Authors find writing first chapters challenging for many reasons. Ideally, we should:
Phew! That's a lot. Let's take a look at a highly effective first chapter, from Taylor Jenkins Reid's Maybe in Another Life. (Here's the first chapter.) The concept: At the age of twenty-nine, Hannah Martin still has no idea what she wants to do with her life. Shortly after moving back to her hometown of Los Angeles, she goes out to a bar with her best friend, Gabby, and reconnects with her high school boyfriend, Ethan. Just after midnight, she is offered a ride home by each of them. So how does Reid tackle her first chapter?
When introducing your protagonist, take a cue from Taylor Jenkins Reid and give us readers some kind of familiar scenario (like a plane ride), make it special (like a move back home after ten years of searching for purpose), add sympathy (like a woman helping a stranger) and find a natural way to reveal back-story (like a life story to distract someone who's afraid to fly).
All this is decidedly not easy, but it is possible - and readers want and deserve the possible to be made real. 2/15/2016 11:24:45 pm
Thank you for this great article! Setting up the story with intrigue and empathy is so important, something a lot of writers forget when they get swept up in the excitement of putting pen to paper. Here is an article I wrote called "Introducing a Character, Not a Bore" that I thought you might enjoy: http://catehogan.com/introducing_your_character/
Brett
2/16/2016 04:21:50 pm
Thanks, Cate, for commenting and for sharing your article. I enjoyed reading your 10 Warning Signs, especially since you bring an editor's perspective! Comments are closed.
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Brett CooperWriter, reader, runner, teacher, father, infp, huffleclaw. PopularAlso try...Archives
November 2019
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