First Chapter MISTAKES New Writers Make ❌ Avoid These Cliches!!
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- Опубликовано: 3 июн 2024
- Writing chapter one is easier said than done. If you’re a writer embarking on a new story, you know how terrifying it can be to stare at that first blank page. You know this is a critical moment - this first chapter is going to make or break your entire book. It's a lot of pressure! That's why, in this video, we're discussing the DO’s and DON’Ts of chapter one - the worst cliches and beginner mistakes to avoid if you want to capture your reader’s curiosity and pull them into your story.
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✨T I M E S T A M P S ✨
00:00 Introduction
02:30 DON’T start with exposition
03:15 DON’T save the good stuff
03:54 DON’T start with a character we’ll never see again
04:55 DON’T overwhelm the reader with names
05:56 DON’T start with a boring day-in-the-life
07:03 DO start with internal conflict
07:35 DO reveal enough for us to care
08:38 DO use the first 5 minutes to introduce your MC
09:45 DO start with your MC waking up to something NEW
10:48 Watch my live training on writing CHAPTER ONE
11:48 Subscribe for weekly writing vids! :)
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I love it when a book starts with a character doing something quirky or funny. That always draws my attention for some reason!!
In the first chapter, my main character gets succ'd up into a magical tornado while a crazy monk blasts him in the face (somewhat literally) with visions of possible futures. Is that quirky?
If so, I think I have a solid start
@@Leitis_Fella No, that sounds boring
@@cooliostarstache5474 I think so too
@@Leitis_Fella i think if executed well this could be cool
Hi Allyson! Do you have any recomendation about a character doing something funny on the first page? Thanks 🌟
My biggest pet peeve of a book opening is a dream sequence, because it makes me care about the situation that NEVER happens.
Except in Harry Potter part 4. (I think in general the sequals or prequals can start different since it's in line with the general story.) The dream Harry had was real and made much sense later on in the story! I think that's a fine example of a dream sequence done right!
But what if the entire book is a dream, like a surreal novel?
@@asuka376 Than you must wake the wind fish or else you cannot escape the island.
I tend to stay away from that entirely, I hate when you spend ages in a book or show and then nope it never happened. I also normally have way to much to set up and explain and explore that I don't waste time on things that didn't even happen, I'd rather just get straight to the actual story.
You can do it right but it's very difficult and it has to tie in heavily to the main plot to work or be an in depth character piece (like a what if).
But for an opening, especially of a first book, yeah that's not great, if the character is established well enough maybe later on in a series but definitely not book one.
I had a concept floating in my head of a bedridden MC who enters the dreams of children in hospitals and helps them out. Just a bro extending a helping hand.
If someone is scared of starting writing just because of the first chapter or worse, line, it's okay to start write and then change it. It's not your last chance. There are reasons edits and revisions are a thing.
Yep, your story is never the same at the end - or even the middle - as the beginning. You will rewrite...and rewrite...and rewrite 🙄.
I just do hundred of hundreds of drafts to see what mistakes I did.
I consider myself to be a less talented writer than most and so writing a first chapter never terrifies me. Like i know i'm bad. But i gotta bring this story somewhere. Once i finish all chapters, I'll revisit my first one, delete it 🤣 and start anew with a bigger picture of the whole story in me little head. Crazy how lazy i am.
oh yeah, i'm a panster, obviously.
@@roryasrorri701 Thanks for that tip, it really helps with the horrible paralysis of procrastination about getting started.
Yep! That’s what I did. I started with a mundane average day, knowing very well that I would change it later, but I needed to establish what a normal day looks like for my character just for myself so I can know my character better and how they would react to changes in their normal routine. It definitely helps me get started to not have to worry about making it perfect! Leave the editing for later.
As a writer and scriptwriter myself, starting your story with the MC experiencing a normal, mundane day in their life is how the majority of amazing stories start just before the "inciting incident" happens that sets them on their course, forever changing their life. It's a tried and true method that works, but there is admittedly a fine line and balance to make it work. To say "avoid doing this because it's boring" is your opinion, neither right nor wrong as it's your personal view. However, don't make it seem like "don't do this if you want to be successful", because 99% of ALL stories begin this way.
I hear you, and I hear her, too. I lean a little more towards her stance simply because she's right: attention spans have dramatically decreased in recent years. Now, of course, there's plenty of people who will have the requisite attention span to get through a "boring" introduction, but erring on the side of caution might do your book more favors.
You even said it yourself: there's a fine line. How confident are you in your ability to navigate that shaky terrain?
@@max8141 I agree as well. The mundane should definitely be at least the first page, maybe crossing to the second page, before an inciting incident occurs to grip the reader's/viewer's attention and desire to find out what happens next. A lengthy bit of mundane is too much, but just the right amount to give an idea of who the MC is perfect, but still walks that fine line. It gives the audience just enough info to see how differently the character becomes and how far they've come from what we were introduced to.
I think her point was that it shouldn't be a day that is a completely normal day where nothing happens not that it can't show a routine that gets broken
I like to cite Stephen King’s work for this kind of thing. The whole daily life aspect needs to either wrap up quickly, or be peppered with foreboding or teasing elements that assure you that it’s a there’s something cooking, but it needs some time to prime as pretense is given.
Then it comes down to delivering and having the pretense either play into the main event, or serve as a red herring in some way.
As a kid the peaceful beginning was usually my favourite part of a book/movie bc it is the only time when the characters get to enjoy their lives and have fun before everything goes apesh!t
This is the opening of my book
"He had never seen a ghost before, that is until he saw himself that one Friday night. It was ironic really, to find life in death."
It's just an idea for now, I've already written this book, but I decided I was going to rewrite it using Abbie's 3 act story structure to make it better, any thoughts? What are your story openings?
Its great! If I were to read this in a book, I would be really sceptical and keep on reading. Such a creative hook!
@@talanross3141 thank you so much!
It’s intriguing, but I think starting with the character’s name instead of “he” makes it more solid!
I love the premise. Now tell us he saw a ghost without using the word ghost. (Force yourself to describe, rather than tell.)
It hooked me and I want to read more
I guess I'm just old, but I have an attention span measured in hours. I do not need every story to start like a James Bond movie. I also continue to appreciate style- ie, good writing. If your writing is pedestrian, then there's a lot of pressure to make the content be exciting right off the bat. If you use words well, you can write ten pages of just about anything, and at least some readers will stick with you.
I mean I'm sure Abby's attention span is hours too when she's in hyperfocus on a book she's enjoying but do you really spend hours thinking about if you want to read a book or buy it? That's where the 5 min attention span thing comes in. How long do you stay thinking about potentially buying it to get to the point where something extra hooks you and you decide you have to buy it.
@@VioletEmerald It's never the things she mentions that cause me to stop reading- except in reverse. A formulaic pre-title-sequence full of action and drama can shut me off pretty quickly. Usually when I put a book down in the first few pages it's because the writing style is just plain boring.
@@Tinyy-Bubbles Pared-down YA writing is generally NOT exciting to me. It's deliberately not exciting, it's deliberately simplified. I don't know if catering to YA attention spans and vocabulary lists makes for adult readers with added sophistication. The trend seems to be the other way- it leads to everyone in the commercial market writing to YA standards. It becomes 'adult' because the sex is more explicit and there's more cursing.
Yeah, kinda agree, i mostly read for the prose less than the plot. I seek philosophy and some big literature ideas. I guess this video applies more to YA literature that is heavy on plotting and adventures... Even with this said, some things here that are a "no" are major parts of the fame of YA books... I join you on this opinion, it all ends up with the quality of the writing !
Your attention span isn't the average, and Abby was talking about the average.
Personally, for me, it would be important to hook in a large part of the readers that got interested by the synopsis on the back, not the few that can last through a slow start that most readers consider boring.
However, not every slow start is simultaneously boring and bringing bond-esque action in doesn't make it exciting.
