Ahh...it's intimidating. The first chapter can break or make your novel, heck even the first five pages can do that. I usually try to open up with something interesting, trying to hook in my awesome Beta's to leave them wanting more, but yet it's so hard. How does one pull someone into their story that is just beginning? There's simply too many ideas to answer this question.
So as I'm going through my first novel (which I've avoided to look at forever, in turn, does wonders cause the love for the story is there but your editing eyes are ready to rock) I'm checking out the beginning and realizing this is not where the story should take off, there's way too much detail for the reader to care, and it takes way too long for anything to happen.
Leaving me an obvious answer, since I am doing revisions, change it. Completely change it.
Alas, I did. And it was hard. I spent days wondering how I could begin this story in yet another direction. This is the third time I've rewritten this book's introduction when it finally hit me like a bolt of lightning from Zeus himself, thanks for that by the way.
I mean, and maybe I am completely new to this, if you change your first chapter it will transform to where your book is heading. While I should have realized this before, since I did an alternative beginning to my Paranormal Romance and this being my third intro round, it never really sunk in until yesterday as I read through all my changes in Chapter One.
On a happier note, now that Chapter One is fairly brief and allowing what needs to happen, indeed, happen--I'm pretty excited. No, I lied, I'm stoked about amping this novel because I already like what direction it's moving.
What about all of you? How many times have you written your WIP's Chapter One before you found the perfect way to start your book of awesomeness?
I think I've trashed my first chapter three times, so that's not too bad. I have one friend who re-did his first chapter six times before he started ch 2.
ReplyDeleteI've chopped my first chapter a number of times and started somewhere else. Sometimes I read it so many times that it all seems jibberish to me and I have to put it away before it can make sense again. So yes, I've fretted over the first chapter as well!
ReplyDeleteUm 783 times. Kidding. Well, it's close. I changed the first chapter A LOT in my completed MS. Now that I have a WIP, I'm almost scared of it, knowing that what I thought was brilliant yesterday will look incredibly different in a few months.
ReplyDeleteI've lost count of how many times I've revised/rewritten my first chapter. And the last rewrite made me realize there were a lot of things that needed to be changed later on, prompting a complete rewrite of the whole thing. Where you start definitely makes all the difference. Great post!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your revisions!
Oh, first chapters are so stressful. I rewrite, tweak, re-tweak. So tough.
ReplyDeleteI've found the book Hooked by Les Edgerton to be a tremendous help in teasing out what I need to happen in that opening though.
I love the first draft of the first chapter because you can introduce yourself to the story and let it just reveal itself. I also like finishing the story and then coming back to the beginning to revise. So many new directions can be achieved. Great, inspiring post. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI had rewritten the first chapter of my first completed YA fantasy about six times. All the other openings just didn't feel right. I didn't have that feeling of 'yes, this is it!' It wasn't until the very last time, just when I was about to give up on that first chapter and start something else entirely, that the opening sentence hit me like a bolt of lightning, much like it did you!
ReplyDeleteFrom then on, I was able to craft the entire story and I haven't looked back since! It's hard work, but worth it in the end. :)
I so feel this pain! Don't worry, it goes away after a while.
ReplyDeleteOn my current WiP, I just rewrote chapter one. The story starts in the same place (a fire) but it's different. The MC is in a different place. The people she meets are in a different place. It's better. Swifter. Gets me to chapter three, which is where most of my betas say the story really picks up steam. So I'm trying!
Oh, I've rewritten mine about a dozen times. I finally found the place I think it should start and I'm quite happy with it. I always find that starting later (much later!) than I originally plan makes a HUGE difference.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we're STILL messing around with our first chapter. Why is the beginning so freaking hard???
ReplyDeleteI so get this. I haven't rewritten the first chapter of my current WIP, but my last ms? Oy! Seven pages of hell. Not only couldn't I figure out at which point to start the story, I couldn't find a location. I had versions that began in the shower, a car, a restaurant, on the SF Bay trail, at a tarot reading, at the MCs home, and dozens of versions within each of those categories. It was horrible. In fact I never did manage a satisfactory chapter 1. I reversed several scenes so chapter 4 could become chapter 1.
