One good thing everyone wants to do when writing is to hook the reader in. Start with a bang as they would say.
Some easy ways to do this are -
Startle readers with the first line
Make sure to really give your readers a jump start, start with something interesting or intriguing, something that makes them want to move on e.g. Athalia was pinned against the door, her gaze slipping from consciousness.
Begin at a life-changing incident
Here you want to have the ‘inciting incident’ as people call it, this usually happens within the first ten pages. An inciting incident occurs to a life-changing event, or the problem that they have to overcome by the end of the book. For example, when Harry Potter was told he was a wizard, his inciting incident, or when Anne of Green Gables got taken to the Cuthbert’s, that was her inciting incident.
Introduce something ominous
If you withhold some information about something that is seemingly normal it can make it seem mysterious, a bit strange, this creates intrigue, the readers will want to read on if they don’t know what is happening or why the information has been withheld.
Set the mood
To set the mood you can create a simple sentence that creates intrigue. For example, in George Orwell’s 1984, his first line is ‘It was a bright cold day in April, and all clocks were striking thirteen,’ starting with this sentence gives the readers a sense of strangeness, thirteen is known for being unlucky and this can be no coincidence which makes the reader want to keep reading.
Don’t waste your character development
Most people will want to introduce every small detail about their character straight away, but, don’t, wait for a couple of chapters and show it in the coming chapters in small subtle ways. For example, you want your readers to not know the person fully, like they are meeting someone new for the first time, that way, they can connect with the character during the book and not in the first couple of pages.
End the first chapter with a cliffhanger
Keep your first chapter short and sweet, you don’t want it to be too long, and make sure to end it on a cliffhanger, a mystery, an unanswered question. A good way to do this is to end with an action, for example.
‘He leaned over me, his knife in hand, I shut my eyes as the knife drove down toward me.’
This sentence leaves room for the reader to get scared of what will happen to the main character, and it also makes the reader want to read on to make sure that the character survives.
All these ways are great ways to hook your readers in the first chapter, but the first line is most important, so make sure you make it good. Good luck writing!
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