Personally, I like openings that are not necessarily fast-paced, but have something to them that incites curiosity and I hope my current idea for the opening chapter of the story I'm working on reflects that.
It has the MC saying goodbye to the person she hitchhiked with before exploring a city she has never been in before, reminiscing the last couple days of her roadtrip with her new acquaintance while she gets some breakfast, looks for a payphone to call her mom, and just takes in her new surroundings.
It's not high-strung action, just someone exploring a place they see for the first time over a couple of pages. Which will hopefully make it feel all the more impactful when the supernatural elements of the story draw her in, contrasting the peaceful atmosphere that I hope to build on those first pages.
Sorry for long running sentences. English is not my first language and in my native language, it is common to write quite lengthy sentences.
I think it wise to just get the story down as a first draft without worrying too much about outright perfection. If you're all stressed out about the first chapter being perfect before you even start, you may not start at all. J. K. Rowling wrote chapter one of the first harry potter book 13 times before she was satisfied and she did this after she had written the whole book. Just write, then edit. Don't worry x
Couldn't agree with you more!
Harry Potter is also an overrated franchise and JK Rowling is.... (not hating on the books, its fine if people love them, but personally I dont see the appeal; I get it was the first big fantasy series)
That's because she plagiarized most of the book from "The secret of platform 13" and it needed rewrites.
@@JNB0723Rowling is...WHAT?
@@DanLyndonYou do realize that cliches develop over time right? What isn’t cliche now will most definitely be cliche in the future.
Personally, I disagree with #5 because I enjoy it when a book gives a "boring", day-in-the-life introduction to a character. I feel like it eases me into the world and can help me to relate to that character. So, not to say that everyone who dislikes this is wrong - but to any new writers out there looking for tips - don't get too bogged down in following any list of rules 100% because what one person hates, another will love. 😃
Same, personally I really like when a story starts out that way. I get why people wouldn't like that kind of start, but honestly I feel this is the way I can most easily connect to the character and relate to them. By the time the conflict begins I already know who the character is, and I've got a good feel for the setting, and I care more about the character and how this conflict will affect them.
I think it can work , especially if their normal is not your readers normal so it's engaging or written in a captivating way.
Some first line examples from literature
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte starts with a mundane scene about not being able to go out because it raining which helps the writer give us a good insight Into Jane's character and her relationship with the other people in the house.
'there was no possibility of taking a walk that day'
The northern lights by Philip Pullman similarly starts with a mundane scene for Lyra. By introducing something only in there world, it's interesting for the reader and poses lots of questions that you need to read on to uncover.
'Lyra and her Desmond moved through the darkening hall, taking care to keep to one side, out of sight of the kitchen.
The hunger games by Suzanne Collins (I don't think I've read it, but I know it's a good example of a mundane scene as an opening)
' When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold'
I would say there is no hard and fast rule, but it is something to bare in mind.
I think it works better if it's written in an engaging way and it doesn't drag too much like life sometimes can and has some sort of purpose in the story.
I remember hering it compared to a a still life. A bowl of fruit may not be an exciting subject to paint, but if done right it can be captivating to look at
But I am no expert , these are just some thoughts that your comment brought up .
Because it’s silly to say not to start like that. “The life before” is important to show because you need to show HOW it differs. What’re you going to do whenever the protagonist has to deal with changes to their life? Explain every time what it used to be like?
Oh thank goodness because I just wrote 3 paragraphs about such, phew.
Thanks for making me confident with my writing, my novel starts exactly like this
I actually started a book with a narrator who will dissappear forever after the first chapter, but I did it to make my mc to look like a cliché villain at first. The narrator sees her as a villain, so readers also do. But then at one moment we understand "oh, she's the mc!". My protagonists and antagonists are villains in each other's stories, and that introduction is a hint to that. Also, I thought it might be unique way to introduce your character c: My mc looks similar to the villain (which I introduced in the prologue), so it also creates parallels. I considered the possibility of replacing an unknown narrator to important character, but still thinking if that will fit in the story
Can try to reconsider. Before, there was no preview option for online sales. If someone buys a book, they'll probably read through it and get to your awesome twist. Now, with the preview option, things are different marketing-wise. A misleading sample page (for the twist later) might affect your sales and so on. And yeah, people have really short attention span nowadays. Need something gripping in the first few pages that can pull the reader to buy the book and then see the epic twist later.
@@N0noy1989 that's a great advice, thank you!
That’s genius.
What I do is my prologues are explaining something, like how my one character died, or a dream my character may have.
My epilogues are the villains. There mostly form a woman who we don’t know the name of but she seems to be manipulative and insane and she has a special interest in this young boy. (Like as a leader soldier)
That is a cool concept, however I think it might be cool if the book had like alternating perspectives. One chapter could be the protagonist and one could be the antagonist, but no one really knows who is who. The prologue could just end up being the antagonist's perspective chapter that sets up the story. Then the end could reveal who was the good guy all along with one of them dying or something along those lines.
@@Worldofrandom11 do I need to tell you how GENIUS this is? No, you must already know it
Seriously, I like your idea so much!
I'm more of a fanfic writer than an original story writer, so usually my readers will already know the characters by the time they start my story. However, I have realized when reading other people's fics that while it's not necessarily important to introduce the characters beyond their name and occasionally appearance, it _is_ important to introduce the writer's take on the character. I'm mainly on ao3, so luckily it's pretty easy to see if someone will be out of character just by looking at the tags, but everyone has their own tiny little nuances in how they write characters. Certain characters have specific speech patterns and ways they tend to move, and usually a mark of a good writer is if they can have two different characters respond basically the same way to a certain situation, but have it feel different by incorporating the characters' personalities and little nuanced traits.
I'm currently in the process of outlining a story where one of the main characters goes missing and is then found months later with a very different personality (to say the least), and a good chunk of the story is focused on the character's friends response to their friend becoming so radically different, along with the recovery from everything the character went through to change them so much. One reason why I feel like this would work so much better as a fic than as an original story is that people already know these characters and their personalities, so I won't have to spend about 3-5 chapters getting people to fall in love with the character that's going to change in order for the heartbreak to actually hit the readers as much as I want it to.
I'm by no means the best writer in the world (and I'm not planning on doing it professionally any time soon either), but I do want my readers to enjoy reading my stories and thus want to come back, whether it be for rereads or new chapters being posted
i dont think im very good at coming up with interesting stories (or writing them) but i love words (and i do think i have come up with interesting ideas but only for a fanfic, for a world with a story and characters already in place. like a fandom oc). i decided like a year ago i would turn something i know into a “novel”-type-thing, since its never been in that uh form i guess. unfortunately the two forms it IS in have different beginnings and i knew what i was going to do before i heard people talk about the first chapter/page of a book and how to make it good and then i started second guessing myself. i might have to come up with a different beginning and thats terrifying
@@TPNsBiggestFan about 7 yrs ago I started writing again, my medium? Fanfic. Specifically Skyrim, Oblivion and RDR.
My stories like my Role Plays started being less and less about follwing the questlines and more about the character.
From there it became easier to write stories following no questline just the world. And then writing in my own 'world' , which is Florida in an alternate reality.
I was still in a world ( mostly) that I know. And as I use a lot of mythology, people I know about.
Even though I published it and a second book in the series, I plan on rewriting the 1st chapter, because I was never 100% happy with some wording.
Good luck!
I love AO3, and I feel like I prefer that over normal novels because I don't need to try and remember who is who because I already know all the characters and such as you've said. Which fandoms do you write for? I might look at some of your stuff if you're willing to share
@@TPNsBiggestFan
Ecclesiastes 12:12
King James Version
12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Fanfic writers do more writing than ordinary writers in one sitting 😭😭 I love fanfics
A Song of Ice and Fire opens with cold open chapters with POVs of characters we dont see again. And that series is very popular so I think you can start a book with characters you dont see again. it's all about how it's done and what info you are giving the reader by doing so.
