Hi Everyone, I would like to know what it is you expect to read from the 1st 3000 words of the the 1st chapter of book. Would you like to know eveything of the main character and some details on the supporting one. When would you like to read what the book is all about, when do you expect the 1st obtacle for the character to take place? Thanks a lot, Regards,
Keep your plot and storyline as straight and as clear as you can make it. Don't flood the reader with to much detail in the first few pages. Introduce a mystery for the reader to solve.
Your opening should be dramatic. Steam straight into the action. Introduce your protagonist early. A brief description of him/her. Flesh out some details about the protagonist's social background and status.
Let the reader know what does the protagonist wants. What drives them? What's their ambition. What does he/she hope to achieve before the end of your novel?
Make sure you have something visual on every page. More importantly, 'Show don't Tell' wherever you can.
I hope that helps.
Good luck.
I agree with Louise.
Because I write action-adventure I tend to start with action. That necessarily takes up too much of the narrative to also include a lot of MC information, though you need to have snippets that relate to his/her character which will be explained as the story unfolds.
Personally I tend to have supporting characters because my MCs are in an army, though not too many. Or at least, if it's a battle, not too many named individuals because that does get confusing. For the writer, never mind the reader!
And you definitely need something at the end of the first chapter to make your reader whiz onto Chapter 2 without reaching for a bookmark.
I don't subscribe to the view that there is only one successful formula for a good novel but, in general, no, I don't want to learn everything about the main character in the opening chapter. Why would I then want to read on? I expect them to change in some way during the novel; you can't necessarily herald that in the first chapter.
Supporting characters, in my view, don't even need to come into the first chapter. Actually, I think introducing a cast of thousands in the first few pages is, unless you're, say, VS Naipaul, unnecessarily confusing for the reader.
What I do want out of any first chapter is a reason to read on: a 'hook' for the entire novel, if that makes sense.