So, I was talking to someone about critiquing people's work and they pointed me to this guideline as a rubic when critiquing a first chapter: https://annerallen.com/2013/06/10-things-your-opening-chapter-should/ I thought it covered far too much ground for a first chapter. Sure, all of this stuff needs to be covered in the beginning of the novel, not just the first chapter. My template for a first chapter was always "Once upon a time there was ___. And everyday s/he ___. Until one day ___." So my question is this: What are your personal theories to writing a first chapter? What do you want to see? How do you personally write them?
I think some of them are good guidelines, but I can think of at least one or two that aren't essential. I don't think the antagonist has to be introduced, although the conflict can hint at who it what the antagonist is. I also don't think that an 'inciting incident' has to happen in the first chapter, at least not the 'inciting incident' that should occur in the first part of a book. These are just my thoughts. But regardless, I feel strongly that a reader doing a critique should NOT read a chapter with these ten things on their minds or checking them off with a pencil. If several of them are missing, the reader will know it, and their feedback should identify it, or perhaps then they can consult the list. In other words, if the first chapter interests the reader enough to want to continue the story, it shouldn't matter that it only included 5/10 of the things on the list.
I rather like this list, actually. Your mileage may vary if you have a very very short first chapter, but for an average length one, this is actually pretty feasible. My thoughts: 1-5 Agree strongly. Each of these elements doesn’t take long to establish and is important for grounding. Where are we? Who are we following? Why should we care about them enough to want to keep following them for an entire novel? Am I reading something dark, funny, romantic, or lighthearted? Theme can be briefly touched upon in a sentence or two. 7,8 also strongly agree after reading the whole description. You really want conflict and a goal for the protagonist in the first chapter, even if it isn’t the ultimate story goal/conflict. And, you want to leave the reader with the sense that the story is going somewhere and building to something, even if you haven’t yet gotten to the heart of what that something is. I want to pick up my pain meds but the pharmacist thinks I’m a drug-seeker is a goal and conflict, hints that I’m running out of pain meds faster than normal, and a family member might be stealing them is a conflict that could lead to something much bigger and isn’t resolved when the pharmacist decides to give or not give me my pain med refill. 6, 9 Not always necessary, but works well for the majority of modern stories (or at least for genre fiction) Looking back at all the recent books I’ve read, a solid 90% of them started either at or right before the inciting incident, and introduced the antagonist, even if they weren’t physically present. Since new writers have a tendency to start too early, it’s pretty good advice in most cases. 10 While I don’t agree you need to introduce every single major character in chapter 1, I think she brings up a good point about not introducing a bunch of interesting minor characters before introducing the major ones. ETA: Of course, there is never only one way to do something when writing a novel. As a starting point for writers, it’s a solid list though. Not sure if I’d use it as a rubric for critiquing other peoples work, but it could be useful in a ‘something is off/missing but I can’t put my finger on what’ sort of tool.
It doesn't all have to be in the first chapter. Your first chapter is all about getting the reader invested in your character, your world and the coming story. If you can do that, you can fill in the rest of the details down the line and the reader will follow. Most people will give you at least a couple of pages to prove yourself and your concept. Get them hooked and you're golden moving forward.
