The first chapter of your novel is perhaps the most difficult and most important chapter of the entire book. The opening chapter is the first thing readers will read, and it will determine if they decide to keep reading. No pressure, right?
Luckily, there are hallmarks that most great first chapters follow. If you’re lost on what to do with your opening chapter, you can look to these features to help you write it.
This article goes through how to write an engaging first chapter, what to avoid in your opening chapter, examples of good first chapters, and how they use these hallmarks.
Five Things to Establish in Your First Chapter
1. Character
One of the most important aspects of the first chapter is the main character (MC). This is the reader’s first impression of the person they’re going to spend hundreds of pages with. So you want to make the right impression.
Firstly, you want to showcase the MC’s personality. Are they grouchy, free-spirited, disorganized, independent, or something else entirely?
A character’s personality should be consistent throughout the novel, so don’t give the character a crazy personality in the first chapter to interest readers when the character is very level-headed throughout the rest of the book.
You’ll also want to establish (or mention) who the other characters in the MC’s life are (parents, siblings, friends, coworkers, etc.) and their personalities.
Next, you want to establish what your MC’s goal is. What do they want in life? Why do they think this thing will solve all their problems? Why don’t they go after it? What’s holding them back?
You don’t necessarily have to establish the protagonist’s big goal for the novel, but the protagonist should have something they want in this chapter.
Lastly, I love it when the first chapter hints at the MC’s internal conflict. Not only does this show that the MC is flawed, but it sets the reader’s expectations that the MC will change over the course of the novel.
Internal conflict also helps readers relate to or sympathize with the protagonist, which will make them want to follow this person’s story.
2. POV
Along with character, it’s important to set up the point of view you’re going to use throughout the story.
I don’t mean establishing the POV character of this chapter as the only POV character in the story. Instead, I mean whether you are telling the story through first person, second person, third person limited, or third person omniscient.
If you’re unsure of the differences between these or if you’re unsure what point of view you should use to tell your story, check out this article on POV.
3. Tone, Mood, and Genre
The tone, mood, and genre of the first chapter should match the rest of the book, so that readers know what they’re getting into.
If your opening chapter has a light, whimsical tone but three chapters later you describe a brutal murder, your readers will feel betrayed. If the opening chapter reads like horror but the rest of the book is a romance, you’ll likely lose all your readers after the first chapter.
You don’t want to mislead readers about the kind of book they’re reading. The first chapter is where you set their expectations for the rest of the story, so make sure you’re setting up the right expectations.
4. World and Setting
This can be one of the trickiest things to get right in the first chapter, especially if you’re writing science fiction or fantasy.
For your readers to not feel lost as they read the first chapter, you need to establish the world the story takes place in and the specific setting of the opening scene or scenes. However, you don’t want to info dump (share a bunch of information or exposition about the world or setting all at once, overwhelming the reader).
Writers of the past could get away with it because it was the style back then, but times have changed, and modern readers expect you to give them information as needed and not any more than that.
So, yes, describe the setting, and explain things when it’s necessary, but don’t overdo it. One trick you can use here is mixing things your readers will be familiar with and aspects of your book’s world. The familiar things will help ground them as they read.
5. Trouble
Some people say you should include the inciting incident in the first chapter. It’s a good strategy if you can pull it off because it introduces conflict right away.
You should start your story as close to the inciting incident as you can, but depending on the story, you may need more time to set things up before the catalyst. However, often when this is the case, the opening chapter comes out as boring and lacking conflict.
I had a creative writing professor who had a solution for this. Whenever we were reviewing each other’s first chapters, he would ask, “Is there trouble?”
Trouble in this case could be another word for conflict, but essentially what it means is tension or the sense that things are not good. Even the sense that things are boiling up, that they can’t go on as they are for long.
Trouble hints at the inciting incident and conflict to come. It shows readers that the story is going somewhere, even if it’s not clear where yet.
Other Things to Include in Your Opening Chapter
Action
When I say action, I don’t mean the protagonist has to be fighting someone, climbing a mountain, or doing something physical. Action in this context really just means movement toward a goal.
This goal doesn’t have to be the same as the protagonist’s big goal for the story. It can be something as simple as wanting to get home after a long day at work or avoiding the school bully.
Bottom line? The MC should be doing something. Readers don’t want to read about someone just sitting there thinking or otherwise being idle.
Questions
Perhaps the most important thing for getting readers to continue reading your book is making them ask questions. Questions have the power to propel readers through a story.
If a reader wants to know what happens next or wants to learn why a character acts the way they do, they’ll keep reading until they find out.
That is why your first chapter should introduce questions for them to ask. This is another aspect that you have to balance. You want to leave enough things a mystery that the reader wants to keep reading but not so many things that the reader gets confused and gives up.
Compelling First Line/Paragraph
The opening paragraph is the very first thing readers will look at. So, there’s a bit of added pressure.
You want the first line and paragraph to intrigue readers at least enough for them to read the first page. For tips on how to write a great opening line, check out this article.
Things to Avoid in Your Opening Chapter
Here are a few things to avoid doing in your first chapter.
