Episode 8: The First Chapter is Hard But You Have to Start

Join us as we delve into the intricacies of crafting compelling first chapters that hook readers from the start. This is Part 1 of a 2-week series on first chapter challenges. In this episode, we explore the key objectives of the first chapter, from engaging the reader with the story and characters to setting the mood and kickstarting the plot development. We discuss common pitfalls and stylistic aspects, offering insights into evaluating whether your first chapter truly sets the stage for your story. Drawing from personal experiences and literary examples, we examine the importance of posing questions, introducing main characters, and navigating genre-specific expectations. Whether you're starting a new book or revisiting an old manuscript, this episode provides valuable tips for crafting an engaging opening that keeps readers turning the pages. Join us as we unravel the art of crafting captivating first chapters.

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Transcript

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Welcome fellow writers to the Inspired Writer Collective podcast, your go to hub for all things writing. We're your hosts, Elizabeth and Stephanie. Whether you're a seasoned wordsmith or just dipping your quill into the ink well of creativity, we're absolutely thrilled to have you with us. Drawing from our experience in publishing diverse writing genres and the daily grind of showing up for yourself, we're here to be your writing companions. Expect insightful discussions, expert tips, and a dash of inspiration as we navigate the twists and turns of the writing journey together. So whether you're listening on your commute, during your writing session, or just relaxing at home, get ready for an immersive experience that celebrates the art and joy of writing. Hi Elizabeth. Hey Stephanie. How are you today? Oh, doing good. I went into a new bookstore. I mean it was a pre existing bookstore, but they've changed locations in the nearby town and they had a used book sale rack and, you know, being true to my writer self, I bought, I think, five books that I've wanted to read and some of them even felt like a huge win because they're books that we talked about in our book club podcast episode. So there are things that I do think we'll be reading for book club at a future point. So to be able to get those from the, in a used condition was a big find for me. So I was excited. What about you? Yeah, no, that's amazing. And actually I'm here at the library for better internet and. When I walked in, they had a whole sale rack of books, so I'm thinking that when I walk out, that I'll take a look at those books and see what is available there, so that should be fun, too. It's always fun, right? And then I have these ideas that I'm going to actually have time to read. But, you know, we'll see. I'm making more time to read. That was, you know, we talked about our New Year's goals, and that's certainly been one of mine, and I have been meeting that one so far, so. Yeah, I'm definitely, setting more of a goal for reading more. There's It's a huge stack next to my side of the bed that I need to weed my way through. So I'm hoping for 2024 that that'll happen. Well, today we're going to be talking about first chapter challenges. Essentially we want to share about what the key objectives are within the first chapter because it's such a heavy hitter. It's so essential to engaging the reader with the story and the characters. We're also going to talk about some more like stylistic aspects of the first chapter and then in a second episode we'll talk about some of the pitfalls or common mistakes as well as whether your first chapter is really a prologue. Or unnecessary altogether and sort of some of the ways to do that evaluation for yourself in order to determine if you've really got that engaging first chapter experience. Yes, and it's so relevant to where both of us are right now, because you've edited your first chapter, you shared it in our in person book writing group, and you're still sort of mulling it over, and I'm looking at mine and thinking, I'm stuck, but then I just set it aside. So, we're both in this space of looking at our own first chapters, so we felt that it was really relevant, and especially here at the beginning of the year, when many of you might have ambitions to start a book for the first time, or go back to an old manuscript, or whatever it might be to look at these first chapters. Right, exactly. I originally selected this story as a first chapter after hearing a discussion in a group about what a first chapter needs to have, and I found this sort of like inflection point in the story where my direction was changed, but that was still at a point where I thought my story was about building community. Now that my story is ultimately about self love and valuing myself and my own self worth. I question if that's really the same turning point. And when I shared it with another writer, which again just speaks to the value of community, so you have people to balance ideas off of, she wondered if maybe it would be better suited as a prologue. And so then the question is, Does it really have information that's necessary for the reader? In which case, yes, maybe it should be a prologue or still be the first chapter, or is it not really right anymore? Not really necessary information. Can that information be worked in, you know, in a different timeline in the book and a different, more action packed, moment occur as the first chapter? Well, and I think you bring up a good point because, I mean, certainly one of the objectives with the first chapter is wanting to put your reader into the world. And certainly even in memoir, you need to draw the reader in some way into the world. And the same thing for me with contemporary romance is thinking about how am I going to draw the reader in? How am I going to, you