ReplyDeleteHi Sara,
ReplyDeletethe first chapter's often the hardest to write but also the most crucial. This is what an agent or publisher looks at to decide on whether to pick up your book or not. So, agonising over it isn't such a bad thing. Saying that a book really picks up at chapter seven isn't enough these days, as it won't get read that far by the editor.
I'm no expert by any means, but with a first chapter, it's always a good idea to at least introduce one of your antagonists, hero or villain, and pose a question or two, even if it's in the subtext of the plot. Start with a moment of conflict (not necessarily something violent, it could be as simple as will he/won't he get that job? Will they/won't they break up? or whatever is important to your story). You need to hook the reader quick, make them want to find out the answers.
Gone are the days when a reader would invest time in page after page of description before being introduced to the main story arch, they want it there in the first chapter to grasp and hold them.
Remember that you don't have to get the first chapter right with your first or even fifth draft. Your best bet is to push on and just get the book written. Sometimes what happens in your story will be unknown to even you until you write it, and this random event could then give you an even better idea for your beginning.
Some people use the foil of a prologue as the first chapter (if you get what I mean?) whereby they'll write something that isn't even apparent to the rest of the story until much later on. Often the prologue can be something that happened in the past that echoes down to the present and affects the lives and actions of your protagonist now.
Often a prologue can be used to tell what the consequences are now and then the writer takes you back and leads you up to that moment (and sometimes beyond)with the novel itself.
Here's a little tip I find useful. I'm not suggesting plagiarism in any shape or form, but look at books by authors you admire and also in a similar genre to your story and see how they introduce their books. It is often enough to give you that spark of inspiration to get going.
Don't stall on that first chapter - I think that's what I'm trying to say - because you could be at it forever trying to get it right without really knowing how the rest of your book will pan out. The book itself will often give you your beginning and you can go back to it and edit/polish/rewrite it to suit.
Hope this helps. Like I said, I'm no master, but it helps me to think this way when starting a book.
best wishes
Matt
I don't stress over starting a new story much. It doesn't bother me if, or rather when, it changes later. That's what editing is for!
ReplyDeleteI love writing first chapters, but hate revising them :P. It's usually something you have to cut entirely, and that can be painful.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your first chapter, Sara!! :)
The first sentence alone can make or break your book as far as I'm concerned. It is very intimidating. I can't even recall the number of ways I have reinvented the start of my novel and tweaked it and tortured myself over it and I'm still not convinced. I'm leaving it alone for now while I work through the rewrite of the rest of my novel but when I come to edits I'll be gnawing at it again, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteI lost count!
ReplyDeleteI'm still messing with my opening too. I replotted the opening several times, thought of a powerful scene I loved, then put it later because it did the jobe better there, changed my mind several times about how to introduce the character's quest and splice in the themes I want... sometimes I don't know whether I'm coming or going! It helps to test-drive the opening by presenting it to friends as a pitch.
ReplyDeleteI've lost count! And one of the most productive tools that I've found is simply time. Put it away for awhile and come back to it. When I finished my novel, I had to re-write chapter one again anyway.
ReplyDeleteI probably spend more time on chapter one than any other part. When I first began writing, I was hesitant to do it because those were my first thoughts. But I've gotten tougher in the last couple of years, deleting chunks or moving it to a later part.
ReplyDeleteMany agents say that most books should start at chapter three - seems a bit extreme. I guess too many of us rely on backstory before we hit our stride.
Love your blog, I look forward to following you!
ReplyDeleteI am actually writing my very first WIP and at the moment I love my beginning, who knows what the future will hold though!
I decided when I started on my current WIP to just not think about the first chapter - I also find it a really hard one and think I suck at them.
ReplyDeleteBut I have always had strange writing methods anyway - I don't write them in time order, I have loads of scenes and then I tie them all together at the , and most often that help me in building the plot because when I look at all my scenes from that perspective, I usually end up putting them together differently than I had first imagined.