Not true, the prologue opens with us meeting 3 random members of the knights watch. 2 of which die in the chapter and the 3rd appears in the first chapter only to be beheaded by Ned Stark
@@elfofduskHe didn't say first chapter.
One of the reasons I couldn't get past page 50. Way too confusing, and I couldn't keep the characters straight.
Six of crows starts the same way and its honestly one of my favourites
One of my favourite books follows a character that dies in the first chapter. You are made to hate him and then the titular demon eats him. Second chapter introduces the protagonist.
The problem with a ‘day in the life’ part is writers think we have to see everything they do in an average day, but we only need a little bit before the disruption
I usually think of opening lines/paragraphs while I'm outlining---I just get so into it that something perfect comes to me pressure-free. Some of my worst opening pages come when I'm staring at a blank screen thinking, "how do I start this?" So instead of holding myself back, I've started making a section in my outline for little opening page ideas. This has really helped me come up with opening lines without the stress!
I've been trying this for random lines characters say that I think are good. Just crank the words out, without thinking, and see later if I can do something with them
I wrote the whole prologue to decide when will I begin my story. I might not include it in a final version, but starting where you feel comfortable helps to plan the beginning sections of the book.
@@marikothecheetah9342 That's a method I've also been using for a while and it works wonders!
I write my first chapter - finish the draft - rewrite the first chapter with all the hindsight I have from knowing what actually happens
@@iluvSchleeping that is a good strategy.
These are super great tips for beginners!
The "don't overwhelm the reader" point is calling out the entire high fantasy genre, haha.
The one thing you said I disagree with wasn't actually a tip, but when I'm reading, an author doesn't need to get me to care about *the character,* they just need to get me to care about something. It could be the story, the writing techniques, the tone, the events (so the never-to-be-seen-again character POV would work for me as long as it's done well), or the characters. As long as it gets me to want to keep reading.
I've stopped reading backs of books because they usually spoil things that don't happen for several chapters, and would be fun to learn on my own. I decide which books to read just by reading the first couple pages, so this "5 minutes to get hooked" thing really speaks to me.
I agree. The disappearing POV is very genre-dependant. For example, for a detective story about a serial killer, starting with the POV of a about to die victim can be much more hooking than starting with a detective eating breakfast, driving to work and being told about the crime when he arrives.
@@juanausensi499 Mine is about an entity that devoures everything it hears (it has no eyes). The main characters baby sister is dropped on the floor accidentally, and the beast hears her. It ends the prologue with '*It* heard her.'
you clearly have not read much high fantasy.
@@alexandrawinsor881 You're right, I haven't, because nearly every time I try, I'm overwhelmed with new and weird names, places, magic systems, fake words, bizarre items or substances, etc, and it's just too much for me to hang onto. I also generally just don't enjoy that style of writing or the tropes of that genre. They're just as valid and high quality as the things I do enjoy, obviously, they're just not my thing. But I was just trying to tease a little, not making a real, qualitative statement about high fantasy, but that and hardcore sci-fi very frequently overwhelm me when I try to read them. Specifically, I remember giving up on Dune a chapter or two in because so many new things were thrown at me. I was having trouble keeping them straight, and I just wasn't in a mindset to take all of that. Shout out to anyone who enjoys that, though! I just don't have the patience for a lot of it.
@@jakebeach8308 i think they meant it as a rude comment, but i want to give it a better tone and i think that what you say is true. usually those who don't read a lot of high fantasy have trouble grasping the bizarre words and concepts and it's overwhelming (sometimes, even for us high fantasy enjoyers, when the book is written badly and it looks almost like it's another language)
Why do people say, "If the book doesn't capture my attention in the first five minutes, I give up on reading the book"? Since when do people spend $$ on a novel only to quit reading and throw it away after only five minutes? That's absurd!
Maybe that's a bit exaggerated, but usually if readers aren't drawn into the book in the first chapter they maybe try to continue reading but at some point they will just lose interest in a book. So it's certainly better to just avoid this and make it interesting from the start. Just let the story begin from the moment it becomes interesting and cut out everything before that.
Something I’ve considered is starting it with the character being in a stressful situation, maybe not them about to jump off a mountain, but maybe in a crowd where everyone is looking at them or laughing at them. Then continuing it with an explanation to why and how they got there. By the time you’ve gotten to the scene where it’s repeating the opening page you’ll have a lot more understanding of what’s happening. It most definitely will grab the readers attention on the first chapter 😁😁🤪🤪
Ah, yes - the classic in medias res. I'm fond of those, too
"Now, You probably want to know how I got in this situation" Is very cliche but I still like it a lot, just starting with an intense or weird scene and then BAM! rewind the tape!
Back then, when I was writing a fanfic, I did every single Dont's she listed, and after three years, I've reread it and thought, omg what was I thinking?
So I edited it and wrote it like this:
"Summer came for blood four years ago, Drew could still remember it. Despite of its cheery, optimistic disposition, Drew had learnt that summer was actually a psychopath. Acting all nice, then suddenly, taking innocent lives in the days from its care. It didn't even apologise, and it was wrong. It owed everyone. It owed him."
The edited part is good. I write fanfictions too.
This is the intro of my first book, which, is pretty cringe if i read it now but i'm too lazy to go change something i've already published so i guess i'll let it be:
I'm Lyla. I am from Sweden and serving as a detective for central Stockholm police. One night as I was about to leave for home after finishing some important paperwork, when I recieved a strange letter from Alfred Hills.
Soooooooo this is actually a sequel of my first story and probably no one reads my stuff so i don't have to care about how cringe it is. writing is my hobby so once i've finished writing one story, i just publish it out there so that 'someone' might actually read it. bc no matter how boring it might get somewhere, at some parts, i'm actually surprised myself when I read my stuff later that "I rlly wrote dis? Wow" P.S, I'm new to wattpad so idk much nd idk why i wrote this long essay u rlly r a gr8 person if u patiently read till here lol.
Ecclesiastes 12:12
King James Version
12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Oh my god I adore this
What was the original?
Here's an idea for a character waking up to be unique: The protagonist waking up with the reminder that they killed someone and disposed of the body the night before and has to go throughout the day wondering if that was the right thing to do.
BTW, BBC Sherlock did a great job with the waking up Cliche with John Watson waking up after his PTSD ridden nightmare of being shot-tells us how he got there, we also see how barren his flat is, how he feels alone, how he feels distant in life because that army was everything to him and now he feels insignifanct and has a hard time adjusting to the boredom of a regular life. The camera also cuts to his gun-possible thought of suicide or a crappy reminder of his army days being gone forever. But that plot twist of where that PTSD comes from is shocking but set up well!
Pretty much exactly where my novel starts - my protagonist is woken by the dawn; he's in remote Siberia, huddled under coats in his car, but still cold. The night before, he killed someone, staged the body, and is now questioning what he did... He's got a very convoluted journey thousands of miles home ahead of him, too.
@@DomesticatedGoth Wow, that sounds cool! How far along are you in writing the story?
@@jacindaellison3363 About 2/3 of the way through a first draft. Started it in Lockdown in 2020, so I'm pretty slow
@@DomesticatedGoth that's OK! Go at your own pace.
@@jacindaellison3363 I got quite a bit done over NaNoWriMo this year, and I'm itching to start on a sequel, so I'm trying to get my first draft of this book finished! I really enjoy writing my characters, but I struggle to get anything useful down on paper if I can't properly visualise a scene
One thing i found I like in stories was what I have heard called the "5 senses introduction", where the author sets the scene using various descriptors to include the five senses. It pulls the reader in by describing the setting in a way that allows the reader to envision themselves there- seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting what the characters in the story experience.
