JoHoTo #4 The First Chapter
Sadly, your book isn't finished after the WOW!!! opening. People will want to read on and find out more.
That's why your first chapter shoulders a lot of responsibility.
In that first 10 or 15 pages, you need to establish:
-a sense of place
-a sense of time
-a sense of tone
-a sense of voice
-a sense of the status quo (how things have been up until this point)
-a sense of change
-a sense of the main character
Sounds easy, and if your opening is WOW!!!, you should have taken care of several of those points right off the bat.
I'm jumping out of order here to say that "a sense of the main character" can be subjective. Sometimes the main character either isn't in the first
chapter or plays a minor role (as a baby or person of interest).
A good example is Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. While we DO meet several interesting characters, Harry is just an infant when he's left on
his aunt and uncle's doorstep. Therefore, we're not going to know his thoughts and opinions. BUT through other people, we find out a lot about Harry,
getting a sense of character that way.
A sense of place:
While your entire story might not occur here, there should be a strong reason for the opening setting. If your MC is going to sit in a cafe in Paris
in Chapter 1 and then be back in American school in Chapter 2, she should have been in Paris for study abroad the past summer or visited there because
it's always been her dream to be a fashion designer, etc.
An example here is From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. The first chapter takes place in Claudia's home, but it does so to illustrate
just how boring and treacherous she sees her life there versus her life at the Met.
A sense of time:
This can be indicated through details such as language or references to the character's surroundings.
For example, your main character could be sitting in front of the radio with her parents listening to one of FDR's fireside chats. Automatically, that
places your story during the Great Depression and possibly Word War II. Maybe the MC is listening to the radio while trying to stitch up an old pair
of nylons, complaining about the fact that she can't buy new ones since all the nylon is going to the war effort for parachutes.
A sense of tone:
Your opening lines will probably reflect this, but your characters'/narrator's actions and words will be a big factor. From your characters: Is there
joking/laughing? Is everyone sitting quiety, staring at their laps? Tone is even noticeable in the narrator's description of the setting. A small
living room can either be described as "cozy and close" or "narrow and suffocating". You get the idea.
A sense of voice:
Writers always put themselves in the narrator's shoes (and technically, you ARE the narrator), but THE READER MUST NOT KNOW YOU'RE THERE.
This means your own personal voice doesn't interfere. You are a 15-year-old pregnant girl. You are a boy who can bend time with his mind. You are NOT
a 48-year-old housewife from Hoboken. The voice needs to be authentic for the material. The character (or narrator's voice) needs to be something that
the audience can get lost in.
A sense of the status quo:
To truly appreciate where your MC is going, we need to understand where they started. We need to know what their life is like now with a focus on
whatever is expected to change by the end of the story. We need to know their current shortcomings, friends, home life, etc.
Think Mia Thermopolis from The Princess Diaries.
A sense of change:
Nobody wants to read a story about a character going through the motions, living their normal life. We need action! Conflict! Your first chapter
needs to hint at something that will turn your main character's life upside down for our amusement...and to help them grow as a person, of course.
Move on to JoHoTo #5!
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