know, introduce the main character, set the tone for the book? And, Essentially There's often the phrase of hooking them in, and some people argue that they don't like the term to hook the reader in. But really, that's one of the goals because so many people select their books based on they look at the cover, they read the back blurb, they open it up, and then they start to read the beginning. And that's where you want to think, am I putting in the elements? That are going to bring the reader in, or am I spending too much time setting the scene? Am I spending too much time You know, with bringing in, maybe there are too many characters, that's often something that, you know, writers will struggle with, is want to introduce too many characters, so there are definitely a lot of things to think about when bringing the reader into that first chapter. So I'm going to just read out this list of the objectives and then we can dig into these more specifically, but just so they're sort of all in a format for our listeners some of the key objectives of your first chapter are putting your reader into the world. Whatever that means for your world, the location, the setting, the time period, whatever is relevant for your story. The next is posing a question. The reader wants to get an answer for so creating some level of mystery or intrigue. This is like a page turner. Like what's going to make them what questions are you planting in their mind based off of the either limited information you give or whatever interesting information you give a typical aspect where they're going to wonder. Oh, how are they going to do that? What did she do next? You're going to be introducing the main character. You're going to be setting the mood. This could also mean not necessarily just the mood of the setting, but the mood of the character, some aspects about the character's personality. That are essential to understanding their motivations, and then you're kickstarting the plot development. So this is definitely a precautionary measure against just providing all that background information and lineage and scene setting versus actually having some action. A lot of writers will use what's called the ABA format, which is action, backstory, action. So go ahead and have some action happening for the reader to engage in. Maybe sprinkle in a little bit of backstory that's relevant for them to understand the context and then present more action. Also, we want to know as a reader. Where and when we are that's more world building. And what the point of view is. So in the in the first chapter, you're, you're acclimating as the reader to, is this going to be first person? Third person? Is the narrator some, some omniscient narrator? Are we going to have, you know, multiple points of view? That sort of thing. So you're helping your reader get grounded in your style of writing as well. That's another tendency is that to create a first chapter that's. It's a little bit more flowery and literary when that's not going to be your tone as a writer throughout the duration of your novel. And so it just doesn't set the right expectations for the reader. And then essentially you want the reader to understand what the cultural setting is or if there's a larger like moral message. Maybe this would be more so in memoir as far as like, indicating what kind of growth you can expect to see from the journey of the memoir that the memoirist is going to take you on. Because that reader is going to want to know if that's something that's going to be at all relevant to them or interesting to them. And that goes to the purpose of like why you might read memoirs. So some of these are some genre specific things as well. There may be additional things based on your genre. Exactly, and going back to what you're saying about the larger moral and cultural setting I just finished reading. A contemporary romance called technically yours and the larger sort of moral, I guess, cultural setting is about you know, computer science and access for particular groups that don't typically have access to that career field. And so that's definitely set up early on in the book. In the book for that. So that would be that's another example of setting the first chapter for the reader in that way. Right. And I know, Stephanie, you've spoken a little bit about some of the challenges with the romance genre as well, where there's some initial expectations about what else is going to be contained, like, specific action that has to happen in that first chapter that the romance reader is expecting. Well, definitely. I mean, the romance reader is definitely has certain expectations when opening a book that they want to, you know, they want to know who the main character is right away. They want to know what's the meet cute, what's the love interest and how is that, you know, what is the challenge between the two are they. An enemies to lovers trope? Is it, you know, friends to lovers? Is it, you know, whatever it might be? All those elements need to be set early on to bring the reader in. And, interestingly enough, there's not always a lot of Backstory initially that's drawn out over the course of the book, and I know in our online community we had the quote from Stephen King about description, the real details are for the writer, but a lot of it for the reader should be really be left up to them. And so I think that that's also something to think about in this first chapter. When, for example, when you shared the first objective about putting your reader into the world that you don't want to spend so much time building your world and creating this elaborate, you know, description of what the world looks like, because really, that can be drawn out throughout the book. And there's certainly some genres where I think world building Does take a lot more time. I mean, certainly, you know, fantasy. I mean, if you go all the way back to the hobbit and the amount of time that spent building