The opening segment of your novel is by far the most important part, not only because you must hook your readers and keep them hooked, but because you are going to rely on your first few pages as a sample when you submit to agents and publishers. Your opening pages should offer the reader everything: gripping story, rounded characters, intriguing plot, believable dialogue, tension, mood, conflict and more.

As a freelance editor, I’ve read a lot of opening pages, so here are six of the pitfalls you may want to avoid if you want your novel to stand out from the crowd:

  1. The opening chapter begins with the main character having a dream, or waking up. This is a big no-no for most agents and publishers, if only because it usually indicates the next common issue:
  2. The first few pages move us towards the story, rather than plunging us right in. As an example: let’s imagine a writer is working on a novel is about the complications that ensue when a private detective is approached by an ex-lover to look into her husband’s affairs. The story opens with the protagonist getting ready for work. We follow him as he eats breakfast, texts his girlfriend, drops his daughter off at school and struggles to his office through a snowstorm. The novel really gets going around page 30, when his ex-lover pays him a visit, but the writer has used the protagonist’s daily routine to establish backstory and character. I once pointed out to one of my writing students that her novel didn’t really begin until 30 pages in and she said yes, she knew that, but she hoped his readers would persevere while she conveyed everything they needed to know to appreciate her story. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. Plunge us right in, and let us learn about your characters as we see them in action.
  3. The novel begins by telling, rather than showing.  In other words, we’re not ‘in scene’. Here’s a terrific article about the importance of Writing in Scene. https://www.gailanderson-dargatz.ca/cms/index.php/resources-for-writers
  4. The novel places us in scene, intriguing and grounding the reader as it should, but then moves immediately into backstory. “The day after his son’s funeral, Luke Jenner sat on the deck at his cottage, feet in the ice cold water and a kitchen knife in his hand. Luke had always wanted to be a father, ever since his own childhood. He had liked the idea of meeting someone and having a baby to care for. Luke had never been gripped by school, even though he was good at it. Ever since joining his father’s law firm, being a father had been his goal, though he hadn’t thought about it. He had met his wife after three long and unsuccessful relationships. The first was with a woman who never let on that she was married. The second….” Notice how gripping the first line is? Did you feel a lurch as the writer pulled us out of scene, after placing us in the heart of it? In all your writing, and in the opening pages most of all, keep your reader right where they want to be – in the story.
  5. The novel begins with a lengthy description, setting the scene for an incident that is going to take place. Charles Dickens could write like that – but unfortunately, it’s out of vogue now and has been for a generation. Begin with the incident, and build landscape while it unfolds.
  6. Typos, grammatical errors, sloppy writing! Work your opening pages again and again. Of course, you’ll need to do that for your entire novel, but no where is this more important than your first chapters.