(Sings) It’s hot as balls!
(Speaks) Hellooo everybody! Well,
this is weird! Today is the last day I will be filming a bunch of videos in this space.
So, yeah…looking a little empty right now. We'll be headed to the new house next week. At least,
from when I am filming this video. By the time you see it, we’ll probably already be there. But you
know, time doesn't exist. Today we're talking about the dreaded first chapter and all the ways
you can screw it up! The first chapter is one of, if not the hardest chapter to write, because it is
your reader’s first impression of your story. And that is terrifying! A while back, I listed the 10
best tips for writing your first chapter and today I'm breaking down the 10 tips that you
should maybe sorta be leery of. Now, usually when I talk about worst tips, I give a sarcastic list
of sucky tips and I rip ‘em to shreds. But today we're doing things a little bit different! There's
a lot of really solid advice floating around about how to write the first chapter. The problem is
this advice gets stretched or misconstrued to the writer's detriment. So I'm going to list
10 common tips for writing your first chapter that a lot of writers misunderstand and completely fuck up,
taking these good intentions and totally annihilating them! By the end of this video, you
should be able to take these tips and interpret them in a way that will actually help you write
a decent first chapter. Imagine that! Advice doesn't mean shit if you don't understand it,
so I am fixing that problem for you right now!
(The sound of a pen scratching. LOGO.)
Before we get started, I want to give all my love to Milanote for sponsoring today's video!
Milanote is an easy to use tool that allows you to organize projects and ideas into visual boards.
It's not the same as traditional software, which typically exists in a linear document. Instead,
Milanote works kinda like a poster board or a studio wall, which makes a lot more sense because
creativity is anything but linear. Milanote allows you to take your mess of ideas and move
‘em around however you please, which is perfect for brainstorming, organizing your thoughts,
and acting as a creative hub for all of your projects. I literally use Milanote every single
day! I am obsessed with this platform. I use it to plan my YouTube content, for mapping out my
newsletter. And of course, I use it to brainstorm all aspects of my writing, like characters,
world building, plotting, and structuring my chapters, especially the first chapter. If you
want an easy to use platform that can help you create your novel and organize your chapters,
I definitely recommend Milanote. You can even send your boards to beta readers and critique
partners for feedback. And even better, you can use Milanote for free! Zero dollars! Nada!
If you're ready to write a first chapter that doesn't suck, click the link in the description
below to sign up for a free Milanote plan! And if you super love the platform, upgrade to a
Pro subscription. It's awesome! Don't forget to subscribe to my channel! I post new videos on
Wednesdays, and if you want to be alerted as soon as I upload, ring that bell! Just do it! Help a
cyborg out. The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s Sister are available all over the place in ebook,
paperback, hardback, and audiobook. They are number one best selling dark fantasy romances,
so if that's your jam–and I know it is–go pick up a copy! They're linked below. And now,
I am listing the 10 worst pieces of advice when it comes to writing your first chapter. Most,
if not all, of these tips are actually pretty decent. It's just that people twist ‘em around
in a way that makes them suck ass. I'm telling you what these tips actually mean, so you can write a
first chapter your readers devour. Number One (1): Open with a hook. This is probably the most common
piece of advice that writers hear in regard to the first chapter. “If you don't hook the reader
on the first sentence, they won't read the rest of the book!” I said it once and I'll say it again:
this is bullshit. This tip mainly exists for the querying process. Agents receive a lot of
manuscripts that they gotta flip through, so you wanna make sure the first sentence catches their
attention. But that don't mean you gotta humiliate yourself for the sake of agency approval. Yes,
your first sentence should be strong. Yes, it should capture attention. But you can do that
with one clause. Or, hell, one word. Stop trying to fit the Declaration of Independence into your
first sentence, and for the love of God, stop opening your book with a ridiculous metaphor
or simile. If you're comparing the sunset to cat vomit, you've gone too far. Number Two (2): Start
the story with a bang. You should obviously open your book with an interesting scene,
something engaging for readers to sink their teeth into. The problem is when you do it at the expense
of the overall tone of your novel. A lot of people hear “start the story with a bang,” and they open
their book with death, danger, sex, or drama. These are great ideas…if your book is about death,
danger, sex, or drama. If you're writing a romantic comedy and you open up with a gruesome
death, congratulations! You betrayed the tone of your novel. If you're writing a wholesome
historical and you open with a graphic sex scene, readers are gonna be confused as fuck. Yes,
begin with a scene that carries impact, but make sure it mirrors the overall impact of the story.
