How to Write a Badass Beginning

Your book’s introduction is one of the most important parts you will write. It will determine whether or not a publisher wants to work with you and if a reader will continue reading. In it, the tone for the rest of your book will be set, giving readers a taste of your writing style and what they are in for. For these reasons, many writers find that writing their novel’s beginning is a rather daunting task.

In my previous blog post, I discussed different ways you can begin your book: the mid-conflict beginning, the mundane beginning, the day that changes everything, the pre-storyline beginning, the narrative beginning, and the retrospective beginning.

Now that you have some ideas for how you can begin your story, let’s take a look at some of the ways you can get your reader and publisher hooked:

1. THE FIRST SENTENCE AND PARAGRAPH

What’s even more important than the first chapter?
The first sentence. 

It’s alarming how many readers give up after only the first sentence or paragraph. On those few words weigh the fate of your book, making it that much more important to write a gripping introductory paragraph. If you can get your reader through that, they are much more likely to at least make it through the first chapter.

You can do this by..

• Opening with something intriguing or startling (something peculiar, a scandal, or a horrendous or magical event)

I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. — I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith

Marley was dead, to begin with. — A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Time is not a line but a dimension, like the dimensions of space — Cat’s Eye, Margaret Atwood

• Opening with a “question.”

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. — The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1, 

“What advice did his father give him?” 

The first time I read the ad, I choked and cursed and spat and threw the paper to the floor.— Ishmael, Daniel Quinn.

“What is the ad about?”

• Opening with something relatable or insightful

Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends. The question of self-pity. — The Year of Magical Thinking, Chapter 1, Joan Didion

With everyone, I think, memories of early childhood consist of a series of visual impressions, many very clear but lacking any sense of chronology. — The Siren And Selected Writings, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

2. DO NOT OPEN WITH A CLICHE

It looks lazy to utilize an overused introduction (as though you copied it), even if it was anything but lazy for you.
If you can, avoiding beginnings which start with a dream, an alarm clock, a morning routine, and in-depth explanations about the weather. You want your book to stand out amongst the rest, not sound like every other book. Introductions like these will likely make the reader sigh and put down your book before getting far, and no one wants that.

3. INTRODUCE YOUR PROTAGONIST ASAP

Many authors begin their books with describing or showing their main character, and for good reason. Your protagonist is the most important character to the reader; it is who they will be reading about or through for the duration of the novel. It can often make or break a book depending on if your reader loves or hates them and if they can empathize with them or not. Because of this, it’s a good idea to ensure that your protagonist is likeable (not perfect), and to introduce them as early on as possible. 
The more real your protagonist seems and the more relatable they are, the stronger the connection will be between them and the reader.

This protagonist should also be fascinating in some way, whether that is by displaying confusing or conflicting personality traits, having hidden motives or a past which they refuse to speak of, being frequently gossiped about, or by having a unique and compelling way of thinking and speaking. 

4. INCLUDE A SCENE

The best way to introduce the characteristics of a protagonist, along with introducing other things (such as plot points and secondary characters), is to show, not tell.

Do you want readers to know your world is magic?
Instead of outright telling them “in this vast, magical world..” show them elements of the world that make it magic. 
J.K. Rowling implemented this in Harry Potter by including Dumbledore’s Put-Outer and by having McGonagall transform from a cat to a human.

Do you want readers to know your protagonist is caring?
Write a conversational scene where they are comforting someone or going out of their way to help someone in need.

Do you want readers to know two people are best friends?
Write a conversational scene where it is evident that both friends are very comfortable with each other and able to speak about personal matters freely.

5. GIVE A TASTE OF YOUR SETTING/WORLD

Your setting — where the story takes place — sets the whole mood/tone of the book. In some novels, it is the first thing that is described, paving the path to introduce the protagonist shortly after, and allowing the reader to first gather some insight about the main character’s situation:

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats-the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill-The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it-and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden, and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.
This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. — The Hobbit, Chapter 1, An Unexpected Party, J.R.R. Tolkien 

Here, Tolkien describes the unique culture of the Hobbits to begin with, introducing and explaining the main character’s unique upbringing before introducing him.

