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This month's theme: to be resilient
We want new and experienced authors to become more comfortable in their own skins as writers and poets. To this end, it is our mission to offer activities, education, an...
One of the challenges in our Writing Club this month revolves around writing the opening of a story. On top of that, the Wattys is around the corner, for which we also need a killer opening if we want the judges to be hooked. So if you're editing your latest story, have a look through this article to find out everything about writing an amazing opening.
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The first chapter of a story is crucial. It's the part where you hold, or lose, your readers. On Wattpad especially, the end of the first chapter is where readers will decide whether to continue reading or not. It's so easy to put a story down and find another one, so you have to make sure your readers can't put yours down. Let's find out how to do that.
First and foremost, know where your story (read: plot) starts. If your plot sets off by some inciting incident that happens on May 27th, 2056, don't start your story on May 26th, 2056. Start where the plot starts. On Wattpad there seems to be this idea going around that the first chapter just needs to set the scene and show the main character in their normal day-to-day life, and then shit will go down in chapter 2. This isn't true. Normal day-to-day life doesn't hook people in. Not even in high fantasy, really. It's the shit going down that hooks readers. Start with that.
In order to know what should happen in that first chapter, you need to know two things: your main character's goal, and the theme of the story. Your main character should have a life goal right off the bat. However, it doesn't have to be a concrete goal yet. For example, their goal might be to keep their child safe. At the beginning this is a pretty vague goal, but when the child gets kidnapped later on, this will turn into a very specific, concrete goal.
The theme of the story is also important to introduce in chapter 1, as it sets the tone for the rest of the book. It lets readers know what to expect. Common themes are good vs evil, love, redemption, revenge, power, identity, etc. For example, if your story theme is good vs evil, make sure your opening scene shows very clearly that this world you've created has a good and evil, and show who or what they are.
Your main character is the most important aspect of the first chapter. They need to be a strong character, but shouldn't be perfect. A flaw can already be shown or hinted at in the first chapter. You need to make sure the reader quickly understands what sort of person this is. Having conflict in the opening scene is a great way to do that, because your character will automatically react to that conflict. And the way they react will show off their personality. Again, introducing their goal is crucial.
Since your main character is the most important aspect, setting and world-building come second. Maybe even third, or fourth. While we need to know where the story takes place, we need to care about the character and their goal first and foremost. For this reason, it is important to be clever about descriptions. Don't bog the reader down with paragraphs upon paragraphs of description. Instead, try using a sentence (or even half a sentence) every now and then to paint the picture. Try using strong words in the middle of action-sentences to show where we are. For example: Willa gasped for air, breathing in a lungful of sand as her fingers dug into the desert. Perhaps not the best sentence, but it keeps the action going while at the same time quickly showing us where Willa is. Remember to use all the senses when writing such descriptions.
