The Promise of the First
Chapter
You’ll hear it
over and over again — opening lines are important. Your opening makes a promise
about the rest of the story, article, or book. It tells readers what to expect,
setting the stage for the rest of the story to unfold — and hopefully hooking
their interest.
What You Promise
The first scene
should identify your story’s genre. This can be trickier than it sounds. Say
it’s a romance, but the main character doesn’t meet the love interest until
later. Can you at least suggest her loneliness or desire for romance? (And get
that love interest in there as soon as possible!)
Maybe you’re
writing a story involving magic, time travel, ghosts, or a step into another
dimension, but you want to show the normal world before you shift into fantasy.
That’s fine, but if we start reading about a realistic modern setting and then
halfway through magic comes out of nowhere, you’ll surprise your reader — and
not in a good way. Your story will feel like two different stories clumsily
stitched together.
If you’re going
to start “normal” and later introduce an element like magic or aliens, try to
hint at what’s to come. Maybe the main character is wishing that magic existed
— that’s enough to prepare the reader. In my novel The Ghost on the Stairs, we don’t find out that the narrator’s
sister has seen a ghost until the end of chapter 2. But on the opening page,
she comments that the hotel “looks haunted” and is “spooky.” Those words
suggest that a ghost story may be coming. That’s enough to prep the reader.
(The title doesn’t hurt either.)
Your opening
should also identify the story’s setting. This includes when and where we are,
if it’s historical or set in another country or world. Once again, you don’t
want your reader to assume a modern story and then discover halfway through
that it’s actually a historical setting. They’ll blame you for their confusion.
In a contemporary story, you may not identify a specific city, but the reader
should have a feel for whether this is inner-city, small-town, suburban, or
whatever.
Who and What’s Up in Your Novel's Opening Pages
Your opening
pages should focus on your main character. You may find exceptions to this
rule, but your readers will assume that whoever is prominent in the opening
pages is the main character. Switching can cause confusion. You should also
establish your point of view early. If you’ll be switching points of view,
don’t wait too long to make the first switch. In novels, typically you want to
show your alternate point of view in the second chapter and then switch back
and forth with some kind of regular rhythm.
And of course,
you want some kind of challenge or conflict in your opening. This doesn’t have
to be the main plot problem — you may need additional set up before your main
character takes on that challenge or even knows about it. But try to make sure
that your opening problem relates to the main problem. It may even lead to it.
In The Ghost on the Stairs, Tania faints at
the end of chapter 1. Jon does not yet know why, but this opening problem leads
to the main problem — she’d seen a ghost. If I’d used an entirely different
opening problem, say stress with their new stepfather, that would have
suggested a family drama, not a paranormal adventure.
In a short
story, you need to introduce your main conflict even more quickly. A story I
sold to Highlights started like this:
Jaguar Paw watched the older Mayan boys
play pok-a-tok. The ball skidded around the court as the players tried to keep
it from touching the ground. They used their arms, knees, and hips, but never
their hands or feet. The best pok-a-tok players were everybody’s heroes. These
boys were just practicing. But that meant Jaguar Paw could watch from the edge
of the court.
That opening
paragraph, 64 words, introduces the main character, identifies the foreign,
historical setting, includes a specific location (the ball court), and hints at
Jaguar Paw’s desire to be a ballplayer. Genre, setting, main character, and
conflict, all up front.
Next week: The Fast Start
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This is a terrific
resource book for anyone who has considered writing for children. Each chapter
has a tip section as well as specific resources, concrete examples, and easy to
understand explanation of terms and topics. Excellent book!
