Crafting an Effective First Chapter in Your Novel

Whether you’re writing an epic fantasy, a steamy romance, or a thriller that keeps readers on the edge of their seats, your opening needs to stand out.

It cannot be a slow burn start. Even if you’re overall book is a slow burn.

It should start fast and furious.

Why?

The first pages of your book sell the entire story. Readers often decide within the first chapter whether they’ll keep reading or set your book aside.

If you want to hook the reader, do not include any background information, infodumps (even if done well), lavish descriptions, or purple prose.

Keep it lean!

But I’m writing a historical drama, not a thriller.

I don’t care.

Unless you’re writing literary fiction, your first chapter needs to be thrilling. Something has to happen and something has to happen fast.

Okay, but then once something happens, can I then slow down and give some character background information?

This reader and editor says no. Most of your readers don’t care about the characters enough yet to give a flying crap.

When an opening hooks readers, then they’re more likely to invest in the characters and stick around for the long haul.

Focus on including these four elements—and only these four.

This means start in the middle of the action. Instead of explaining what led up to the action, just drop the character right in the middle of an action that hints at their deeper conflicts.

Example of beginning in media res:

“The car’s tires screeched against the asphalt as Sarah yanked the steering wheel, narrowly avoiding the truck that had swerved into her lane. Her heart pounded, her palms slick on the wheel as she glanced into the rearview mirror. There he was, in the black sedan, gaining on her. The coffee she’d spilled in her lap was burning her leg, but there was no time to stop. If she couldn’t make it to the bridge before him, it was over. Everything she’d learned in the last 24 hours would die with her.”

The reader has no idea why Sarah is in danger, who is chasing her, what happened to her in the past 24 hours. But the reader doesn’t care. Starting off with that info is boring.

Drop her in the middle of it.

Okay easy enough to do when you have a mystery or a thriller, but what about a historical drama?

Example of a historical drama beginning in media res:

Smoke filled the grand hall as soldiers burst through the gilded doors, their boots clattering on the marble floor. Lady Eleanor clutched the bloodstained letter to her chest, her breath coming in shallow gasps. The tapestry behind her, once a symbol of her family’s power, was now torn and smoldering from a stray ember. She turned to flee, but the sharp voice of General Marlow froze her in place.

“There will be no more running, my lady,” he said, his sword gleaming in the flickering firelight. “The king demands an answer for your betrayal—now.”

Example of a romance beginning in media res:

“Don’t say it,” Emma whispered, her voice trembling as she stepped back, her heels clicking against the cold tiles of the airport terminal.

“I have to,” Liam said, his voice raw with desperation. He closed the distance between them, ignoring the sea of hurried travelers brushing past. “If I don’t tell you now, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

Her heart pounded. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. They’d agreed—no complications, no strings. But the way his hand hovered, just inches from hers, threatened to unravel everything. The announcement for his flight blared overhead, and she shook her head, tears already spilling.

“Liam, please . . . just go.”

No matter the genre, drop us in the middle of some kind of action.

It doesn’t need to be big action, such as a chasing scene or a fire. In the last example, we were just dropped in the middle of a conversation.

It just needs to be a scene. Do not open with narrative summary. Open with a scene, and in the middle of it.

Then remember what I said earlier? Keep it lean. Keep the momentum going. Do not fall back on background information . . . yet.

The protagonist’s voice is your reader’s gateway into the world. Through dialogue, internal monologue, or actions, show readers who they are and what motivates them. A strong narrative voice creates an instant connection between the reader and the character.

Your protagonist must appear in the opening chapter, and their voice should color the narration. It doesn’t need to be told in first person. You can have third person and still be using your character’s voice.

You may even use two character’s voices in your first chapter. Perhaps a scene from the antagonist’s POV and a scene from the protagonist’s. Or a scene from one MC and a scene from the other MC.

Whatever you decide, you must at some point in the first chapter have a scene in your protagonist’s voice.

Introduce the tension or stakes as early as possible. What does the protagonist have to gain or lose? Conflict drives stories, and hinting at it in the opening chapter can set the tone for what’s to come. Give a hint of the main story conflict right in the first chapter.

Your opening in-media-res scene doesn’t have to be part of the main conflict. It can just be the catalyst for it. But then give some hint to the big conflict.