If you're writing a romance, you can open up with a dramatic breakup, a dating fail, or even
a sex scene. If you're writing action adventure, you can open up with a gunfight, or a murder.
Just make sure the bang matches what the reader should expect overall throughout the story. Number
Three (3): Set the scene. Setting the scene is important at the start of every chapter and hell,
every scene. You need to ground the reader in the moment and give them a sense of time,
location, emotion, and character. But this can be accomplished in one or two sentences.
Tell that to a lot of newbie writers out there! A huge mistake writers make is they hear “set
the scene,” and they interpret it as profuse world building. Instead of starting the story,
their first chapter introduces their world, its history, its climate, its government.
Not only does this not matter in the first chapter, this is fucking boring! Your first
chapter is designed to captivate the reader. Pages upon pages about trees ain't gonna do that! Yes,
you should set the scene in the first chapter. Give the readers a sense of timing and placement,
but not at the expense of the story. Number Four (4): Establish normalcy. Typically, the first
chapter shows the normal day to day life of the main character right before everything changes,
usually due to the conflict or the inciting incident. The key phrase here is “right before.”
This means this look into normalcy should be brief, and that is one of the most common mistakes
I see among newbie writers. Writers will use the entire first chapter and hell, even the second and
third chapter to illustrate their main character’s everyday life, which is… Can you guess, guys?
Can you guess what this is? That's right! Fucking boring! We only need a snapshot,
something that serves to juxtapose the excitement and turbulence of the plot. Bottom line:
establishing normalcy should last for less than one chapter. Move on to something interesting!
If readers wanted to see the mundane, they’d just clock back into work. Number Five (5): Start
with the inciting incident. In the opening chapter, it's vital to establish two things:
the conflict of the story as well as your main character's goal. These two elements directly lead
into your inciting incident, which is the moment your main character embarks on their journey,
either because they are forced to do so or by personal choice. The inciting incident usually
occurs within the first two, maybe three chapters, and sometimes it even occurs within chapter one.
But that doesn't mean you should open with it. I've seen a lot of writers hear “start with the
inciting incident,” and take it very literally. Their opening paragraph is the inciting incident.
I’d say there are rare situations where this works, but on the whole, this is not a good idea.
We don't know your main character, their goals, or their conflict. We have zero connection to them,
yet somehow we're expected to care about the inciting incident? Does that make sense
to you? I'm not sure how you can make an opening paragraph inciting incident emotionally impactful,
let alone clear to readers. Readers don't know what the fuck is going on. They just got here!
Sure, if you can fit your inciting incident into the first chapter and it makes sense, go
for it! But using it as an opener nine times out of ten ain't gonna work. Number Six (6): Emphasize
clarity. It's super important to make your first chapter as clear as possible. This is your opening
and if readers are confused right off the bat, they're not gonna keep reading. However, there are
two specific ways writers misinterpret this advice to suit their negative habits. The first is info
dumping. A lot of writers feel the need to explain everything in the first chapter, from the world,
to the plot, to the character dynamics. This is both painfully dull and insulting to your reader’s
intelligence. It's not your job to spoon feed the reader. Reading is about taking the information
provided and putting together the context clues. The second issue is when you provide so much
clarity that readers are left with absolutely no questions by the end of the chapter, which
completely negates continuing on with the book. Every chapter should end with a question. Your
reader needs motivation to continue reading. If you explain everything and answer every question,
that motivation is gone. Number Seven (7): Establish the villain. As we already covered, it's
very important to establish the conflict in the first chapter. Sometimes that means introducing
the villain, but this is definitely not an absolute. That's the issue with this advice. It's
rigid. People hear it and freak out. “Guess I have to shoehorn the villain into the first chapter,
lest the reading gods smite me.” Here's the deal. Yes, it's a great idea for your villain to make an
appearance as soon as possible, but that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be chapter one. I
usually like to aim for somewhere within the first three chapters. But even then, in some situations,
that's not possible. Is your villain a mystery? Are you writing a whodunit novel
and readers are supposed to sniff the villain out? Maybe your villain has henchmen to do their
dirty work. In that case, the henchmen may make an appearance within the first three chapters,
while your villain remains in the background. Maybe there isn't a villain at all. Maybe life,
family, or other outside influences serve as the conflict of your novel. Basically,
while I'd argue you absolutely have to establish the conflict in chapter one,
the villain’s on page debut could potentially come later. Number Eight (8): Look to your favorites
for guidance. A lot of writers recommend voracious reading as a way to hone your writing skills,
and for good reason. If you're trying to navigate a particular part of the writing process,
including the first chapter, you can read some of your favorite author’s works and see how they
navigated that process in the past themselves. But there are a few caveats to keep in mind.
