The opening chapter of your novel is crucial, arguably the most important chapter in your book. It’s the first impression you make: on agents, editors, reviewers, and of course, readers. It is the hook. It sets the tone. It introduces the world, and usually, the central character. It’s your moment to communicate, ‘This is what this book is about.’ Other chapters will have more important narrative elements perhaps, but the opening chapter singularly sets up the basic idea of the book and sells it as persuasively as possible.
This process of grabbing the attention of the reader as early as possible starts with when you send your book to a literary agent. It never stops. When your book has been published for ten years, and sold a million copies, there are still more readers who will pick it up one day, and perhaps be persuaded to buy it by leafing through the first few pages.
This first moment of the novel is sometimes called the Opening Image and sometimes the Hook in writing manuals. I am going to use both names ‘the Opening Image/Hook’ because both concepts are useful.
The Opening Image is the first glimpse of the protagonist’s world, setting the tone, mood, and context for the story. It establishes the setting and hints at what’s at stake. The Hook has a slightly different meaning, though there is much overlap. It is the moment that grabs the reader’s attention by introducing a character, situation or world which intrigues them and settles in their imagination. While the Opening Image lays out the premise and the world, the Hook is the thing that reels the reader in. I hope you can see that these are similar but not precisely the same thing.
By reminding ourselves of this slight difference, we can work up both aspects in the opening chapter.
Purpose Of The Opening Chapter
1. Introduce the Protagonist – Establish who your main character is, their ordinary life in the world in which they exist before the narrative starts and hint at their general outlook and motivations in life.
2. Introduce that same world, and the atmosphere or setting of your story, providing detail and intrigue to immerse the reader.
3. Establish the Status Quo – Show the protagonist's life before the Inciting Incident disrupts it, which is how they would continue existing without the Quest appearing.
4. Present an Opening Image/Create A Hook – Create a memorable first image/impression of the world or intriguing hook (character, situation, etc.) to draw us in and to which we can refer later, if needed.
5. Foreshadowing of the Conflict Ahead – You will not be introducing the Quest yet, but think of ways in which you can foreshadow it. For example, let us know that there is a war going on, or else show a happy, stable life but hint at the threat (the kid is in trouble at school, the business might have money worries). Start thinking about the Inciting Incident and the Quest now.
The Opening Image/Hook does not just set up the central character and maybe hint at what is ahead. It also establishes the atmosphere, the language and the world of the novel. Here, if you have a very distinctive authorial or narratorial voice, or if you have a distinctive prose style, or just want to capture the prose style of your chosen genre, this is where you start. Writing a historical novel? Now is when you really build out that medieval or ancient setting and capture the reader’s attention.
A strong idea that comes directly from screenwriting theory is that your final scene should in some way hark back to this moment, either as what has been lost or the place to which the protagonist returns. This isn’t always true, but it is good and useful to know how the Opening Image/Hook can be used resonantly throughout your novel. Victorian novelists often used this effect: the last scene would evoke the first, and so provide resonance and closure to the reader.
Again, you don’t have to do this, but if it can work in your novel, it will be very pleasing to the reader.
Should I Start My Book With A Bang?
It is absolutely possible to have an opening chapter in which ‘something big’ happens. In many novels, the first chapter would include the arrival of the protagonist at a new location or with news of an act of violence or some other change in the Status Quo. So, doesn’t this undermine the Status Quo/Inciting Incident/Entering the Quest at ‘Break into Act Two’ structure? No, the structure remains the same. In this situation, the Status Quo is the new location and the new life and something will still happen to invite the protagonist to the Quest at the Inciting Incident. You can start your book with a bang, but you will still need an Inciting Incident that impacts the central character directly and invites them to the Quest.
Simple Checklist For Your Opening Chapter
What does this mean in practice for you? It means that you should try to cover most of the following in your first chapter:
– Ensure your protagonist is introduced clearly and compellingly.
– Establish a vivid and intriguing setting or a strong atmosphere.
– Create an Opening Image/Hook that will resonate through your story.
– Show the protagonist’s normal life as it is, happy or unhappy, but awaiting disruption by the Inciting Incident. This normality might be very established or might itself be new, but remember, the Inciting Incident and the Quest are still ahead.
– Introduce minor conflicts or mysteries or foreshadow the main conflict, but do not reveal too much.
Opening A Story In A New Situation
You may wish to start your opening chapter with your central character in a new situation. A young orphan arrives at the creepy home of their aunt, who will care for them now. Their Status Quo is not the life they left, but the life into which they are arriving. Again, this is not the Inciting Incident. That is still ahead. The Status Quo is the world/situation which must be interrupted by the Quest. A new situation might just mean a significant event in an already established world.
Prompts For Generating Ideas For An Opening Chapter
Once you have established a basic premise and probably a protagonist or group of characters, you can start to think about how to structure and build your first chapter.
1. Character Introduction: Plot or write a scene where your protagonist is doing something they love (or hate). How do you reveal their personality and goals before the story begins? How do they interact with others and make them interesting? What is the life they have that you are about to upset?
2. Setting/Atmosphere: Create a description of your story’s world in vivid detail either for use in the opening chapter or as background for yourself. Use all five senses to paint a picture. Make us feel intrigued and drawn in.
3. Establish the Status Quo: Plot or write a scene showing your protagonist’s and their society’s everyday life.
4. Intrigue Prompt: Outline a minor conflict or mystery that blocks or confounds your protagonist. How do they respond, showing both character and the Quest ahead? What philosophical or moral questions are raised for the reader? Remember: this may relate to the Quest but is not the Inciting Incident.
5. Foreshadowing Task: Plant a clue about the main conflict in an otherwise well–drawn study of an ordinary day. How can you hint at what’s to come or create something unsettling to intrigue the reader?
6. Something Mysterious Happens: Think of a mysterious event or even image (‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen...’) intimately tied to your main story, and build out any of the above from there.
This is an excerpt from How To Write A Novel Chapter By Chapter available here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Novel-Chapter-Outlining-ebook/dp/B0DJ8TMVWL?ref_=ast_author_mpb
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