Among other public buildings in a certain town, which for many reasons it will be prudent to refrain from mentioning, and to which I will assign no fictitious name, there is one anciently common to most towns, great or small: to wit, a workhouse; and in this workhouse was born; on a day and date which I need not trouble myself to repeat, inasmuch as it can be of no possible consequence to the reader, in this stage of the business at all events; the item of mortality whose name is prefixed to the head of this chapter.
For a long time after it was ushered into this world of sorrow and trouble, by the parish surgeon, it remained a matter of considerable doubt whether the child would survive to bear any name at all; in which case it is somewhat more than probable that these memoirs would never have appeared; or, if they had, that being comprised within a couple of pages, they would have possessed the inestimable merit of being the most concise and faithful specimen of biography, extant in the literature of any age or country.
Although I am not disposed to maintain that the being born in a workhouse, is in itself the most fortunate and enviable circumstance that can possibly befall a human being, I do mean to say that in this particular instance, it was the best thing for Oliver Twist that could by possibility have occurred. — Oliver Twist, Chapter 1, Charles Dickens

Here, Dickens follows a similar pattern, introducing Oliver Twist’s environment before introducing Oliver himself, and in doing so, revealing that Oliver is an orphan boy who has likely had a miserable childhood (how happy of a life can one have while in a workhouse?).

Beneath are some examples of introductions describing the weather, which is an important element in these novels:

It’s freezing — an extraordinary 0 Fahrenfeit — and its snowing, and in the language that is no longer mine, the snow is qanik — big, almost weightless crystals falling in clumps and covering the ground with a layer of pulverized white frost. — Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Peter Hoeg

My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favorite shirt — sleeveless, white eyelet lace; I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka. 
In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States of America. It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old. It was in this town that I’d been compelled to spend a month every summer until I was fourteen. That was the year I finally put my foot down; these past three summers, my dad, Charlie, vacationed with me in California for two weeks instead.
It was to Forks that I now exiled myself — an action that I took with great horror. I detested Forks. I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, sprawling city. — Twilight, Chapter 1, First Sight, Stephenie Meyer

Meyer utilizes the peaceful and mundane beginning — until everything changes — to emphasize the boring life prior to the unexpected events soon to take place.

Consider your book’s setting, and the effect it has on the story:

• Is your setting/world typical, with supernatural or romantic events soon to occur in this most unexpected environment?
• Is your setting/world advanced technologically, residing in the future, where only the most intelligent succeed?
• Is your setting/world fantastical and full of magic?

Your setting may also reveal things about your character and plot, without outright needing to explain it:

• If your main character is working as a surgeon, it’s safe to say they are intelligent, driven, and want to help people.
• If your main character is outside of their high school while everyone else is inside, it’s presumed that they don’t care much about their education and that they are rebellious. 
• If your story begins in a utopia, it’s fair to assume that something will either destroy that peace and tranquility, or that the utopian aspects are a mirage.
• If your story begins in a war zone, it goes without saying that everyone in the area has endured a lot of pain and suffering.

6. FORESHADOW

Foreshadowing gives your readers an opportunity to connect the dots with given clues and fill in missing pieces of information, which is a very satisfying experience. 

What certain characters say can foreshadow later events (perhaps a wise wizard or a seer), incidents may re-occur on a larger scale (Harry Potter defeating Voldemort as a baby foreshadows his defeat of Voldemort when he is grown), and even changes in the weather can foreshadow the future (such as the phrase “winter is coming” in Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, which is both literal and symbolic). There may also be objects shown early on, which do not become integral to the plot until later (perhaps turning out to be enchanted or historic), or ideas and predictions which are meaningless or misunderstood until new information is revealed. 

Foreshadowing early on and throughout your novel also shows how much thought you put into the story, with even the smaller details of it being intentional and important.

