Is your first chapter overused or a
cliché?
Chapter 1 is the most
important chapter of your book – including the ending. Agents and editors will be the first to admit
– if they don’t care about your characters by page one - five – they toss your
book in the ‘not interested’ pile. Why?
Today’s readers are
savvy and know what they want … a book that challenges them. A book that they can’t put down. If you kill your character off in the first
chapter – will your reader care why they were shot, crushed under a pile of
cement, or got their throat slashed?
Yet, this ruse is used way too many times.
How about the cliché
plots? You’re gripping the page as the
main character enters the cave. It
smells musty of years past. She hears growling
and points her flashlight and catches a glimpse of a furry animal … Is it a
wolf? … or are the fangs, dripping with saliva, larger than real life? She shudders – then it leaps – your main
character jumps, crossing her arms in front of her face … she wakes sitting on
her bed - startled from the oh too real dream. Was it a warning – or premonition? Give me a break.
Your reader will most
definitely feel cheated. These plots are
overused and outdated. Today’s reader
won’t buy it – they’ll close the book or iPad.
Then there’s the
prologue that many writers believe sets the story – before you begin
reading. Most agents hate
prologues. Why not grasp your reader on
the first page of chapter one?
I’ve always felt a
prologue was a cheesy way of giving chunks of the back-story – which would be
more effective it this information was weaved into the story as it progresses.
I must be blunt and
admit one thing I truly hate is the story that has so much flora and fauna that
I forget what my characters are doing.
Set the scene, but don’t go overboard.
Having said that, not enough ‘setting the scene’ leaves the reader
wondering what’s going-on around all the dialog.
You need to find a good
balance between action and dialog.
Descriptions should be
revealed as a character sees, feels, hears,
tastes, and then verbalizes. The five
senses in a good balance of natural movement.
He lost himself in her
cool, green, piercing eyes. He pulled
away, concentrating on the red locks that rose above her head with endless
twists and twirls until they fell back down in ringlets, caressing her ample
bosom. His breathing increased, and he
fought for air . . . blah – blah – blah … you’ve lost the reader for sure.
Another way to get your
reader to send your book across the room, hitting the wall with a loud thud is
to bore them with ‘little’ things.
Huh? You know when the characters
are doing things that don’t advance the story … but seems to fill the pages . .
. but nothing seems to be happening.
Such as staring out the window – thinking. Leaning against her pillow – lost in
thoughts. She twirled her hair around
her finger – staring at the wall.
The clichéd “Once upon a
time,” or “In the beginning,” or “It all started when,” can literally be the
kiss of death! Try something more
gripping … perhaps something more modern … catch your reader’s attention from
the very first couple of lines.
When I started writing “Atonement” I wanted my reader to know the tone of the book. I wrote, “He bent her finger back. All the way back.” It made me shudder when I wrote it … and I hope that’s the exact reaction my reader experience.
When I start reading a
book where there is more telling than showing . . . I won’t continue past the
first page. I want compelling scenes . .
. a story that makes me ask what would make her do that or why is he doing
that? The writer must answer all the
what, when, where, who and how or I won’t be a happy reader.
In movies as well as
books, I hate when it starts out with an introduction; My name is Janet Howell,
and I would never have guessed ten years ago that I’d have been the type of woman who
would kill her husband. I'm the sweet, next-door type of girl. Really? How more
effective would it be using dialog; “I may have wished my husband dead a time
or two. But I didn’t kill him. I’m just not that type of woman.”
I never fall for the ‘I
can’t stand his guts . . . and three pages later they’re falling to the ground
in uncontrolled passion
Never . . . never . . .
never create a character that has no faults.
She beautiful with no blemishes, speaks flawlessly and has the whitest
teeth known to man. She couldn’t hurt a
soul because she’s the sweetheart every man wishes he could marry. If she is perfect – she can’t change and grow
in the story. There is no real conflict
with her … how can there be? She’s
perfect. Do you know anyone who is
perfect? I sure don’t… and only in a
fairytale could she be … except that would be boring, too.
Lastly, let’s discuss
the problem with ‘information overload’ on the first page. The writer is so bent on ‘setting the scene
and introducing the character’ they feel the need to bring us up ‘to speed’
with their life to this point. No. This is a bad way of eliminating the prologue
. . . which I hate anyway. Feed us this
back-story information as the story progresses . . . and we get to know and
care about your characters.
