Starting your novel: tips on chapter 1

What’s good, y’all? Happy writing!

Today, I want to talk about writing chapter 1 of your novel. First, I am one who thinks chapter 1 of your novel should be a microcosm for the whole book. I think that’s a cool concept to let the first chapter be a sample of the entire book.

But, however you choose to do it, there are a few things you need to know.

First, don’t start the whole book with a conversation. Dropping your reader into a conversation where they don’t know the characters, the conversation, the place, the time, etc. is jarring and disorienting. There are times when you want to disorient your reader, but the beginning of your novel probably isn’t that place.

Second, and very importantly, Get. The. Action. Started. Start with an active scene. Usually, the adage is to start a novel on the “day that was different,” but you can really start it anywhere that makes sense for your story.

But, you need to start with an active scene. Get things moving.

During this scene, you should introduce the characters involved and give them a little space when you introduce them. Let them have a moment to themselves to show us who they are.

I say to get the action going because that’s what your reader wants. Get to the story and get it moving.

Many writers want to have an “info dump,” where they start chapter 1 with a ton of backstory to catch the readers up to the current moment.

You should not do that.

Use active scenes to start, get the conflicts going, and you can feather in the backstory throughout the entire novel. You have plenty of room to get that in, so don’t feel like you have to shoehorn the entire history of your story into the first chapter.

That brings the rhythm to a halt. Readers have to stop and read exposition about the setup and nothing happens in the story.

So, introduce your characters and give them space, start with ACTION and avoid dumping all the backstory into the first chapter.

That will get the reader rolling with you and give you plenty of grace to operate with later.

Be good, y’all.