Example of opening scene + conflict introduction:

Maybe your in-media-res opening scene is a gymnast getting hurt in the middle of her competition just as she is about to place. But the main conflict of your book isn’t about a hurt gymnast fighting to get back on top. No, that was just the catalyst. That was just the opening scene.

Toward the end of the first chapter, though, we get a hint at the real main conflict when her mom brings in a man who she says can heal her, but the girl senses the man is evil.

This is the main conflict of the book: the girl battling the evil forces the mom brought into her life. We don’t know too many details about it. We have no idea she is going to later be healed with demon energy that makes her have to fight her own darkness. But by the end of the first chapter, we have a hint that the main conflict is a battle of good and evil.

And we desperately care about her battle because the opening chapter showed us her voice. We saw a kind, good girl, and we want her to stay that way.

So make sure by the end of the first chapter, there is at least a hint at the central conflict.

Use word choice to indicate the overall tone of the book—whether it’s dark and brooding, light and comedic, or intense and dramatic.

Setting a mood is often done through descriptions of the setting, but don’t do that in the first chapter. No lavish descriptions! Just a few select words here or there will be enough to set the mood.

As you focus on writing an opening chapter that includes those elements, make sure to avoid these three mistakes.

I read the first chapter of my friend’s book. It started in middle res. It was great . . . until it wasn’t.

Not long after the in middle res scene, where a character died, we were thrust into a boring info dump on the background information of the character who had died.

No, it’s too soon for that.

He told me his betas liked that he took a moment after the action to give some background information on the character, so they cared more about her death.

Okay . . . no reader is the same.

But here is a guarantee: no reader will be upset that the first chapter didn’t contain an info dump. Some may not be as bothered if a first chapter does have it, but some will. So don’t risk it.

We’ve got the entire rest of the book to learn about the woman who died and how she matters to the MC. It will hit us more if you show us the MC’s pain of losing her, and you sprinkle her memories in a showing form throughout as the MC deals with her loss.

Putting in an info dump in your first chapter can put readers on high alert.

Oh, no. Danger, danger. Is this an author who is going to have a lot of telling info dumps? Is this an author who can write a banging opening scene and a few awesome scenes here or there, but then relies on a lot of narrative info dumps for too much of the novel?

If you have one in the first chapter, this will be a concern.

Let’s make this clear: info dumps aren’t all bad, but they are boring.

A shown info dump is less boring than a told one, but it still a form of info dump. You can’t really tell an entire story without them, but for the love, please, do not include any of any significant length in your opening chapter.

Use this blog to help you find and fix your info dumps.

Look a great description of the setting can really help a reader get into a book—but only after they are invested in the characters and the plot.

You can describe Hogwarts in some great detail once I am invested in Harry Potter and what he is going to face. Do not describe Hogwarts in the first chapter. I don’t care yet.

When an author can really paint a picture for their readers, it is magical—or so I’m told (I’m an aphant, so it does nothing for me). Authors are praised for their beautiful turns of phrase, their elegant descriptions that made the reader feel they were in that very room.

I could never do it. Hats off to authors who really paint a great vivid picture.

But . . . you know what I’m going to say: don’t do it in the first chapter.

While a bit of mystery can intrigue readers, being too vague can leave them confused. Strike a balance between revealing enough to keep them interested and holding back enough to build suspense.

I love dystopians, and I often don’t understand the world in the first chapter, and that is a-okay. Go ahead and use terminology I don’t yet understand. Go ahead and make it clear this is a different world. Don’t explain those things yet, leave the reader wondering and wanting.

But also don’t write scenes that are so cryptic the reader doesn’t even know what happened. They may not understand the details of the jargon used, the rules of the world, the thises and thats, but they should at least be able to give a rough overview of what happened in the scene.

Who did what to whom?

Who said what?

Who is the main character?

What action took place and what were the resulting reactions?

If it’s all a big question mark, you risk your reader DNF. While I used dystopians as an example, this applies to any genre. It’s okay to have some unexplained elements in your opening scene, but it’s not okay to confuse your reader entirely.

Your novel’s opening chapter is your first chance to impress readers, and it’s worth taking the time to get it right.

If you follow this checklist, you can hook your audience from the very beginning.

Happy writing—and editing!