How To Write A Killer First Chapter!

Notice: Previous articles were on how to write a novel, how to get published, and how to write a query letter. Next on the agenda is a GREAT list of names to use for characters! Stay tuned.

I wish I could, but I cannot express enough the importance of the first chapter. There are so many reasons why the first chapter is beyond important, but here are the top 2 reasons.

1.      When sending in your novel to an agent, they will ask for your first chapter, or first three chapters. If they read the first chapter and it isn’t AMAZING, then they won’t bother reading on, because they read so many manuscripts a day. So your first chapter has to stand out in order to stand a fighting chance. (Does anyone else think I should become a motivational speaker? I’m always full of positives.)

2.      You love writing, I love writing, all writers love writing; however, we have to face the facts—if we are to become published, we have to write material that is marketable. There are two types of potential buyers. One who opens the book, reads the first paragraph or page, and decides on buying it or reading more. And the other is one who reads the first chapter and sees if they are interested. If you don’t pass either of those tests, then you are out of luck. So the first chapter is important.

            I hope that is enough motivation to get you to understand how important a first chapter is. Something new writers fall into is not writing a good first chapter. They are new so they are kind of just writing for fun. The further they get into the novel, the better of a writer they become, but they neglect to return to the first chapter and fix it. (Plus, who LOVES to rewrite their work? Uhh, hate it.)

            So let’s get to it. Once again, for this article, I will not be using the easy-to-use “Step 1, Step 2,” approach. Only because there is no order of events you need to follow; you just need to be able to adapt it all into your writing.

            I am going to take a guess (well, I am just going to hope) that you have either planned out your entire novel, or have already written your first draft, if not, then this article will not be of much use to you at the moment. You need to turn your first chapter into a standalone story. What I mean with that is that you can’t have the reader feeling as if they are in the dark after finishing the chapter. Don’t get me wrong, leave the reader with questions or mysteries, but reveal things to the reader and let them get a feel of the adventure they are about to partake in. Don’t try to keep all the tricks up your sleeve.
            In Hunger Games, the author tells the reader about what the hunger games are, why they have it, and basically everything that was mentioned on the back cover “blub.”
            In The Series Of Unfortunate Events, the author reveals the death of the children’s parents, the special things each child can do, and the adventure the reader is about to partake in.
            In Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief, the author reveals the mythological monsters, the power Percy has, and the adventure the reader is about to partake in.
            Are you seeing the pattern? Looking at it now it may seem like common sense, but I have seen so many people send me chapters that are basically this: explains character and their appearance, the setting, the internal conflict that they may have to come to terms with later, and they end the chapter with that. That is boring! If you are writing for fun, then do what you are doing and don’t take this article to heart; on the other hand, if you are dead set on getting published and known, then you cannot do that. If you are writing a story about pink llamas that are planning to rob a bank, then you cannot dedicate the entire first chapter to just “setting up” the story. I have read so many people give that advice and it drives me crazy.

            If you remember what I said before: “You need to treat the first chapter as a standalone story.” I am going to divide the chapter into ACTS.
            Act 1: Instant burst of excitement or peril. Usually lasting about 1-3 pages.
            Act 2: Break down period. Explain the area and a bit of the conflict. Be sure to tie this act with Act 1.
            Act 3: Reveal a big conflict that the main character will be dealing with, but not the biggest conflict, and also add some questions. End the chapter suddenly with a twist that only forces questions and a mystery.

            Your goal—When the reader reads the last sentence of the chapter, a big grin stretches across their face, and they say out loud to their wall like a crazy person, “I gotta read the next chapter.”
           

            If when you read your own chapter and you get the same feeling, you have succeeded. I can guarantee half of you are saying (most likely saying it out loud to no one like a crazy person as well) “I already wrote my chapter,” or, “I already planned my novel out and I can’t add that kind of twist or conflict right there. I am saving it for chapter 2 or 3.”
           

