YOUR NOVEL’S FIRST CHAPTER CHECKLIST
- Cully Perlman
- 6 hours ago
- 6 min read
There are few truisms in writing a novel and getting the attention of an agent (or publisher), but hooking the reader, whoever she or he may be, is one of them. Great first lines and great first pages and captivating first chapters are what get agents requesting your full manuscript when you’re querying literary agents. If you can’t pull the agent (or reader or whoever) in with the first chapter, or even the first page, you’ve lost the opportunity to move your novel forward in the process of seeing it published. Plato says the “beginning is the most important part of the work.” Juliet Mushens, of Mushens Entertainment, says, “I’m looking for really good compelling characters, an interesting story and a writer who knows the story they’re telling.” Literary agent Felicity Blunt: “A good first page must intrigue. There should be some question posed that I need to find the answer to. That can be related to character, place or event. It really doesn’t have to be a dead body! Think about Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and her opening line, ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again’. Already as a reader you are curious.” As a reader, think about what keeps you invested in a book. Any of the above sound familiar?
Good strong first chapters need to hook readers, and they need to hook them immediately. Beginnings must introduce our hero or protagonist, the world in which they live (1930s Germany; 2026 Tehran; a small Vermont town; the inside of a home plagued by violence). Your protagonist must want something. They must seek it out. And there needs to be hurdles that get in their way. They will overcome those hurdles, or they won’t. That part’s called the conflict. An all of this, as it’s written, will provide your reader with the “voice” of the narrator, the themes, the trouble, the style, and so on of what your reader can expect moving forward. Without these things, readers (and agents) will put your book down before they get five pages in (and, likely, less than that).
So, before you get to writing (or at least once you’ve completed the first draft of your novel), here are some questions to ask yourself before, during, and after you’ve written your first chapter.
COMPOSING YOUR NOVEL’S FIRST CHAPTER CHECKLIST
Do I know when my story begins? (In Medias Res [In the midst of things]), at the beginning, at the end?)
Do I have a compelling and memorable first sentence?
Great novels have first lines you remember long after you’ve read the book. Write a first line or lines that make an impression on your readers. If you need inspiration, read some first lines of your favorite novels.
What makes my novel different? What questions is the reader going to want answers for that are going to lead her to continue reading?
Do I know my point of view (POV)?
a. Is it first person?
b. Second Person?
c. Third Person?
Limited?
Omniscient?
Do I have an inciting incident? (It doesn’t have to come in the first chapter, but maybe it should, depending on the genre).
Have I introduced my protagonist?
a. Do I know her name? (I don’t have to)
b. Do I know how old she is?
c. Do I know what she wants
d. Do I know what she looks like?
e. Do I get an idea of the type of person she is?
Have I set the scene?
a. What’s happening?
b. To whom?
c. Why?
Do I know the setting?
a. The year? (Are there any historical factors that might affect the setting? Say, 9/11 or WWII?)
b. The climate? (weather)
c. The political/social context?
d. Place/geographical location (A room, outside in a field, a law office)?
Have I introduced trouble/conflict?
a. What is it? What are the two opposing forces at work against each other? That is, our hero wants something, but she’s facing hurdles. What are they?
Have I introduced an antagonist?
a. An antagonist could be an individual villain, a mother-in-law, a team or group of individuals, our hero’s mind, etc., but it could also be a mountain, a whale, or whatever is the lead opposing force our hero must battle against to get what she wants.
Have I set the tone for what’s to come?
a. Do I know what the narrator’s attitude is toward the people and events in which she finds herself?
Have I hinted at what the theme(s) will be?
a. Do I start with a death?
b. Do I start with a loss?
c. Do I start with desire? With love?
d. Do I start with multiple themes?
Am I following the expectations of the genre I’m writing in?
a. If I’m writing a mystery, does my first chapter start out with a crime?
b. If I’m writing a quest novel, does my hero have a problem that needs to be solved?
Have I ended the chapter so that the reader wants to know what happens next?
a. Have I left an open question my readers want to know the answer to?
b. A cliffhanger?
c. A revelation?
And here’s what you don’t want to do in the first chapter of your novel:
You don’t want to start with your character waking up, or looking in the mirror, or doing anything mundane. As readers, we want to jump right into the trouble. Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but those exceptions are just that: exceptions. Often, these exceptions deal with world building, with descriptions of the character or what readers should expect, with, well, anything other than the trouble you want your readers to feel and see that’ll hook them into continuing on.
Introducing too many characters too quickly. Readers want to be eased into the world they’re entering. They want to know who the protagonist is, what the problem is that they’re facing, and the one or two people they’re interacting with. Introducing ten characters in the first chapter is just going to confuse them, and they don’t want that. They want to peek around the curtain to see who’s in trouble, why, and what they’re going to do about it. Again, there are exceptions to the rule, but those exceptions are likely going to be written by experienced writers who’ve put years and decades into learning the rules and how to break them.
Information dumps. Yes, we know you have dozens upon dozens of characters and subplots, scenes and tense moments between characters, but we don’t need it all in the first chapter. And that includes information dumps on character backgrounds, interesting and/or obscure historical details that you love but that don’t contribute anything to your first chapter (remember, kill your darlings). If you’re trying to fit everything into your first chapter, you’re doing your novel a disservice. Remember, hook the reader, don’t beat them over the head with all the things you want them to know. That’s what the rest of the novel is for. Mostly.
Don’t try to be clever. It’s fine to have an unreliable narrator, but if you’re trying to trick your readers into believing one thing when something else is true, unless you’re an incredible writer, all you’re going to do is frustrate your readers. They’ve come for a story, not a confusing piece of literature written by an author who thinks she’s so smart she can skip the work that goes into writing something worth reading. Red herrings work, but not always. They must be done well. Very well. And perhaps some of this has to do with what’s acceptable in certain genres. But wouldn’t you rather have your reader enjoy the ride instead of wondering what the ride is supposed to be?
Begin with the weather. Yes, we all know the old “It was a dark and stormy night,” but that ain’t going to work for every novel, novella, or whatever type of literary form you’ve chosen to dive into. A line or two may work for your first chapter, but readers, again, want action. They want trouble. And unless that weather chapter or first few lines are important to the trouble, rethink including it.
YOUR NOVEL’S FIRST CHAPTER CHECKLIST is one of the key tools you can use over and over again to ensure you're giving yourself the best chance at success, meaning your reader keeps reading. Remember, it's not something to overlook.
Cully Perlman is author of a novel, THE LOSSES. He is also a Substantive Editor. He can be reached at Cully@novelmasterclass.com
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