For example:
"Evening was falling, the long dark shadows of the skyscrapers covering the trash covered streets. A cold wind whistled in and around the labyrinthian streets and alleys, causing all outside to pull their coats tighter to them, clinging to what little body heat they could salvage. Near the dumpster, on a pile of boxes, a man dressed in a long sweater, and moth-eaten knitted cap stirred. Suddenly, he rolled over, and expelled from his stomach a mix of breakfast and whiskey, it's smell joining those of the nearby dumpster. He sat back to recover, feeling a little better, and eyed the bottle labeled "Jameson", whose contents not a minute before had decided to have a wrestling match in his stomach for dominance.
They say don't begin with the protagonist ruminating about her desires and frustrations, but then why did Charlie Kaufman's Adaptation begin exactly that way and work so brilliantly?
The prologue from a different POV is a hallmark of most genre literature, and can be a great way to build intrigue and establish world building if done well. In fantasy and sci-fi it isn't necessarily a mistake to do that
Definitely. When Abbie said that, I immediately thought of the Game of Thrones prologue, in which a POV character is both introduced and dies. Yet a Song of Ice and Fire is obviously immensely popular. The prologue used this character to build intrigue and mystery about the world that draws the reader in. That said, I would point out that this is a hard line to tread, but it can very much work
And Wings of Fire. In Wings of Fire, Hvitur immediately dies in the prologue.
I thought of A Game of Thrones too.. Abbie's advice is not for all genres, I think.
@@charliecheeseman6548 I'm doing the same kind of thing with my story, where there are two young siblings that go exploring, but then suddenly... DEATH. It introduces how the main protagonist's group works in killing people. I'm also planning to link those two siblings' characters with another one of my characters.
Is that too cliché? If it is then I'll change it.
And I thought how every Dan Brown book literally starts with a mysterious pov like that.🤐
My book’s main conflict is between the differing ways the two main characters go about trying to make their world a better place (ie. Working within the system and against it) and how this conflict ends up destroying their relationship, and the first chapter opens with them awkwardly walking around town after being kicked out of their grandmother’s funeral for fighting each other.
Honestly that sounds like it has massive potential. I love it! Especially the opening, sounds like it could be awesome.
Kinda like X-men (minus the grandma funeral part)
Please post it on AO3, I want to learn more!!! What's it about, who are the main characters? What genre is it in?
I love it when the book starts with a major plot twist in the prologue and leads us to how we got there.
In medias res? it IS interesting, but not my favorite.
@@kiriyubel Yeah and that's okay, I just like books like that :)
The game of thrones starts with a prologue from a pov character we never see again and it's fascinating
They say don't begin with the protagonist ruminating about her desires and frustrations, but then why did Charlie Kaufman's Asaptation begin exactly that way and work so brilliantly?
Yeah, most of the biggest and most influential novels ever written start with what most people in these writing videos consider “mistakes” its a really fascinating dichotomy
There's a James Patterson novel called The Beach House that started with a side character that was dead within ten minutes. It became a NYT bestseller. I think it just depends on how well the author does it.
In regards to starting your story with "an average day" I think a lot of new writers (myself included when I started) feel the need to emphasize what the hero will be leaving behind. Hence, the reader needs to know what their life was like before they set out on their grand "quest." It's an understandable mistake, and there's no shame in having done it a few times. When looking at the "hero's journey" setup, it is a logical leap to make.
But you can start that journey too early too. We still need to know and care before we see their world upended. Otherwise, when stuff hits the fan, we'll be like "okay, and?".
I still use a DragonHeart movie as an example of too far the other way. A guy's family was killed before anyone had said a word. I had no name, no set-up, NOTHING about this guy to make me care. So his family was being murdered, and I didn't care, because I didn't know anyone at all.
I started one of my mystery series stories with: "It was a day that started like any other, until the phone rang." But I did it to be funny, as a parody of hack mystery writers of the '40s and '50s.
You can’t do that when your main character’s a KNIGHT
it's not really a mistake though. it's a tried and tested method that a LOT of novels use. there's a sense of comfort in an 'average day' and like you perfectly said, it emphasizes what the hero will be leaving behind when they decide to heed the quest call. it shows the readers that the hero has indeed left their comfort zone for something they want. i love it! but of course, a writer needs to know that exact moment to begin the story so as not to drag or accelerate the pace.
To make sure I've really got it nailed, I just start with this: "And they all lived happily ever after."
There, now no one can complain!
*_Chapter One_*
A woman woke up one morning, a day like any other day. It was long ago in the world we live in. She sought to spread her message to others. She chose to use a media platform which happened to be the world's largest video sharing website. She did this by making videos of her own using a camera and computer, which she purchased either in a brick and mortar store or online. Her motives are unclear, but surely will be revealed later. Several authors came before her like Mark Twain, Philip K. Dick, J. K. Rowling, Nicholas Sparks, Jenny Colgan, Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, Michael Chrichiton. Some better known than others.
Me? I'm just a phantom narrator which serves only to set up this first chapter and shan't be seen again, though I can tell you how magic works in this world by merely pointing out that it doesn't exist according to some people, but does according to others, and it's best to find out from them. Perhaps one of the many names I listed may have an answer for you.
Terrible first sentence and paragraph. You did the opposite of this video. Zero conflict in the first paragraph. BORING
@@PeNGuiNZoMbiEUYA I think it was intended to illustrate the common "don’t s".
@@PeNGuiNZoMbiEUYA It's a joke 💀
@@vennisan7268 obviously 🤦🏻♂️why did I take it seriously lmfaoooo totally caught me slipping
Haha, I see what you did there. XD
I love these extra view points in the beginning, even if they get discarded, so long as they are followed up well. It gives the sense of a whole world that the main characters aren't at the center of.
I’m the same way with the five minutes thing! It took me three times to begin reading Powerless. I bought it because of book too and the description intrigued me. The mistake I made was not reading for the first five minutes, and I’m glad I didn’t. Powerless is one of the best fantasy romance books with the enemies to lovers trope I’ve ever read. However, it took me three attempts to actually start reading the book because of the boring (in my opinion) beginning. Maybe it’s not too bad to give a book a try even if you don’t like the beginning? So try not to let the beginning discourage you from reading a book! ❤
As a fan of Anne Rice, I've always liked the way her story always starts on Page One. Without overwhelming you with too much complicated info, she always draws me into the story and makes me want to know more. That's the whole point of the first chapter, right?
She is my favorite writer I have yet to read.
It can even be done as quickly as the first paragraph. Like in THE VAMPIRE LESTAT:
"I am the vampire Lestat. I'm immortal. More or less. The light of the sun, the sustained heat of an intense fire--these things might destroy me. But then again, they might not."
This instantly brings the narrator on stage, talking directly to us, tells us what he is while simultaneously warning us not to expect the rules to be what we expect, and tells us he's the sort of person who finds threats to his life curious and fascinating rather than frightening. All in less than a hundred words.
Indeed! Anne Rice is a phenomenal writer. She hooks you in with a spell, sets up the pace, and you just keep turning the page!
Anne Rice's first book (Interview With a Vampire), is a very good book. She rapidly goes downhill from there.
@@stelharpwood5752 No she's not. She did a great job with her first one, but goes steadily downhill after that. Some of her later books (Ramses the Damned, for instance) can't even maintain character consistency. I've thrown a couple of her books against the wall, & won't read anymore.
Regarding the last tip: an incredible example of this would be the opening line to Kafka’s metamorphosis - “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.”
Ecclesiastes 12:12
King James Version
12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
I've been struggling to write the first chapter of my book for a while now and could never get it right, but listening to you something just clicked in my head and I'm seeing what I wanted to write, now I can finally get started on the story that 's been plaguing my dreams, hahaha!
OH MY GOD. I'm so happy that with my new narrative I've done all of these things so far in the first chapter. It's been the most rough to create and I just am excited and I feel like I actually am a good writer. And I mean I did almost all of these! Avoided the right things, did the other things. Thanks for making this video.
I will say that “Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo opens with a character never seen after (we’ll kind of, they do see him but he’s not a main character). However this was done well as what the character witnessed was essential to the plot and was addressed later in the story. So, it’s possible to use this cliche and have it work, but it may be better to avoid it all together, especially if your a new writer.
