How To Start A Novel First Chapter

October 9, 2020

The end of your first chapter is the springboard from which the reader will leap into the rest of your novel. First drafts of first chapters are really hard.

How to Write the First Chapter [the 5 Essential Elements

Other best practices for a novel’s opening chapter.

How to start a novel first chapter. The end of your first chapter is also the first natural place where your reader can stop reading. Here are 8 ways to begin your book compellingly: And if a reader decides to shut the book, so will a literary agent.

The first chapter is just a dream; The start of a chapter is a good time to introduce these situations as you rouse readers’ curiosity about where they may lead. King tries, at the beginning every novel, to invite the reader into the story — saying listen.

There are a million different ways to begin a chapter. Start in the middle of a story. You want to know about this with his opening line.

Most books start with intriguing first chapters that make several promises in chapter one.some that come to mind are scout’s endearing voice in to kill a mockingbird or the mysterious event or disturbance in harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone and its colorful characters like hagrid, professor mcgonagall and albus dumbledore leaving baby. How to write the first chapter of a book. Failing to end the first chapter with a bang.

What makes a first sentence or paragraph strong? A character goes into a situation with a goal. Follow these tips to write a compelling first chapter for your book that will hook your readers and keep them engaged through the very end.

Knowing how to start a new chapter, though, is even more important. Learning how to start a novel, how to write a great first sentence, paragraph or chapter, is key to writing books that pull readers in fast. Novels don’t have to begin with long descriptions of a room’s appearance or a character’s personality.

Besides using titles, you can also structure your chapters by paying careful attention to how they start, develop and end. These 10 examples reveal ways to make your chapter beginning count: Although you’ll have many chances to revise it, bear in mind that your book’s first chapter will influence grab your reader’s attention in the first chapter:

Once you start writing your first draft of your own book, knowing when to begin a new chapter can seem like a daunting task. Once you know where to start the story, you have to write down some great first lines. There are already a ton of great posts out there about starting your novel.

Many writing gurus tell you to keep a first novel simple by going with first person, past tense. Not page 3 and certainly not page 25. And prologues, which everybody seems to hate.

Show them something to make them keep reading. Nevertheless, keep in mind that leaving the backstory for later doesn’t mean your story can’t begin with a scene from the past. The main character dies at the end of chapter one;

Begin a novel by making your reader need answers Introduce urgent current or impending action. Beginning in chapter one, his activities throughout the first half of the novel seem to back this up, but he then confuses the police by turning out to be the murderer (after they’d earlier considered him a potential victim, and had been searching for him to protect him… a thread to the plot that had been running from the second chapter.

Don’t go out with a whimper. Knowing how to begin a novel so that you captivate readers from the first chapter is key to writing a publishable book. A chapter that opens with a character in motion or a sense of urgency is far more interesting to a reader than one that opens with a character musing quietly to themselves.

It must start on page one! Imagine if the conflict i described above, with suzy and her father, was the opening chapter to a high fantasy novel. Consider your choices, and then choose the beginning that fits naturally with the story you want to tell.

The best beginnings show—within the first few pages or even paragraphs—the main characters under pressure and facing a challenge, a change in circumstances, or a threat that will significantly alter the rest of her life. Don’t be a perfectionist with your first chapter, especially if you’re writing a first draft. The essentials of a good first chapter.

At dusk they pour from the sky. Unless you are definitely writing a character novel, you should start with a scene. In fact, it isn’t even limited to exciting openings.

A simpler view on how to start your novel. This approach has worked for thousands of first novels (including mine, 2002’s holy hell), but i say go for whatever feels right to you, simple or not. How satisfying is a novel that sinks its hooks in from the first page?

For example, you can refer to an episode of your protagonist’s childhood in the first chapter and then focus on his adult life for the rest of the novel. Here is an example of a first chapter, from my book day of revenge. Consider this example of a well structured book:

Where to start you should be able to convincingly answer the question, why does page one pick up the story at the moment it does? It's important to start a novel off right. How to start a novel:

The first two pages describe the landscape; (there are also posts in which literary agents have spoken about what they’re sick of seeing, e.g. Just ask stephen king — he's published more than sixty books to date, and his taut, intriguing first lines are consistently among the best in the game.

The action in a typical chapter doesn’t have to come with all the dramatic bells and whistles of the first chapter. I do, however, recommend that you select present or past tense and stick with it. Think of it mostly in terms of activity:

How does he pull it off? Tyler durden has a gun to the main character’s mouth, and the pair are standing on top of a building that is apparently about to explode. If you approach your first chapter from a strategic standpoint, you have a better chance of maximizing your novel’s potential—and engaging the reader from the very beginning.

Read examples from classics and bestselling novels, then get feedback on your own story opening: Start with one of your two.

How To Write a Gripping First Chapter Writing a book