Still Trying; New Rewrite

I don't remember which book it was that I read it in ("The First Fifty Pages," maybe? Either that or "Beginnings, Middles, and Ends"), but the author made a really good point about the first scenes' purpose:

- Introduce us to the main character
- Give us an idea of the story's tone and genre
- Give us an idea of what the conflict/character goals are going to be (for instance, the first chapter of Harry Potter introduces the war against Voldemort, even though it isn't necessarily a scene in which anyone is physically fighting him; the first sentence of Pride and Prejudice tells you that the story's going to be about finding a spouse)

Anyway, that helped me. So, if your first scene or first 1800 words or whatever AREN'T doing those things, then yes, you should definitely re-think them.

You want there to be conflict from the very beginning. But that doesn't always mean action. You need to give the reader a reason to turn to the next page, a question to answer.

You can also post your first chapter in SYW and get feedback.

That would be too long for me personally. The question is this: if you cut all that word count, could the reader make sense of what is happening without it? Slice and dice if so. Agents and lord knows readers don't have the patience for the best part of 2k before he story properly begins, imo

Cochinay said:

All good advice. I'll revise (or try to) accordingly.

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Good luck!! I'm sure it'll make the opening much stronger!

I want story, character, and setting in the first five pages. "Story: doesn't always mean things blowing up, it simply means what the novel is about, a strong indication of what conflict the main character is going to face, and why.