by Mike Gagnon

Created on: December 18, 2006   Last Updated: May 14, 2007

Nobody can give you a magic formula to use and guarantee that you'll write a great book every time. For those of you looking for some inside info on how to get the best start, maybe a first time author, here are a few tips on how to build a solid first chapter:

1: To quote an old newspaper saying If it Bleeds it Leads
It may sound like a joke, but experts will tell you, if you want to get readers involved in your book immediately there has to be a dead body or a sex scene on the first page. In many cases the saying "Sex Sells" should be changed to "Sex, and Death, Sell". There is just something about sex and violence that grabs our attention as humans and holds it, and whether we like to admit it or not it works. In the case of crime/murder mysteries or erotica it's fairly easy to fit this into a story early on. If you're not writing in those genres then you may have to insert the scene as a flashback or dream sequence. Of course it does not have to be out and out gore or debauchery; you can easily take a tamer approach and have a near encounter or suggestive scene with the same results. When writing for a younger, or just different audience, you can replace the dead body with say, a dead pet frog, or the sex scene with the first kiss of young love, or day dreaming about it.

2: The hook
The hook is going to be your first paragraph of the story. This is where you get your first chance to pull the reader into your world immediately. Some experts will say you have two lines, some say two paragraphs. To comprise here we will say one paragraph. The hook is what gets readers to buy your book in most cases. Research has shown that most readers decide to buy a book or not within reading the first page. A good hook will often entice a reader to buy. If you're going to fit a sex/death scene into the first page, the hook is a good place to hit readers in the face with it and get their attention. This is especially true if the scene is going to be a part of the story and have an effect on everything that follows or set events into motion. You want your hook to be descriptive and use a lot of detail and excitement.

3: Motivation
Don't drop your entire story and plot lines in the hook or even the first page. This point can slowly be paced out over the entire first chapter. Make sure that every scene and event in your first chapter logically progresses the story along according to your plot. A good first chapter should introduce a few major key characters that will be the focus

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