Considerations that a lot of newbie writers often forget. For starters, consider the era of
the writing you're looking at. “Tolkien opens with world building, so I'll just make my first chapter
all about plants and trees.” Congratulations! You just lost your readers. Storytelling expectations
change over time. People read the classics expecting the storytelling to be classical,
but if they're picking up a modern book, they're expecting a modern style. That’s you bitch! Next,
you need to consider the genre, especially if you're writing multigenre work.
It's great if you're a fan of Sanderson’s high fantasy, but if you're writing fantasy romance,
that's a whole different blueprint. Look at modern books written in your exact genres, otherwise
you are walking away with the wrong info. Number Nine (9): Wing it! It's been a while since I've
upset the pansters. Now seems like as good a time as any! A lot of people recommend that one
wings the first chapter. “Just write whatever feels right.” I encourage you to maybe not do that. Sure,
if it feels right because it's the right place to start the story, then go for it! But the
first chapter is often the trickiest. You have to introduce the main character and their goal,
establish the conflict, set the scene, create a sense of normalcy, and maybe debut the inciting
incident. That's a lot of shit to just leave up in the air. If you're a pro pantser who's
been getting by on this method for eons, that's fine. Do you! But for everyone else,
maybe plan the first chapter ahead of time. That way, you know you're hitting all the appropriate
parts. And Number Ten (10): The first chapter is the most important chapter. This isn't so much a
piece of advice as it is a statement of fact. The first chapter is extremely important because it's
your sole chance to hook the reader. The reason I'm listing it here is because this statement,
however factual, fucks a lot of people up. It's scary to know that the very first thing you write
is the most important thing you'll write. That's a shit ton of pressure right out the gate, so much
so that a lot of writers never make it past their first paragraph, let alone their first chapter. So
I encourage you when you are starting your first draft, put this factoid on the backburner. Your
rough draft is gonna be rough no matter what. It's in the goddamn name! Allow yourself to write
something imperfect, and then once you finish the draft and you're in the self editing phase,
polish that baby up! That's the time to focus on the importance of the first chapter,
but until then, cut yourself some slack! Get the chapter written no matter what shape it's in and
remind yourself that future you has got all the polishing and fine tuning covered. So that's all I
got for you today! A huge thank you to Milanote for sponsoring today's video. Whether you are
storyboarding, you’re world building, or you are structuring your first chapter, Milanote has got
you covered! I literally use it every single day. I love this platform! Even better, you can try
their basic plan for free right now! I've got ‘em linked below. You do not want to miss this!
It's amazing, and it's free! Don't forget to subscribe to my channel! I post new videos on
Wednesdays, and if you want to be alerted as SOON as I upload, ring that bell! The Savior’s
Champion and The Savior’s Sister are available in ebook, paperback, hardback, and audiobook all over
the place. So if you wanna check out the first two books of my incredible series, you totally should!
I got ‘em linked below. And be sure to follow me on social media! I'm on Instagram, Tumblr,
Facebook, BookBub, and of course, you can Tweet me @JennaMoreci. Bye!
(Sensual Female Voice) Hello dove! It's me, Cosima! Do me a favor, subscribe to Jenna's channel and ring the bell. I would be
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