Oh yes, I love the way Leigh does this! It is always executed in a clever way; it also encourages people who have heard of some character from the series rot continue reading to find out more about them! It's also in King of Scars and Rule of Wolves.
Speaking of Leigh Bardugo, I also like the opening to Siege and Storm; you know, when Alina is describing 'the girl and the boy; from the third person.
I'm currently writing a story for school. I'm almost done with it and when I was rereading my story, I realized I've made my story too complex and there's too much going on. This is really helping me improve my story
Don't feel left out. I had issues as a teen making my essays complicated. My teacher while I was getting my GED told me it was so complex he couldn't understand it. I told him it wasn't my fault he couldn't understand it.
Turning 30 I went for my GED again, got a teacher who read over my essay. Told me it was pretty complicated, then taught me how to dumb it down for everyone else.
Made total sense.
He would do things like give me six essays to turn in for the week and I turned in every single one. My homework was to write and essay that was only one page with three paragraphs. It was so hard! Sometimes I turned in two pages and he would tell me I had to dumb it down some more. 😂
Hey that just means you're Tolkien Jr, don't sweat lol
Hey there! I would recommend writing a chapter or two then reading it through. And every few chapters read from the beginning to see if it flows
@@christins.1481
Ecclesiastes 12:12
King James Version
12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Dickens is one of my favorites for wonderful characters. He would often start with a character sketch - which on the surface level violates the “show don’t tell” rule. But that initial character sketch, poetic as it often was, was in reality simply a key turning the complicated clockwork. After which he would release those characters into his little worlds. And how they did run.
Like Oliver Twist's clothes, or lack there of, when newborn!
sorry, but can you show an example or two of this? i haven’t read much of dickens save great expectations, but i’d like to introduce my character as somewhat of a sketch too.
Margaret Mitchell: “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful…….In her face were too sharply blended the delicate features of her mother, a Coast aristocrat of French descent, and the heavy ones of her florid Irish father. but it was an arresting face, pointed of chin, square of jaw. Her eyes were pale green without a touch of hazel, starred with bristly black lashes and slightly tilted at the ends.”
It goes on, and by the end of the first paragraph, the reader has a solid idea of what the heroine of
Gone With the Wind looks like.
@@carolynhunt7333 thank you so much! i’ve been meaning to do the same, so this really helps
@@shaquilleoatmeal7389 I thought of Gone With TheWind as soon as I read your comment. So glad it helped.
A further twist on that “wake up to something new” idea that I have employed into my own little pet project is instead of having my character waking up to a normal day, I have them closing off their day, and just as they are about to fall asleep they suddenly find themselves in a situation they could have never expected. I decided to have this kind of opening because I felt it was interesting and that it would work well with the world building and themes of my story
This is going to sound so silly but after all the videos I've STUDIED of Abbie teaching us how to write books and characters, all that good stuff that was so fun and insightful, this video is almost like a checklist for me cause I'm like: Yes, I don't do that. YES I do that. Thank you Abbie.
And it's just bizarre to me how I notice my story SHINE with the core of WHY IT MATTERS like I've always wanted it to be.
Thank you so much Abbie! I was a 13 year old amateur writer when I found you. I'm 16 now, almost 17 since my birthday is the 29th of December, and I am the writer my past self would be SO proud of! 😁💖
Happy early birthday!
did you finish your first draft yet?
Congratulations! Let us share our stories with the world.
Happy early birthday!
Oh girl! I just found this video, and I'm a 13yr old amateur writer! I needed some tips so here I am!
“Thundering applause filled the room as the number of digits switched from two to three. 100 years done. Only 25 years left to go. Charlie stood on tiptoes to look past the sea of heads in front of her and at the giant screen in the centre of the stage.
25 years, that was just one more generation. One more generation to replace the currently youngest one. One more generation with two kids per couple.
For her that meant: Push twice more, and they’d be there.”
This sounds so interesting. I was trying to click "read more" at the end LMAO
really good, the best one i've read so far, i'm hooked
Thanks a lot! 😃 I wasn’t notified that this comment had gained some traction in the meantime. 😅
The working title is “Generations: Exodus”, and as you may have guessed from the opening lines, it’s about a generation spaceship. Specifically, a generation ship with falling birthrates. The core conflict is between the commander, trying to ensure the success of the mission (i.e., keeping the crew at a stable size), and the protagonist fighting to preserve the crew member’s individual freedom. So at its most abstract, the thematic conflict is life / survival vs. freedom.
@@cosmicprison9819 oh my god that sounds so cool! pleaseee i tell me when you're finished (if you don't forget), i really wanna read this :)
@@4nn4nas98 I’ll try to keep people updated on my channel… I’ve first announced the project in one of my newer videos (I think it was the one called “We Don’t Need Gods; We Do Need Myths”). 😉 I’ve been working on it pretty much exactly since I discovered Abbie’s channel in September 2021. In particular, since I started using Scrivener. I didn’t want to take the risk of importing all my previous writing into Scrivener while still using the trial version. Therefore, just to try out the software, I needed something new to write.
Fast forward one year and I’m already about 300,000 words into the whole story (split up into six books, though the majority of time I do spend on the first one, of course). Book 1 is at about 260,000 words right now, but even with that, the first draft is halfway finished at best. I did outline everything, and most scenes are in place / partly written, though. So it’s not like I wrote the entire first half in one piece, and then still had to come up with the second half. I have a pretty clear vision of how the story goes. I just need to connect all the already-established dots in a way that makes sense, both plot-wise and theme-wise 😅.
I’ve been working on a story that I’ve had in my head for some time now, but I’ve decided to rewrite it to make it better since the original was never shared with anyone else. In the first chapter, it introduces two main characters in a festival-like setting where the two first meet each other. The chapter goes on to show them forming friendship bonds and experiencing the festival together, but ends with them being separated, and the next chapter jumps to when one of them decides to go look for the other. I hope that’s a good way to start a story :)
Sounds fascinating!!
@@smol9363 Zhongli pfp
That sounds cute :)
Sounds fine to me.
I finished one of my novels recently and am currently working on another.
In order to improve my second novel more, I decided to use what I learned when writing the first one and also decided that I should listen to experts more, thus here I am ^^
I cant believe just how many of these cliches I fell into ^^""" I figured with how long Ive been writing I would have noticed some of the more obvious holes but jesus, Here I learned that I probably did not ^^"
Thank you for this lovely video, it was very nice and it was eye opening.
This is awesome advice, thank you so much!
A little something I want to tell everyone that I also learnt through my mistake and from bestselling author Jerry Jenkins is -
*A book is NOT where you start. It's where you arrive.*
Start with short blogs, stories, and articles as your learn how to develop a complex villian, strong hero, write a captivating story, and so on.
That way the 1st time you write a book, you have a grasp of understanding on how to do it!
Ecclesiastes 12:12
King James Version
12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
I started my most recent story with the main character essentially “waking up dead”.
A very confused graphic designer being told she died in combat and thus gets to fight for Odin in Valhōll. So much of the first chapter is just dealing from the revelation that she was apparently violently murdered, can’t remember it, and is trying to convince two ravens that’s there’s been a mixup.😂
When you finish that story please tell us where we can read it! That sounds like an amazing premise I'm genuinely interesting in checking it out!
omg that kind of reminds me of magnus chase and i’m obsessed
I've been thinking of totally swapping out my prologue with a different scene entirely and this video kinda solidified my decision. There's a lot of writing advice on youtube but this channel feels very welcoming, and has great examples.
Great video! The first chapter is indeed very important, and sometimes so much so that even getting the first sentence right can be the deciding factor in interest. All in all, great advice. Among other things, conflict is what the reader comes looking for. A surefire way to grab them is to just give them what they want. Keep helping us all write better!
The character that’s never seen again thing was used in Leigh Bardugos books ‘Six of crows’ and ‘Crooked kingdom.’