            Trust me, I know. I K-N-O-W. I have been through the same thing. I had this beautiful, and I mean BEAUTIFUL story planned out. It was picture perfect and every twist and turn was placed correctly. The only problem was, my first chapter was dull, but it had to be dull because it builds up what will happen in chapter 2. I tried, and tried, but I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. So what I had to do was sit down and think of another twist that could be intertwined into chapter 1. After a few days of stressful thinking (and a bunch of Dunkin Donut’s vanilla iced coffees—yes I want cream and sugar—and a sausage egg and cheese on a plain bagel.) I ended up coming with an epic twist. I had to bend the story a little, but the finish product was beyond better than before. If you want to be a writer, then read and write on a regular basis and you will be a writer—if you want to be a good writer, then study and take criticism and keep your passion for writing—if you want to be a great writer, then be able to change and adapt to situations and always come out on top. Like I said, writing “marketable” novels is different from writing “free time” novels.

            Now that you have that twist planned out, it is time to work on the first page. Well the first paragraph to be exact. We need to change that, “autumn leaves were dancing to the ground,” first sentence into, “the lifeless autumn leaves were speed racing in the wind as they circled around my dripping blood. Was this the end?”

            If you have been reading my articles, then you know how I feel about the first paragraph—important. The first paragraph is like a make-it or break-it. You need to start off not with a whisper, but with a bang. I agree with you, “The sun filtered through the golden yellow tree. My body was outlined in light as I gazed into the reminiscing sky,” is a peaceful beginning. It is calming and the picture you pain is gorgeous—you should be a painter. But it is not interesting!! By all means, use that later on in the chapter where the reader has gotten past if they will be interested, and is not looking at the detail.
            I want to give a few examples on a good opening paragraph. For this purpose, I asked a few friends and fans if I could use their writings as an example for this. They agreed. I am going to show the original and I am going to show you how they changed it after the advice I gave them. I took an action theme, and a romance theme. I am not going to quote their writing because some have quotes already in them, just know this is not MY work.

            Action theme—original: Matt woke up with a pain in his leg due to the fight he got into yesterday. Everyone he goes to school he seems to get bullied. He didn’t want to get out of bed; he just wanted to stare at the red “5:32” flickering on his clock.

            Action theme—rewritten: A swift fist slammed into Matt’s chest. The shock of the blow didn’t come to a surprise to Matt; he was used to this. Matt spat a good size of blood out of his mouth when another first rocketed for his stomach.

            As a writer, yes the first one is well written and gives a nice image, but as a paying reader, the second one commands instant interest. Next.

            Romance theme—original:
            “Honey, wake up.” My mom whispered as she pulled the curtains back. (Why does every story start off in bed? Maybe it’s that “beginning” mentality everyone has?)
            “Eh, just another minute, Mom,” I groaned as I covered my face from the light with my blanket.
            “No, Sarah, you have been late to school 3 times this week.”

            Romance theme—rewritten:
            “Crap, crap, crap. Not again!” I yelled franticly as I snatched my backpack from under my dirty clothes. I almost slammed my face into my door trying to rush.
            “SARAH!” My mom yelled from downstairs.
            “I KNOW, I KNOW,” I yelled back down. I couldn’t find my left shoe. How come every time finding my shoe is a live or die situation, it is always playing keep away with me?
            “What did you say?” My mom yelled again.
            “Uhh,” I groaned to myself. Late for school again. Mom is going to kill me.

            I think you can see the rewritten one was a nice improvement from the first one. If you have any questions on the first paragraph part, feel free to ask.

            Let’s continue. Almost done, don’t worry. The ending of the chapter is as important as the first paragraph. (I know, I always say everything is the most important. But it is true, with writing, everything needs to perfect and not half-asked.) The first paragraph is what draws the reading in; the last paragraph is what keeps the reader reading. Explaining “twists” is not easy. It is something you have to learn how to do. I know you guys are sick of me using this as an example, but the Hunger Games is the perfection of twists. At the end of each chapter she uses a twist that makes your mouth drop. Read that for good examples. There are plot twists, last chapter twists, and normal chapter twists. Each of them is different from each other, and you need to be able to tell the difference and learn them like you learn how peak over your shoulder during a test without the teacher noticing…(Bad example?) Any questions, you know what to do! Thanks for hanging out with me and my crazy mind!