that world, I think with those particular readers, that would certainly be an expectation. They want to know those details. So, in that regard. There is some specificity to building your world in the first chapter. But in the genres we're talking about, specifically to our writing with memoir and contemporary romance, you don't want to spend so much time that you lose the reader and they don't understand your purpose, or why it matters, or why Because certainly for the main character, I mean, you're the main character of your story, I've created the main characters for mine, and you need to keep It moving forward because there are things that are happening and actions need to be taken to move the story forward in order to engage the reader and move them along. I remember going back to some of the world building stuff. I remember having a discussion too with a recent author friend of ours, P. D. Underhill. Whose book takes place in a contemporary setting to contemporary times, but has a magical element. So she had to craft a way in order to expose the reader to that magical element. So that wouldn't come as a surprise and like an off putting thing later on in the book, because it, while it is a larger aspect of the overall plot, it's not. It's outside of the awareness of both the main character at the beginning, but also the majority of the people, the characters within the book, but still finding a way to clue the readers into the fact that this book, this story is going to have some, you know, mystical, magical elements to it as well, because if you have a reader who stumbles upon your work, who does not like that at all, You know, like that's to suddenly get invested in these characters and halfway through you suddenly now it's time for the magic to happen, you know, you could potentially lose that reader. Absolutely. And, and I think that speaks to thinking about how you're going to kickstart your plot development from the beginning. Beginning and making sure that, like you said, that you're cluing the reader in to what's coming. You're giving them relevant information, but not too much. And then, like we talked, we were talking about just before we started recording and thinking about you just picked up the book, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. And that's one that's commonly referenced in terms of looking at a first chapter. And often The inciting incident happens towards the end of the first chapter. There's kind of the leading up and then all of a sudden something happens and like you mentioned before it becomes the page turner for the reader about what's coming and what and what you can expect that the the challenge that a character is facing or a decision that a character has to face and and essentially the remainder of the book is navigating through A lot of different scenes that bring them through to solve their problem. Yeah, so I'll read the first line of this book because, or the first maybe few sentences, because it was highlighted as an example of how you can get a sense for a main character's point of view and how if, how the reader can sense that there is a gap between that character's just getting a sense for the character as well. When people ask me what I do, taxi drivers, dental hygienist, I tell them I work in an office. In almost nine years, no one's ever asked me what kind of office, or what kind, what sort of job I do there. I can't decide whether that's because I fit perfectly into their idea of what an office worker looks like, or whether people hear the phrase, work in an office, and automatically fill in the blanks themselves. Lady doing photocopying, man typing at a keyboard. So, already you're getting a sense of, like, The of Eleanor's more like view of herself a little bit high and mighty. Real really relishing the anonymity of her office job and her sense of like self importance. And so I think that's why those sorts of characteristics are why this particular first chapter is sometimes cited as one as a good example one. Well, and it's interesting because it really gives you a sense of Where she sees herself in the world, and you don't get a lot of detail, but you get enough because you can place yourself in those settings, like when you're at the dental hygienist, and they're asking you stuff about your, you know, your life and other questions, and you just give Short answers and you don't give a lot of detail and it speaks to to allowing the reader to fill in some of the blanks for themselves. Had they felt in the same way Eleanor does have they had a similar experience where nobody asks for details, but makes, you know, assumptions based on maybe you know what she's wearing or how she looks and we don't know those details yet. But based on what she's saying, you know, she's sort of Making herself sound as if she's just right in there with the steady stream of, you know, the everyday person, but really, in a way, it also sets up this mystery of like, but there has to be something else about her. Right. And. And you, and you get that very much from that. And it's interesting too, there's something about the first person that is very different from writing in third person. And there was this, there was a discussion about this the last time I was at my book club about how, you know, first person really puts you in. The character's head, whereas third person keeps you a little bit removed. So that's another decision to make as a writer is. Which point of view, you know, how do you want the reader to connect with your main character? And how much of the storyline is happening in their head? How much of the conflict and tension is because of the way they think? Absolutely. So then the other aspect of the first chapter, which you referenced, is this two, the sets of two problems. The one thing is, you know, the main character's immediate or apparent problem, And then there's the, the second problem, the one that might be hidden to the main