I feel like her books were one of the times where it’s done correctly, it gave the reader a small glance of what was happening before the main POVs and set up one of the conflicts in the story without it being too overwhelming right off the bat.
Yeah also Game of Thrones one of the best openings ever
the moment I saw the 'character we'll never see again' on my screen I immediately thought of Joost HAHAHA
@@misatomafuyu best character tbh
@@misatomafuyu ME TOO HAHAHAHA
Also we did sort of see the character(s) again when Kaz and Van Eck visit the scene, and Retvenko was the second prologue. I also like that it sort of gave us a normal person pov before jumping straight into the minds of these criminal prodigies
The back cover blurb is the hook for me; my expectation for the first chapter depends on the genre. An adventure or thriller needs to start in action, but fantasy or sci-fi may take it's time to setup the world as long as it holds my interest. Orwell's 1984 starts really slow with worldbuilding, but I find it interesting because the status quo is not normal to me. A Game of Thrones starts with a POV who dies within the chapter, but it's alright because it sets up the mystery and danger of the Others. Overall, I think Abbie's advice is sound, but doesn't apply to every genre. There's a reason the story arc chart starts with exposition and not rising action.
Thank you for this video, i have been stumbling over the beginning of my story, cause it has an intensive history, but it’s meant to be explained through the characters experiencing it instead of doing any bulk exposition, and i didn’t know how/when to start things, but this has elucidated the answers to many of the questions that were impeding my progress.
The first chapter of a story that I'm writing with two friends is basically a slight introduction. The story itself introduces some conflicts pretty quickly (most notably the main villainous organization seemingly returning) and starts off in the PoV of a character with a goofy last-name (since the story started out as more of a free-write with no defined plot) doing some experiments and testing some of his newly uncovered magic (introducing magic really early on, the whole world is basically Earth with magic and a few other new countries). The guy is important to the story due to his past connections with some of the main characters (and is being set-up as a form of a villain, but not the true villain) and won't intersect with the main crew until further on (but there are some enlightening flashbacks to his past with them). Then it flips to the main character, who's an experiment that was later abandoned by the previous guy, and as she was made with traits of a dog (just the traits, originally I thought she had actual dog parts too, which haunted me for a bit) her loyalty made the image of him leaving her engraved in her mind. She has anger issues, has to live on school campus from their own charity, and has ludicrous reserves of magic energy she can't control well (until a bit later on). The magic system is kind of like Avatar: The Last Airbender's (yes, Earth, Fire, Water, Air, overdone but kind of essential in the story) but it's based off of the Magisterium series' (with Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Chaos) along with added sub-magics that deviate from the five main elements (chaos is extremely rare, has a whole backstory as to why it's banned and people with it are feared/killed), but aside from the elemental magics there's arcane magic (just base magic with a bunch of other utility spells and such), ritual magics (magic effects via advanced rituals), and other magics (elemental-like magic that don't derive from the main 5 elements). There's also a bunch of fantasy creatures not yet introduced (dragons, centaurs, etc) and elementals too. There'll end up being like 3 villains (the big-bad, the bad group, and the neutral-bad that kills everyone regardless) and there's some good world-building (I'm pretty sure, since it isn't being info-dumped and you learn it while it is mentioned (eg. characters explaining it briefly) or conversations) too. There are some slight comedic parts (mostly some hallucinations by the main character since she has an affinity to the fire element and affinities drain the user of a lot of mana and such, draining their body) but it's mainly fantasy.
My 2 cents:
I think the most important thing is that the story begins where it begins. Not late. Rather early than late. If you start too early then it’s boring, but too late causes confusion in the reader.
Storytelling is all about setups and payoffs. By jumping straight to the inciting incident, to fully testing the main characters internal conflict, you miss the setup. So this challenges character A, but what is this? Why does this challenge them? I’m just seeing a random person do something random, at that point. There’s no satisfaction in that, no intrigue, no investment. I think establishing the internal conflict is a small way before testing it is more effective. And most of the time the story doesn’t start at the inciting incident, I find. There’s a small thing that happens that propels the characters into bigger problems, one of which would likely spark the entire story, but i takes some time to get there.
So how do you hook the reader? In my opinion, you just need one thing to make them care. Cute sibling relationship? Parent-child. Friends. Romantic interests. Outside of relationships you could have the character doing something interesting. Expressing some kind of intriguing quality. Working on something fascinating. Or even have something bad happen to them, make the reader instantly sympathize, what to root for them. This usually works for me.
I think it’s important to establish before rushing into things. Make something interesting, something that the reader can relate to, can understand, wants to know more about and not because they’re invested, but because they’re invested in themselves, because when they know nothing about your story, themselves and their lives are all they can judge off of.
One of my favorite examples of the "mysterious protagonist" actually done well at first is the book thief. The author keeps us in suspense of the narrator for juuust a couple pages, about within five minutes. its really intruiging yet the author tells us at the perfect time, while he still has our interest peeked, who the narrator is (Death). that succesful, short sweet suspense at the beginning I think keeps us interested in the protagonist for the rest of the story.
Bro you just spoilered think about ppl who haven’t read it
Ig it’s not that big of a spoiler but like
i have not read this
@@Me-xo5tw it is literally the first five minutes like they said, its not a huge twist or big shock
The #1 Don't is what brought me to this video. Writing my first book and as I was writing it, it didn't feel "write". 🙃 I felt overwhelmed by the amount of world building that needs to be done. Great video, thank you!
I like the dreams where it is very obvious they are dreams, and show how the indiviudal characters percieve themselves and their world while applying dream logic. Usually not great to start the book, but can be really fun insight.
This came right when I needed it! Finished my outline during NaNoWriMo and am now ready to sit down and write that daunting first chapter. Your videos are always so helpful, I finished the one on writing The Hook and felt pretty good and now I feel totally confident in sitting down to write that first page!! Thank you so much!
My book has a little cliche but everyone who has read it has seemed to finish it pretty fast. I know because I follow my KDU report. I still wish it was easier to promote. I wrote my YA Dystopian Fantasy Cogent with a lot of help from your videos. So thanks! It’s got great reviews but first time authoring is tough.
I started writing my book, at 62, and I think I've hit most of the points, so that's a big confidence boost for me! Thanks...really helpful.
I've been struggling to write my novel for a long time now and I am relieved that after a lot of refinement it has got to a point I am starting to really feel is working, then I watched your video and based on your input here, I am not as far off track as I thought I was. You have mentioned a few don'ts which I have fallen into but I will go back and reconsider those points. Thanks for this! The clincher for me is that the story starts with the main character awaking into a foreign scenario which would be off-putting for anyone but little do they know that what they are dealing with is just the tip of the iceberg. I am going to study more and make notes and hopefully within another year the first segment will be sent to the publisher.
I don't care about a story or the characters in a book until I care about the world and setting. What sets this world and setting apart from any other book I could be reading? What differences from reality that I can already experience without reading the book, can I expect to see, and begin theorycrafting the "what-if" scenarios and possibilities that arise from that setting? What challenges will the inhabitants of this world have to deal with? What interesting interactions are possible in THIS setting, that aren't possible in the real world?
Some of that can clearly be built into describing characters and how they interact with the world, but I really don't care about the characters until I'm interested in the world.
same- one of my favorite things to do is to try and fit MY characters into someone else's world- Aka, look at their past and try to "match" a place for them that would cause them to act the same way.
For example, I have this rich character who's a vigilante, but WHY he's a vigilante changes depending on the setting he's in, thus giving him different values and what he's fighting for.
For example, in THIS story it would make sense for him to be orphaned, but in this other one, both his parents should still be alive. What matteres in that I end up with the same archetype rather then the exact same character.
Most readers are not first-time readers, in that they’ve read stories before. They understand what it’s like jumping into a new story, not knowing what happened before page 1. So trust them a little bit. They’ll catch onto clues or hints that “today is not like any other.”
