First impressions

I'm preparing for the annual Dunford Novelists' boot camp weekend in Bournemouth, England today.  Dunford is a weekend meet with other professional novelists, some of whom are very well traditionally published and some indie published.

The weekend is full-on, but it will give me a lot of feedback on my first chapter.  For newcomers to the weekend the most nerve-wracking bit is reading out the start of their chapter to the group of 30+ people.  We read the first 250 -300 words to the whole group and receive verbal feedback.  The rule is that we can't respond to that feedback, unless we're asked a direct question.  

This is quite a tough discipline, but it makes sense.  It replicates the situation with a reader in a bookshop.  If they decide they like the look of your cover and blurb, then they might read as far as the end of the first page before deciding whether to buy your book.  At least at Dunford we get supportive feedback.  If something doesn't work people will tell us why.  So to make a good impression, both on the group and on potential readers, I need a damn good story.  

Stories need a good hook, as close to the start of the story as possible.  Novels with long leisurely openings are in the minority today, and for a genre writer like me they're a no.  Readers expect to be introduced to the main character first, so he/she should be the viewpoint character in your start.  What's their conflict or problem?  That needs to go right at the start too. Who, what, where, when, how, and why all need to be established smartly.

We do it by plunging straight into the action of the story.  On a first draft we might 'write ourselves in' to the action, but those first two or three paragraphs are often backstory, ripe for cutting in our edits.  Keep the story moving through action.  Establish the tone and mood of the story through the characters' dialogue, internal dialogue, and actions,

Keep scene-setting to a minimum on the first page.  I'd say put in just enough for the reader to work out where your characters are.  Choose features of their surroundings that are relevant to the story.    And keep flashbacks off page one.

All that's a heavy burden for your first page to carry.  But we only have seconds to make a good impression in a potential reader so the first page really has to strut its stuff.

So, I've polished my chapter and packed my suitcase.  I'm looking forward to getting feedback on my first page that will really improve my book.