character, but that the reader or author is hinting at. And in this particular one, I'll read the last sentence or two of this first chapter. His handsome face, his voice here at long last was a man who could be described with some degree of certainty as husband material. Mommy was going to be thrilled. So here, you know, at the end of this chapter, the author, Gail Honeyman, has put both of those things right here at the very end. So, here's the character's perception of her problem, which she doesn't have, you know, any prospects as far as, like, husband material, but is, then is alluding to the issue with the relationship of this main character to the expectations of her mother and pleasing her mother. Well, and it's interesting, too, because you have the start of the chapter where she's speaking about herself in this sort of distant, almost plain manner, and then at the end, there's the piece of the Oh, but there's something that I want. I want to have, I want to be noticed by someone whose husband material and then it, it's, it alludes a little bit to, you know, what are the society expectations where she is about what that means and, and then of course, as you say, you get a sense of, okay, there's the mother character, which, you know, many, I'm sure many People can connect with that idea of whether it's a mother or father, whoever the parental figure is having an element of expectation. Not only that, but. Now if you're, listen, if you're listening and you haven't read this book, you might be curious to say, oh, I'm gonna go pick up this book because this sounds interesting. You know, I'm intrigued by this character. Or I can connect with this character in some way, or whatever, whatever it might be. Is her mom really going to be thrilled? Right, exactly. Is she, or is she just saying that in sort of a sarcastic way? And so we don't really know, and of course that draws the reader in because the reader wants to find out. I think I've shared with you that there have been times when there have been books that I've started and I haven't necessarily been drawn in, but sometimes I just want to know, what is the author going to do to solve this character's problem or figure it out? And so I do keep reading. And then there are times, of course, where I just, you know, can't get past it and I have to put the book down, but there's definitely a lot to be said for. that first chapter. And even for, even for me, when I think not only as a writer, but as a reader is really having that draw. Into the story, right? So for this example, what we're presented with is the main character sort of status quo, right? That's what we get from those first opening sentences as we get a brief introduction into her perspective of her life and what she likes about it and that sort of thing. And then at the very end of this chapter, we see a first disruption, which is this encounter with this man who is husband material, which changes her out of that, like, sort of status quo resting state into a new reality. But then there's also a competing second event, which is Whether her mother will or will not be pleased with this gentleman that that Eleanor finds suitable and that's where the real tension is going to come in between this new state and this newer state, you know, and so it's it's these kind of like alternate reality or. I guess different just plot lines that are going to oppose each other at different times and guide the story and create conflict for the main character to navigate as they slowly come to realize what the true hidden problem is versus what they think the problem is. Well, and again, it goes back to, like you said, that ABA format because you have some kind of action and then you have a little bit of backstory and then there's an, there's an action. And while it's not typical action, it's enough of the thought process. It's the thought process of our main character here that's driving the story. Forward. And so that, while it's not exactly, you know, the character didn't, you know, jump in front of a taxi cab and create some kind of disruption, but she's having an experience and she's sharing that and then her thoughts are then driving it forward in, in the two directions that we talked about. And so that's definitely an interesting thing to think about. And this is definitely what will be. sharing in our book club is we'll, we won't always be focusing on just first chapters, but it's going to definitely be an element of what we're going to be looking at. And one of the things that's interesting in one of the resources we were reading was talking about taking a look at the first chapter by going paragraph by paragraph and going back to this list that we talked about at the beginning about, you know, where and when are we, you know, which questions is the paragraph answering? Is it answering something about the world building? Where and when are we in time? Is it Telling us something about who the main character is and certainly in the example with Eleanor We get that right in the first paragraph We're getting a sense of who she is and a little bit about the world You know, we know we know where she works. She works in an office We don't know all those details, but we get a sense of that and then we also get the point of view So really that first paragraph hits like quite a few of Those points that, and then the larger moral and cultural setting, that kind of kicks in there in that last paragraph about, hmm, okay, husband material, what's happening here, parent expectations, Eleanor's own expectations, her own perspective. So, All of those things it's a great way to do a bit of a book study. And that's, since we're reading as writers in our book club, that's a great strategy, especially for thinking about that first chapter. And I mean, it can continue on, but certainly looking at the first chapter in that way. For sure. So I'm in the process of creating a book club workbook or read along