You don’t have to explain what a normal day is like to the reader, even if it is not normal to the reader. The reactions of the character and their emotions will communicate that even more effectively. Give them a reason to be invested, something that is uncommon for the character.
Thank you for offering simple, effective, well-presented and organized advice. 🙏🏼 It’s such a breath of fresh air.
Writing my first book... had writers block going on since getting my first review back... it wasn't bad... just made me realize where I went wrong... thank you so much for this video and the others you have made. I plan to watch them as well...
One trope I absolutely hate is when they give you a snippit of the climax at the beginning then shoot back "5 days earlier." Not only do I feel nothing of the climax when it happens but now I know nothing bad will happen to the protag up until that point
This video made me realize my first chapter had a lot of info dumping and the conflict was a bit too late too arrive, so I rewrote it completely and while i'm still emotionnally attached to the original one, the new one does capture attention more efficiently and gives a atse of the good stuff earlier
Instead of starting in an Utopian world that WILL crumble, we start WHEN it's crumbling !
Each A Song of Ice and Fire book has a first chapter told by a character we won't meet again. All of them are super powerful beginnings that draw you in and make you want to know more. Sure, a writer as talented as GRRM can make almost anything work, the true problem might be too many unskilled, unoriginal writers getting published.
It's a good thing Brandon Sanderson didn't watch this video before writing The Way of Kings
I’m so happy I found this video. Because I am expecting my proof copy soon and I was always worried about the beginning. But this video calms me down because I didn’t do the cliche mistakes which makes me proud because I’m new into the writing publishing things. Thank you very much for this video. You get my subscription! P.s: you’re so pretty!!!
Something I like doing when introducing characters is only referring to them by character aspects until a different character names them or they need to introduce themselves to someone. I think it’s a good way to put names to descriptions while not interrupting the flow. Also a good way to add mystery to some characters. I’ve got characters in a comic that were introduced a couple chapters ago, and they know the main character, but she has amnesia so she’s doesn’t know them. They have not been named yet😂 (they have names, the audience just doesn’t know them yet)
Never give the main character amnesia to begin with.
Would nope out of that story, because if you introduce other characters first, and then they become the sidekicks or background characters, all my investment in them will be wasted. And that pisses people off.
I wouldn't enjoy reading that, I need to know the main character's name as soon as possible unless the story requires otherwise. I remember I had to read the Red Badge of Courage once, and I couldn't finish it because NOBODY, including the mc, had a name. He was just called "the youth" and everyone else was "the tall soldier, the skinny soldier, the short soldier, the rude soldier" it was impossible to follow the story and I couldn't connect with a single character because they felt like concepts instead of people.
@@gianna526 That was the point. They were stripped of individuality. In war everyone's equal. :) But I understand the difficulty with identifying the characters. It's not easy with no specific name, unless that one character has no specific name for some reason. :)
I love this idea. It’s actually extremely common in what is called Hemingway-esque writing. Hemingway would often describe characters by their attributes but most importantly their role. In “Indian Camp” by Hemingway, there is a father and boy. Throughout the story, the father is swapped to “the doctor” occasionally to show that his role is no longer to be a father but a doctor. Im not so sure it is applicable in main character introduction but it’s cool nonetheless.
This is so perfect! I wrote the first almost 200 pages of a story a while back but lost passion because the beginning lost MY interest. Thanks to this, I now know exactly which part to cut, and where the real beginning should be. Thank you so much!
We all get up in the morning. Good point Abbie, my first page starts out with my main character being rushed to the psych unit and other unpleasantness ❤
As an aspiring writer. Somebody who is quite new to writing good solid first chapters and stuff. I appreciate the advice in this video! It is easy to understand and all makes a lot of sense.
Oof! Just beta read an opening chapter that literally did ALL of these...I may just send the author this video.😊 Love that you offered solutions, not just "don't"s
She always seems to give us the do's and solutions. That's the difference between her and some others out there that just point out pitfalls or give us lists of don'ts but don't tell us how to avoid them. I like how she's actually so instructive and give's specifics and examples of the concepts she's talking about.
I wrote my first chapter on my first book before seeing this and I didn't get anything wrong! So proud of myself.
I just found out about your channel: I've been writing "seriously" for almost 10 years, I started when I was 13 with fanfictions and in the latest years I've been working on a light novel series but I've never actually followed tutorials or courses about writing before, I just... wrote and wrote, for years. The fist chapter, the first page of the story I'm telling now, matches all the "do" points and honestly I feel proud of myself for getting there on my own. I always felt like I wasn't good enough, and even though I still have to improve and my style needs more development, after seeing that at least for this I made things in the "correct way", I feel like my will to write and finish what I start increased a little bit, I feel more confident in my skills and less scared of doing things in the wrong way, thus less scared of looking for tutorials to discover if I'm doing things as a good writer should or not, so that I can really improve. Being both a writer and an illustrator I always tend to look for drawing tutorials, lessons and so on, but I never felt the courage to look for a writing tips video, so this was my first one. I'll stick to your channel for more, thank you!
I'm 13 now and started a book about two years ago... it's still not finished yet. Any personal tips from your experience of starting and finishing a book?
@@PuppyLoverSilver Hmm, I'd say to take your time and don't rush it, writing without being in the right mood to do so will eventually start to make you hate writing. I'm stuck on the second volume of the series for 3+ years, but in the latest two years I only wrote like 2 chapters, and according to the plan, it would only take 4 more + epilogue to finish it. But we can't force ourselves to be in the mood to write, if we do tho we should write something, even if it's not the novel you're working on. Maybe it's a poem, maybe a one-shot, but it's still something. And who knows, maybe writing that other thing will give you the perfect inspiration for your novel!
And one thing I always do before starting a new story is to plan the whole thing: how it starts, what happens, how it ends. Then I go into details scene by scene, I organize the chapters and only after that I start writing the "scratch novel", following the script but not blindly, just enough to not get too lost in the path go the point I don't know anymore how to continue the story. I hope that helps, and good luck with your story 🌹❤️
THANK YOU SO MUCH. I fixed my start at the storyline, and now I am more interested in my own story. Im so happy about it😭 (this is tears of happiness, yes)
Number 5 got me so hard- Not to mention that it's hard for me to find a good transition to get from "average everyday life" to the interesting stuff. Thankfully I've recently managed to start my stories with your first advice, which leads me to better transitions while pursuing the rest of the story, so thank you for pointing this out!
This is brilliant and so helpful! I am writing a story, and I was seriously doubting the first chapter, I was thinking it was too vague, but after watching this, it made me realise that it's actually not that bad! There were only one or two minor things I was doing wrong, and this has really given me a confidence boost, thank you!
I think this video is great and super helpful, except I do have two things.
1. Personally, I don't think starting with the character waking up on a day in their life is boring, I find it intriguing to learn what this character is like and what their life was like before they get thrown into a bad situation, because it helps me understand them more, whereas if I only saw then after the inciting incident I wouldn't be able to fully understand them and how they see the world. I want to see what perspective they had prior to the incident.
2. First chapters are extremely important, but sometimes I think it is more helpful to write the story first, with a first draft 1st chapter, and then come back to redo and edit that opening. It can be easier once you have the full perspective of your book.
Also my pet peeve is when the book starts with a prologue in which the author does not name any of the characters, or where they are, because I have no idea what is happening or how it is relevant to the story. I immediately lose interest to the point that sometimes I will even skip the prologue completely when starting a new book. :( But again, all of these are just my opinions.
Very basic concepts. And I have read multiple entire books just on this subject. Somehow the way you said it in this video made so much sense. I think a lot of writing advice either says "spend the first 12% of the story settling us into your character's normal world" or "start with the inciting incident and have nothing before that!". Both of these felt so extreme that I'm left trying to decide how to do option A without being boring or option B without just confusing everyone. The way you phrased it seemed to bridge that gap in my mind. I've been writing fanfiction for the last decade, and it's done so much for my ability to write interesting characters. It's also caused my ability to write beginnings to sort of atrophy. Fanfiction assumes your readers already know the majority of the world and characters, leaving the writers with very little to worry about besides the story. Trying to go back to writing original works left me scratching my head and endlessly dithering over the proper place in the story to actually place Chapter 1.