To do this well, know your ending before you start writing your beginning.

7. POSE A QUESTION(S)

Throughout your book, questions will be what keeps readers hooked, awaiting the answers to those questions and creating hypotheses about what they might be. The earlier on you introduce a question — even if that question to a secondary plot point — the better (although it is a good idea to also foreshadow the main conflict/question in the story).

The goal of these strategically-asked questions are to peak the reader’s curiosity without divulging too much information. This can be a hard balance to find, but it can be done, both directly and indirectly.

Direct: This is often done by having the protagonist also seeking the answer to said question, and the reader tags along with them on their quest for answers.

• In The Lord of the Rings, we learn about the mysterious ring early on, of both its immense power and dark nature. Answers to questions about the ring are given here and there as Frodo moves forward on his journey, such as who created it, who the true ringmaster is, how the ring can change a person (or Hobbit), and how and if it can be destroyed.
• In The Witcher series on Netflix, viewers, along with Geralt (although he appears to avoid it at first), want to know what Renfri meant when she said, “You will try to outrun the girl in the woods, but you cannot. She is your destiny.” Ciri also has questions, wanting to know what her grandmother meant when she said the world depends on her survival and why she had been so closely protected her whole life. 

Indirect: You can also introduce questions more subtly and directed toward the reader (possibly which the characters already know the answers to, or do not bother to ask). 
These can be as vague as a looming sense of darkness, which the people of the world and reader can sense, or something may feel “off” about a seemingly normal thing. The question(s) may also be about the history and dynamics of the world, the governing bodies, and the characters.

• The Witcher also has indirect questions for viewers raised within the first episode, such as “What are Ciri’s abilities?” and “Why did Nilfgaard attack Stygga castle?”

You will want to include a variety of questions within the very first few pages of your book, also providing some minor answers as “rewards” (while keeping the main answers veiled until the end/climax).

8. END CHAPTER 1 WITH A CLIFFHANGER

You will want to end nearly all of your chapters with a cliffhanger (question), but it is especially important to end chapter 1 this way so the reader will be eager to delve into chapter 2. The further along they read, the more invested they will become in your story.

9. INCLUDE AN INCITING INCIDENT

As early on as the first (or second) chapter, you are going to want to incorporate your inciting incident, which is what will change everything about the protagonist’s life prior to it and kick the story into its rising action. 

Examples of types of inciting incidents:

• A loss or death of a caretaker or someone close to the protagonist (A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket)
• A call to adventure (The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien)
• A mysterious crime takes place, which needs solving (BBC Sherlock)
• Crossing paths with someone who will soon be very important in their life (most romantic novels)
• A new phase of life begins (starting school, work, or moving)
• The protagonist is threatened by someone (and have no choice but to flee, attack, or defend themselves)
• A new opportunity arises (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl)
• A weighty task is given to the protagonist to carry out 

Once an inciting incident is incorporated and there is a sense of risk in your novel, it will create excitement for the reader. This excitement will make them eager to turn the pages, hopefully all the way through to the very end. 

10. DO NOT INFO-DROP

Of course you want your reader to have an enjoyable experience reading your book, and as exciting as it is to share your world’s history, lore, locations, characters, and artifacts, it’s not recommended to do so all at once. Allow the reader to experience the world as if they are actually entering into it themselves; one piece at a time. 

If you do dump too much information all at once — especially in the very beginning, which many authors make the mistake of — you risk your reader getting bored and overwhelmed, causing them to quit reading because they just don’t care enough about your world (yet) to learn all the nitty-gritties about it. No one wants to keep track of over twenty characters and their kingdoms and lineages without any context or motivation.

When you are describing things, ask yourself if it is immediately important or not. If it’s not.. it can probably wait until later.

One great way to pace yourself is to have your protagonist also experience the world for the first time. 
This is done well in Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, where a magical boy has no inkling that a magical world even exists until the readers get to learn about it with him. 

In summary, be patient with your storytelling, and let it progress naturally.