sheet to help us all sort of take note of similar things to help aid in our book club discussions. And a couple of those questions are going to be around the first chapter a little bit more generically of like, did the first chapter hook you? How did it hook you? Why did it hook you? Was there a particular line that, Okay. You know, brought you in if there was a prologue, was that prologue relevant? Did it give you information that you needed and wouldn't otherwise have? Did you find that it was superfluous and unnecessary? Were you at all disappointed from a reader perspective of what you, how you expected the story to go? Based off of the first chapter as you got into like the second and third and subsequent chapters. So just always that being an element of something that we look at and discuss because first chapters are so pivotal in being able to sell your book and in meeting those expectations that the reader has for your book in setting those appropriately within the first chapter because what's that phrase? Expectations are premeditated disappointments or something like that. If those aren't properly set, then your reader may ultimately come away feeling disappointed. by your book, not because you didn't write a great story, but because, based off of the way the first chapter was, they ultimately didn't get the story they were expecting. Yeah, definitely. I mean, reader expectations play a big part, which is why I think that the first chapter does present so many challenges to writers, is feeling that weight of an expectation on your mind as you're approaching the first chapter. But certainly with, you know, using the strategies that we've talked about today and, and also thinking about that you don't have to have the first chapter perfect before you move on to the rest of your writing. That if you're stuck, really it's probably a good idea to put it down and keep writing because There was something that I was reading recently that said that often times it's the third chapter is really where the story begins when you're first sitting down to write your book for the very first time and so with anything you have to give it some time to to build up to really know where you're headed and so if you're stuck Set it down and allow your, and give yourself some grace with the process. Yeah, or even just write through it and just know that that may not ultimately be the first chapter. We've had several people tell us especially in fiction writing, that their first five or six chapters ended up being backstory. That were important for them as the author to understand, but was not relevant to the reader. So it's not that any of that is wasted effort and in writing a first chapter that doesn't end up being a first chapter, whether it gets cut or it gets turned into a prologue or it gets in the information gets embedded somewhere else in your plot line. It's still a worthy endeavor. Just know that and don't feel the pressure that you can't move on from writing the first chapter. You know, until it's, you know, perfect or edited the way you want because so much of the subsequent writing is going to impact what your first chapter needs. So it's like you write it, you get all the way through, and then as you go to edit it, then you rewrite it based off of what what heavy lifting you need it to do ultimately for your book and your storyline. Well, exactly. And you'll have more of a sense of what the beginning should be, really, when you get to the end. Because it's really how it closes out that you then understand the direction that the first chapter needs to drive the story and how to, how to begin. And as we talked about, listener, our book club Is, has started this month and it'll continue every month. And this month we've selected books in our own genre, but in the coming months we're selecting specific books to read within our community. And we really hope you'll join us so that we can further our discussions and really dive in to the books with the lens of, you know, reading as a writer and improving our own practice. Our book for February is Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, and we are also adding a feature of our community where you can join strictly for the book club. If that is the only aspect that you are interested in, then there will be a separate way that you can get access to just that space of our community. Now, we certainly encourage anyone who's actually working on a project to join us for our time to write sessions, which are our weekly accountability meetings and the journal prompts and all the other resources and courses that we have within our broader community. But, for example, if you don't have a project or an idea, Or you're not, don't even consider yourself a writer, but you just like the analytical way in which we're approaching reading these various novels, then by all means, feel free to join us for just the book club portion of our community. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Inspired Writer Collective podcast. We hope you found inspiration, insights, and connection to yourself as a writer. If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe, and leave us a 5 star review. Remember, the power of storytelling lies within each of us, and by supporting one another, we can make a difference. We can amplify our voices and craft narratives that resonate with the world. We're not just about words on a page. We're passionate about the craft, the process, and building a supportive community. Become a part of our community by connecting with us on social media. You can find us on Instagram and YouTube at inspired writer collective on Tik TOK at inspired writer LLC by joining our writing community online at inspired dash writer. Dash collective.mn.co and let's continue this writing journey Together, you can find links in the show notes. Until next time, fellow writers may your pens be mighty and your stories captivating. Happy writing.