How NOT to Start Your Novel

sandydragon1:

• Morning routine that is mundane TO THE READER. Nobody cares how long your main character showers or what their favorite kind of cereal is. Only start your novel with your main character’s morning routine if it is something that isn’t routine to your reader. Does your MC have to steal their breakfast? Include that! Does your MC feed their dragon at the crack of dawn? That’s interesting! Do they spend way to long deciding what to wear? Nobody cares. That’s boring.
• A dream. Readers will feel cheated when they read a bunch of interesting stuff only to find out none of it was real.
• Excessive world building. Fantasy novels are especially prone to falling into this trap. Little bits of world building that are naturally woven into the narrative are fine. Info dumps are not. Remember, the purpose of the first chapter is to introduce the MC and get the reader invested in what will happen to them, not to give the reader a history lesson about a world they have no reason to care about yet.
• Too long before the main conflict. While you don’t necessarily need to dive straight into the main conflict, you shouldn’t keep the reader waiting for it to start for too long. I suggest laying the groundwork for the main conflict in the first chapter and maybe hinting at it directly. That will help the plot get going at a good pace.
• Without anything to ground the reader in what’s going on. The reader needs some time to get invested in the main character. While starting in medias res can work, you need to help your reader why they should care about what’s happening to the MC. Otherwise, you might as well be jingling keys in the reader’s face. Be especially careful about starting your novel with a chase scene or a battle since those can be disorienting and might not make it clear why the reader should be rooting for your MC specifically.
• Without showing why your reader should care about the MC. Your MC should be one of the main things that keeps your reader hooked throughout the novel. If your reader doesn’t feel invested in them by the end of the first chapter, then there’s a good chance they won’t keep reading.