers tend to vamp for a chapter or two, getting the protagonist out of bed and feeding him breakfast before they get the plot going. Those are the chapters you lop off when you’re revising.
No, you don’t need to have the major inciting incident in the opening chapter. I was wrong about that. If you follow the “hero’s journey” format, you should show the hero in his native habitat before he gets the “call to adventure.” That “call” is usually the inciting incident.
But you do need to show somebody struggling for something from the get-go. It can be the start of a subplot, or conflict with a major character, or even physical combat. (But make sure we aren’t plunked right into the middle of a battle where we don’t know who to root for.) Make it sketchy — we don’t want infodumps, but we do need some conflict going on.
7. Let us Know What Your Protagonist Wants
This is all-important. Your character may have one major goal, which gives us the main story arc, but she’ll also have a goal for each scene. Try to let us know both of those in the opening chapter.
But realize that in some genres, that’s not possible. For instance, in a mystery, the major goal for the sleuth is finding out who done it. But if “it” hasn’t been done yet, that’s not possible. Finding a dead body on page one can solve the problem, but it’s also a cliché, so we have to work to make it fresh.
8. Introduce (some) Major Characters
However, keep minor characters to a minimum. Readers tend to pay more attention to the characters they meet first. So it’s best if you can skip the pizza guy who never shows up again, and the neighbor who yells at the pigeons, but has no other function in the story.
But do introduce some of the major characters and let them speak. Monologues in the opening chapter will bore a reader.
If one of those characters is the antagonist, so much the better. It’s good to meet the antagonist early in the story, but I’ve changed my mind about requiring the main antagonist in the opening chapter. Different genres have different requirements.
Resist the Urge to Revise too Soon
After reading this, you’re probably going to check your opener to see if it hits these eight points. If it doesn’t, the urge to revise will be strong. But resist! Make notes, but don’t revise until you’ve written “the end” on that first draft.
By Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) October 2, 2022
What about you, scriveners? Do you write you first chapter last? Have you obsessed over an opening chapter? Are there any other things you want to see in an opener that I haven’t mentioned?
NOTE!! if you know anybody who would like this post, please share. Our MailChimp elves seem to be on strike and no notices went out to our subscribers today. Our webmaster is in the hospital and I don’t have the passwords. Panic time!
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featured image: Woman at Writing Desk, Lesser Ury, 1898
Hi Anne — so glad you had a talking-to with that Know-It-All writer. I agree entirely. First chapters are tricky, nuanced, challenging things. May you & all your readers finish up the WIPs, refer to this list, & get working.
CS–The key is to get working isn’t it? That’s why it’s counter-productive to let ourselves get stuck on that opening chapter.
Those are some great tips, Anne. I think that it is essential to let the reader see in the first chapter what *kind* of novel it will be and that the main character should be doing *something*, preferably something related to the plot or at least a subplot.
However, I disagree that you must not revise until you write ‘The End’. Some of us revise yesterday’s work and that is what I always do. And if I think of a change that I want a change earlier, I go ahead and make it. That does not work for everyone, of course, but it does work for some.
JR–I do that too–I read yesterday’s chapter before I start today’s work. And that can work fine if you don’t get so stuck on yesterday’s chapter that you never get to writing something new today. Because first chapters are so tricky, we can get stuck revising it. If later it needs to be lopped off, or totally rewritten, that time is wasted. But light rewriting for yesterday’s chapter works for a lot of us as long as it doesn’t keep us from getting the story written.
Glad you took out the antagonist part. My antagonist is rarely a person but a situation, and that can fall into the inciting incident.
Funny how we keep learning and growing as writers, don’t we?
Alex–the “situation” antagonist is often the easiest to intro in the opener–if the situation is ongoing. But if it doesn’t happen until the inciting incident, yeah, you can’t do it. If the antagonist is that your house gets demolished by a hurricane, you can’t do much until the hurricane hits. 🙂
Good points, all. Thanks, Anne and a good morning to Ruth. I especially agree with your view of not rushing to revise. Often, our first thought for an opening can be the right one and we may ruin something that’s perfectly fine by constantly tweaking it. Signed ~Been There, Done That.
Garry–You’re right–constantly tweaking something can ruin it. That’s why I always keep earlier drafts in a file. I’ve done it myself.
Anne—Excellent! I would add that #2, #3 and #4 can also be established by voice. Voice can (and should) seduce — does the reader want to hang around/find out more/give a bleep. Make sure all those bases are covered.
And, yes, revise/edit 1st chapter last because by then you actually have a clue what the d*mn book is about.
Ruth–Great point–a strong, discernable voice is essential to your novel. We do want to establish the voice in the first chapter. If the voice and tone change later on, the reader will be confused and annoyed. Or maybe the new voice is better. Then you have to rewrite the first chapter to reflect it.
Oh, #6: “It’s not a story if everybody has a very nice day, the end.”
Why do I have such a hard time subjecting my characters to harrowing experiences? Is there a support group for those of us who “mother” our characters?? LOL
DD–It’s hard isn’t it, when you fall in love with your characters? Maybe there should be a support group. I know what it’s like when you don’t want anything bad to happen to these lovely people we’ve created. But without adversity, there’s no struggle. And without the struggle, there’s no story. We must overcome our instincts to be nice. 🙂
All really good ideas when working on a first chapter. Thank you, Anne.
Patricia–I hope you find them useful! Thanks, Patricia. 🙂
Why is everyone obsessed with the single main character? What about multiple character and multiple POVs in the one story?
R. M. The classic novel is about one person. The protagonist. Early novels were simply called the name of the protagonist: Tom Jones, The Song of Roland, Robinson Crusoe, etc. If you write experimental literary fiction, of course you can have more than one protagonist, but let readers know what they’re about to read, or they’ll get confused and cranky. In a big family saga or epic fantasy, you may have a series of protagonists, one for each generation, but each section of the novel should be essentially about that one protagonist. You can have lots of characters and different POV voices, but in the end, the story is about the protagonist.