- Info dumping
As I mentioned above, most modern readers don’t like info dumping. Best to stay away from it. Focus on the action instead and let your readers put together the information themselves.
- Betraying the tone of your book because you want to open with an exciting hook
Yes, you might be able to get readers to read the whole chapter this way, but will they read the whole book when they realize it’s nothing like the first chapter promised? Unlikely.
- Confusing readers
Confusion adds a barrier to getting immersed in the story. There is a difference between intrigued and confused.
- Introducing lots of characters
Want a good way to confuse your readers? Introduce a bunch of characters at once. Bonus points if they have similar names. But seriously, stick to a couple of characters for the first chapter, and make sure they are distinct from one another.
Examples
You may be thinking, “Do all good first chapters really have all of these things?”
I have not read every good book out there (unfortunately), so I can’t say they all do for certain, but I’d be willing to bet most, if not all, of them do. Let’s look at some examples to test this first chapter checklist.
First Chapter Analysis of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Character:
Laia is established as the main character right off the bat. We see that she is caring, afraid, and doesn’t always say what she thinks. She wants to learn what her brother has been up to, and she wants her and her family to be safe from the oppressive Martials. Her internal conflict (overcoming her fears) is hinted at.
We are also introduced to the three most important people in Laia’s life: her brother, grandmother, and grandfather.
POV:
The first chapter is written in first person POV from Laia’s perspective. Chapter 2 is also in first person but from another character’s perspective. The book switches back and forth between these two characters but doesn’t deviate from first person.
Tone, Mood, and Genre:
The first chapter sets the dark and serious nature of the book with a raid beginning in the first chapter. It’s also very clearly a dystopian fantasy.
World and Setting:
Tahir establishes the setting and world well from the beginning: a small house in a desert city. It explains the history of the Martials and the Scholars without getting bogged down in the details.
Trouble:
From the first page, there’s a sense of trouble that builds all the way through the chapter. The trouble comes from Laia’s brother sneaking back into the house, what he’s hiding in his sketchbook, and the coming raid.
Action:
What does Laia do in this chapter? She questions her brother about what he’s been up to, hides his sketchbook, and sneaks outside with her brother in an attempt to avoid the raid.
Questions:
The chapter ends with a Mask (a highly skilled soldier) appearing in front of Laia and her brother, so readers are left wondering if the Mask is going to catch them. Readers also don’t get clear answers about what Laia’s brother was doing sneaking out.
Compelling First Paragraph:
“My big brother reaches home in the dark hours before dawn, when even ghosts take their rest. He smells of steel and coal and forge. He smells of the enemy.”
Immediately, readers are wondering who the enemy is and why he smells of them.
First Chapter Analysis of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Character:
The first chapter introduces us to the main character, Katniss. We learn she is a bit rough around the edges but cares about people deeply. She wants to survive and take care of her family (goals she has throughout the story). Her internal conflict is the struggle between wanting to defy the Capitol and wanting to keep her family safe, which is set up when her friend Gale suggests they leave their district.
We are also introduced to the three most important people in Katniss’ life: her sister, her mother, and Gale, along with brief introductions to a couple other important characters like Madge, Haymitch, and Effie.
POV:
The chapter is written in first person from Katniss’ POV, which is what the whole book is written in.
Tone, Mood, and Genre:
This chapter is somber, serious, and tense like much of the story. The genre is clearly established as dystopian.
World and Setting:
Throughout the chapter, we learn about Panem, the Capitol, and the districts—specifically how these things impact Katniss’ life. The chapter takes place on the day of the reaping, which allows us to learn about what the Hunger Games are.
Trouble:
There’s no shortage of trouble in this chapter. Between sneaking into the woods and preparing for and going to the reaping, we get the sense that Katniss’ life is full of conflict. The conflict builds throughout the chapter to the end when Prim, Katniss’ sister, is chosen during the reaping, the novel’s inciting incident.
Action:
What does Katniss do in this chapter? She gets up early to hunt in the woods to provide for her family and then sells what she hunts. After, she gets ready for and attends the reaping.
Questions:
The big question readers are left with at the end of the chapter is what’s going to happen to Prim and what’s Katniss going to do about it.
Compelling First Paragraph:
“When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.”
Immediately, readers are wondering what the reaping is and why it scares Prim.
Remember It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect on the First Try
There’s a lot of pressure on the first chapter, and you may feel like it has to be flawless. But it doesn’t have to be perfect in the first draft.
In my own books, the first chapter always goes through way more revisions than the rest of the book. And that’s perfectly normal. In fact, I suspect that’s the case for most writers.
If you’re struggling with this, just get something down and then write the rest of the book. You’ll have a better idea of what the first chapter needs once you’ve written the rest of the story anyway.
Happy writing!
2 responses to “First Chapter Checklist: What Makes an Engaging Opening Chapter”
[…] See my review of An Ember in the Ashes. […]
[…] This was my quick guide on how to write Act 1 of your novel and the four things you need in Act 1. I’ll be posting a guide about the structure of Act 1 and guides for writing Acts 2 and 3 in the coming weeks, so subscribe to make sure you don’t miss those. For tips on writing the first chapter, check out this article. […]