Fantasy week is coming to and end but you’re writing needs to continue. I’ve shared several pieces, tips, and resources throughout the week. Now, it’s time to get to the serious business of writing our novels.
Let’s get working on our first chapter and get over our fear of fixing it later. You know it’s going to happen.
I thought I would share more advice from Jenna Moreci, author of The Savior’s Champion. You can find her humorous video link at the end.
Here is her list of 10 tips for writing the first chapter of your novel:
- You’re not going to hook anyone with the first sentence. Better advice is that have something impactful at the beginning of the first chapter.
- Begin where the story begins. Origin stories come later.
- Introduce your main character. Don’t make your audience wait. Introduce the focus of the book because that’s who your audience follows.
- Give a snapshot of main character’s life, not chapter after chapter of their life story but the reason why you’re writing the book. There’s a problem, a quest, or a situation.
- Introduce the problem in chapter one.
- Introduce the world as you move through the story. Don’t build the world in one chapter, mainly you’re first chapter. Write what’s relevant to the chapter.
- Show don’t tell. Let your audience discover as they read.
- Make the readers care.
- Move forward with your story and don’t get hung up on edits (like me). We all have the SFD. Stories improve as you write.
- Keep calm, and write on!
To watch Jenna’s commentary, you can find her list at https://youtu.be/h8ZYSUEZV78.
Additional Resources:Fantasy Writing seems to be the theme in other writing worlds. If you’re craving more resources, then I will lead you to another site for fantasy writers at ProWritingAid or https://prowritingaid.com/art/741/the-best-fantasy-novels-of-all-time.aspx. They are having a Fantasy Writer’s week, February 22 -26th with free events.
Follow as I post on my progress throughout the month and share the experience.
~Yoon Ju
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