Once upon a time, I read some wise words about waiting to write your first chapter until you have finished writing your manuscript. It wasn’t until I got into the teeth of my writing career that I realized how wise that advise was. Ever after, I’ve been wondering, now who said that? Thank you for solving that mystery, Anne.
And I’m so glad you brought this topic up. Opening chapters are tricky to write but I just discovered a master at the art–Charis Cotter. She writes for readers of middle grade fiction. And The Dollhouse: a ghost story has a savour-every-single-word opening chapter. Like tick, tick, tick, it’s all there–and more. I hope you don’t mind if I mention that I’ll be reviewing that book on my blog for Halloween. (If you do mind, you have my permission to delete these last two sentences.)
Leanne–Yeah, that might have been me. I kind of harp on it. 🙂 I’ll never delete a link to a book review. Thanks for writing them! How wonderful to find a writer who inspires you so much.
Great stuff, Ms. Know-It-All. Your list gives writers a high hurdle but, in the increasingly competitive market, ya gotta really stand out.
At a writing conf. today, I was on a First Page Impressions panel with an agent, an acquiring editor, and another author. We read a dozen submissions. All were good and hit a number of your items on your list but…
One began with disembodied dialogue–no clue who was talking. Another opened with an excellent eerie setting with vines snaking around the MC that had us riveted until a disappointing cliche spoiled it–it was all a dream. Another began with a character shooting treacherous river rapids in a kayak but didn’t include any internal, emotional reaction to his peril.
Oh, shoot, that adds more items to your list–avoid talking heads and cliches and inject enough emotion for the reader to connect with the character.
Debbie–Oh, my! I have a post on what NOT to do in your opening chapter, but I think that might need a revised version too. Those are some awesome no-no’s!
So fantastic- worth the wait (Giants game, sorry!) and thanks for the shoutout.
I actually think I hit on six of the eight with the opening to my opus. I focused so purely on the MC that people naturally assumed the gypsies who encounter him will be regulars. In fact, they only come back near the end of the sequel. Whoops- but overall I think it was worth it.
Great post and good on you for evolving.
Will–The main thing is to get your protagonist in front of the reader and show he’s interesting. These tips are for the “ideal” first chapter–one I may never achieve. 🙂
All excellent points, Anne. I ALWAYS rewrite my first page after The End, sometimes the entire first chapter. No matter how much planning we do in advance, we simply don’t know how that plan may change while writing.
If it helps, I received an email notification for this post. Maybe the problem is fixed? Hope so!
Sue–You got a notice!! Yay!! Maybe I’m the only one who isn’t getting a notice. That would be such a relief. Thanks a bunch!
Exactly. Stories take us to places we never expected to go, and we have to put that expectation in the reader’s mind from the beginning.
Anne, I think the number one lesson I have learned over 30- years of writing and teaching writing is definitely stated above: the reader expects the first person they read about to be the protagonist. They will automatically try to bond with the first name mentioned. So tested myself against that while reading, and yes, I do exactly that. A novel is the protagonist’s story. People expect the protagonist to be front and centre from the beginning.
Melodie–That’s the thing a lot of writers don’t understand, because movies and TV shows don’t have to follow the same rules. Reading is a much more intimate form of communication, and we need to know who’s taking us on our reading journey.
Oh, boy, do I agree about not getting stuck! Been there, as they say, and done that!
JR–Yeah. Me too. That’s my reason for telling people to write the first chapter last. If you keep in mind that you’re going back to fix it later, it’s a whole lot easier to move on.
While for me, in this series, I may have a main character who I do not kill off which will be something of a shock. I am not sure how to do that. I did not even kill his love interest. Okay, I sent her to a nunnery, but she’s not dead so that’s a … thing. ????
Thanks Anne. Multiple characters & POVs in the one novel is considered experimental literary fiction? Hadn’t heard described like that before. Does anybody write classic novels anymore? Dumb question; I do. Of course I write novels with a single protag and single POV, hard not to. I guess my implied question in my first reply to your list was how to write an opening chapter to a multiple character, multiple POV story. You can’t introduce all the characters in the opening chapter … what am I saying, of course you can, but the question would then be did it work. You’ve already said (thanks) that the story is about the protag, so deciding which character is the protag would be useful because that guy/girl/person/object/something is then introduced in Chapter 1. Yes, you anticipated (?) that every chapter (or scene/section) thereafter would be dedicated to one of the main characters, and perhaps rightly so, otherwise (yes) a reader would be mighty confused about who the story is really about. As someone already pointed out, the first character introduced in Chapter 1 is the one the reader is going to think is the main character and the one the story is about. Unless of course the first character introduced isn’t the main character but is there for some other purpose, to serve the main plot perhaps. A lot more work for the writer and reader but satisfying when done well. Anyone have any examples of that being done well?
Not just informative Anne, but entertaining! I had a good chuckle at ‘Who wrote that article in 2013?’ Lol. We live and learn. <3
Debby–We live and learn indeed. But somehow the older I get, the less I know. 🙂
No, we just accumulate so much info in our brains, we forget where we stored it. 🙂
Love this revised list. I’m writing mysteries these days, and was gratified to read your advice that the antagonist can’t be known until later, when the mystery is solved. What a humorous twist, though, that you didn’t recognize your own words from 9 years earlier.
Elizabeth–I write mysteries too, but my first three books are more women’s fiction than traditional mysteries. I guess that’s why I didn’t get it about the antagonist. Yeah, it’s amazing to read stuff you wrote a long time ago. It’s as if it was written by somebody else.