Here's how to write the best first chapter.
Outline
If you haven't yet outlined, consider doing so. Even the roughest, most rustic framework will give you a sharper eye for your beginning and, again, will serve to unfetter your mind. Your outline could be a simple list of things-that-are-gonna-happen, or it could be a detailed chronological narrative of all your plot threads and how they relate.
I find that knowing where I'm headed frees my mind from everything but the writing at hand. Being prepared makes you calm, and better equipped to tap into your unique voice—which is the most important ingredient in a good Chapter One.
Decide on tense and point of view
Most readers are totally unconscious of tense and POV; all they care about is the story. Is it worth reading? Fun to read? But you must consider your tense and POV carefully, and Chapter One is go time for these decisions. It used to be simple. You'd choose from:
a) First person: I chased the beer wagon.
b) Third-person limited: Tom chased the beer wagon.
or
c) Omniscient: Tom chased the beer wagon while the villagers watched and wondered, Would all the beer in the world be enough for this oaf?
... and you'd always use past tense.
But today, novels mix points of view and even
I recommend that you select present or past tense and stick with it. Similarly, I advise against flashbacks and flash-forwards for first novels. Not that they can't work, but they seem to be off-putting.
The point is, you want your readers to feel your writing is smooth; you don't want them to have a hard time reading and understanding what your getting at. And the easiest way to do that is to create fewer seams.
If you're still unsure of your tense or POV choices, try these techniques:
Go to your bookshelf and take a survey of some of your favorite novels. What POVs and tenses are selected, and why do you suppose the authors chose those approaches?
Rehearse. Write a scene using first person, then third-person limited, then omniscient. What feels right?
And if you're still in doubt, don't freeze up—just pick an approach and start writing. Remember, you can always change it later if you need to.
Choose a natural starting point
When you read a good novel, it all seems to unfold so naturally, starting from the first sentence. But when you set out to write your own, you realize your choices are limitless, and this can be paralyzing. Yet your novel must flow from the first scene you select.
Let's say you've got an idea for a historical novel that takes place in 1933. There's this pair of teenagers who figure out what really happened the night the Lindbergh baby was abducted, but before they can communicate with the police, they themselves are kidnapped. Their captives take them to proto-Nazi Germany, and it turns out there's some weird relationship between Col. Lindbergh and the chancellor—or is there? Is the guy with the haircut really Lindbergh? The teens desperately wonder: What do they want with us?
Sounds complicated. Where should you start? A recap of the Lindbergh case? The teenagers on a date where one of them stumbles onto a clue in the remote place they go to make out? A newspaper clipping about a German defense contract that should have raised eyebrows but didn't?
Basically, write your way in.
Think about real life. Any significant episode in your own life did not spring whole from nothing; things happened beforehand that shaped it, and things happened afterward as a result of it. Think about your novel in this same way. The characters have pasts and futures (unless you plan to kill them); places, too, have pasts and futures. Therefore, every storyteller jumps into his story midstream. Knowing this can help you relax about picking a starting point.
If you're unsure where to begin, pick a scene you know you're going to put in—you just don't know where yet—and start writing it. You might discover your Chapter One right there. And even if you don't, you'll have fodder for that scene when the time comes.
Here are a few other strategies that can help you choose a starting point:
Write a character sketch or two. You need them anyway, and they're great warm-ups for Chapter One. Ask yourself: What will this character be doing when we first meet him? Write it. Again, you might find yourself writing Chapter One.
Do a Chapter-One-only brainstorm and see what comes out.
The truth is, you probably can write a great story starting from any of several places.
It's OK to be extremely loose with your first draft of your first chapter. In fact, I recommend it. The important thing at this point is to begin.
Present a strong character right away
This step might seem obvious, but too many first-time novelists try to lure the reader into a story by holding back the main character. Having a couple of subsidiary characters talking about the protagonist can be a terrific technique for character or plot development at some point, but not at the beginning of your novel.
When designing your Chapter One, establish your characters' situation(s). What do they know at the beginning? What will they learn going forward? What does their world mean to them?
Who is the strongest character in your story? Don't be afraid to give all the depth you can to your main character early in your story. You'll discover much more about them later, and can always revise if necessary.
Settings
Another common error many aspiring novelists make is trying to set an opening scene in too much depth. You've got it all pictured in your head: the colors, sounds, flavors and feelings. You want everybody to be in the same place with the story you are. Readers will trust you to fill in all the necessary information later. They simply want to get a basic feel for the setting, whether it's a lunar colony or a street in Kansas City.
Pack punch into a few details. Instead of giving the history of the place and how long the character has been there and what the weather's like, consider something like this:
He lived in a seedy neighborhood in Kansas City. When the night freight passed, the windows rattled in their frames and the dog in the flat below barked like a maniac.
Later (if you want) you'll tell all about the house, the street, the neighbors and maybe even the dog's make and model, but for now a couple of sentences like that are all you need.
Another way to introduce a setting is to show how a character feels about it. The setting serves the character; it does not stand on its own.
Give it a mini plot
Every chapter should have its own plot, none more important than Chapter One. Use what you know about storytelling to:
Make trouble. I advise you to put in a lot of conflict early. Pick your trouble and make it big. If it can't be big at first, make it ominous.
Focus on action. Bring action forward in your story; get it going quick. Put your backstory in the back, not the front. Readers will stick with you if you give them something juicy right away.
Be decisive. A good way to do that is to make a character take decisive action.
Don't telegraph too much; let action develop through the chapter. It's good to end Chapter One with some closure.
Be bold
The most important thing to do when writing Chapter One is put your best material out there. Do not humbly introduce your story—present it with a flourish. Don't hold back! Set your tone and own it. You're going to write a whole book using great material; have confidence that you can generate terrific ideas for action and emotion whenever you want.
• • •
The next chapter is going to be all about plot twists!