In short, thanks for putting this in a way that my brain approves of. I've saved this video into my writing advice playlist and will be coming back each time I'm plotting the start of a story.
I’ve just finished reading The Bone Houses, and it nailed every single one of these tips you’ve described in this video! It’s an amazingly written fantasy tale, so many twists and turns, and honestly, I think it displays so much of the dos this video stated and avoiding a lot of the don’ts.
yet again, here you are synchronizing with our struggles 😂. seriously, you're the definition of "perfect timing.
love you, and thank you
When I started writing a story the first don't that came up is the exact thing I did! This goes to show I needed some help so I am very glad this video popped up when I was browsing character backstory development.
Stopping the average “waking up on a typical day” and going straight into the conflict advice I think just helped me figure out how to get past the beginning part of my series I’ve been unhappy with for months. Chapter 2 opens up the conflict, but sidestepping all of that, introducing it as early as the first page, and THEN continuing with her day now messed up has spun it in a way that excites me with how to fix it.
One thing you do extremely well, Abbie, is articulate. I enjoy listening to you as you enunciate and pronounce your words. Your words and sentences are complete and distinct. I'm sure this is done on purpose and it shows the care you put into these videos. As important as the information you share is the quality of the way you present it. Others may not even notice this, but it sets you apart.
Hi Abbie! Thank you for the video, it's as informative as usual. It depends on the genre, but if it's a sci-fi or fantasy novel, I despise reading long paragraphs about how the world is built. As you said, I will care about the world way after meeting the characters. This is quite personal, but I I like it when there are funny/sarcastic banters between the main characters at the beginning. It makes me immediately understand if I like the characters or not. That's also how I start my novel, with a touch of fun before the disaster. 😆
This is also great advice for game masters starting their tabletop RPG one-shot or the first session of a campaign. I start my games as a GM with scenes that are either in media res or very close to it with the briefest context necessary for the players to understand how their characters should act, and fill in the details later. It grabs them from the start and invests them in the adventure they are supposed to pursue.
Many thanks for this. I've been writing a novel for some time now and recently found this video looking for writing advice. Almost everything you mentioned in the do's are found in my first chapter, and all of the don'ts are absent. Thank you for confirming that I'm doing things correctly. You've earned a subscription from me.
You just answered a crucial question that was blocking my path. Thanks Abbie.
I think this was very helpful in some ways, but it wouldn’t work with the layout of the book I’m currently writing in other ways. Like, the main conflict isn’t technically introduced until chapter fifteen as far as I’ve planned, but there are lots of mini conflicts that work as catalysts for the main conflict beforehand. I also have five protagonists that I switch between every chapter, so the first five chapters are very introductory, but that actually really helped me space out my world building a little more, especially showing humans versus Mages perspectives on things, as well as royal versus commoner. Then there’s the whole thing of the prologue hinting at at the main conflict, but being set two centuries before the actual story. I feel like this is helpful in a lot of cases, and I definitely agree to show a special day and introduce some type of conflict, but this formula won’t work for the very specific sub-genre of fantasy I’m writing. Still very helpful for any future things I write though! 💖
Yes, this is probably good advice in a lot of cases, but you can't expect every story to follow it, because it would just be limiting.
if you're good at dropping hints that something big is coming it could definitely work! In fact it sounds very intriguing to me
@@katierasburn9571 Yeah slow burn stories are perfectly fine.
I am so glad my ideas already matched what you told here! It's nice to be reassured about what I have thought of so far.
You’re helping me such much writing my first full length book. Thanks a lot 😊😊😊
I did a major rewrite today. I opened initially with my protagonist and it was dragging, but then I remembered that Mr Banks is actually the most important character in Mary Poppins and we start with events LEADING UP TO the introduction of our title role. A far more satisfactory opening and this is now my 2023. ❤
Really needed this. Wasn’t sure I was starting off the right way but this just gave me reassurance.
I've often struggled with that "character wakes up on an average day" introduction to a story. At first, I thought my brain was just trying to tell me "hey, it's logical to start at the beginning of the day", but I think your explanation rings truer. I'm wanting to show what their life was like before. The thing is... I think I can still do that while also introducing the conflict. The introduced conflict can be subtle -- it can be hinted at in the beginning but not brought to full light.
My biggest struggle, then, becomes not writing for the lowest common denominator. My readers are reading because they like to use their imaginations. Nothing ruins "using your imagination" more than being told everything completely and objectively. Sometimes hinting at what's to come can be far more rewarding, especially if I'm able to accurately predict the expectations those hints create, and them somehow subvert them.
I'm really glad I watched this video today. I have a lot more to think about, now.
Congrats. Virtually every one of your "Don'ts" is exactly how a major bestseller or Classic opens.
I'm a far more practiced poet or lyricist than I am a novelist, and it's interesting to me how these kinds of writing are alike. Poems and song lyrics are often compact little things. There's just not a ton of room for anything, awesome or not. That song's chorus comes up quick. You have to pick powerful language. You also have to trust the smarts of your audience (a scary thing for me, because I don't really think in quite the same way as others due to being autistic). Folks are smart, though.
I do like the idea of starting right near or in the action and conflict. You are able to get the reader interested first. After that, you can then put in important things before too much time has passed (like how Abbie's promo for her training mentions the first Iron Man movie). Like, some stuff has to be there, I know, but language can be powerful. I've got a character's inner conflict popping up courtesy of an interaction with her neighbor. The external events sure contribute to this conflict, but I happen to really like this human moment amid chaos. It's not that she says (or even has to say) a lot, it's just in smaller, but powerful, things. (It's meant to be that way at least; it's a work in progress).
For me, I'd look at something you like that packs a bunch of information in a small space. How does it do that, and how can that carry over into your story? There's lots of things that get things across in a compact way.
People can totally pull that magic of compact but powerful language off, and so can you. I believe in you.
Abbie's videos are always on time, I was currently starting another novel and having a hard time to write the first chapter
AH! THANK YOU! I was having difficulties with some aspects of the "first" chapter and you cleared them up at 6:30. Onward to Writing!!
Let's see what treasure trove of informations I can find inside this mysterious channel.
I thought I would watch this and learn about how my first chapters are awful, but I’m pleasantly surprised that I did well!! Thank you for the great advice, you have gained a subscriber ❤
I would say that what truly defines if you’re doing well is really if you care about your own writing, if you’re not proud of what you write, you wont publish it. I wish you the best of luck on your adventures
I remember when I started writing my first piece of fiction... a book that still hasn't been completed... and it started with that "character wakes up, eats breakfast, gets dressed, goes on a short unrelated to the story adventure". Then again, I didn't have much of a plot in mind, just a vague idea of adventure I wanted my character to go on.
Personally, I have more fun writing a scene that is action/dialogue heavy from the get go. I like to drop myself right into the middle of a scene and just write. It's much more fun and it's right in the middle of the conflict.
I rarely write anything but oneshot fanfics though, so it makes writing scenes like this much easier than for a typical book.
I once heard this tip that has stuck with me ever since: The first page should give you a taste of what the story is about
Now living by that phrase, it's been easier to make that first event happen. I always start my stories with conflict or a mystery. One of my favorites is about a ruffian who begins the story by jumping off a bridge to escape the cops. Not only does the story start with a bang, it leaves the reader asking many questions.
Try starting your story at the end of a scene instead of the start. That's the best way to combat the daily life scenerio
I really like your delivery, and your explanation is thorough without losing me, anyways, thought id mention, can't wait to check out your other videos.
Just wanted to say that your videos are very helpful! I also checked out one of your books and the synopsis had me immediately hooked. I'll definitely be reading!