Something I have discussed with people a great deal is what the most important part of a new novel by an unpublished author is. Universally, the answer agreed upon is; the Start. You only have one chance to make a first impression. The slush piles over at Literary Agencies and Publishing Houses aren't getting any smaller. You have a very limited number of words to grip someone and make them decide that out of the hundreds of manuscripts they're going to sift through that week, yours is worth spending a little more time on and may warrant a closer look!
So, what makes a good start? Well that's very genre specific but typically engagement is the key word. There's a lot of ways to engage readers, a few of which are mentioned below for you to think about. If your start doesn't do any of these things then there's everychance a reader will simply go "meh, who cares," and never get into the real substance of your story...and wouldn't that be a shame?
1. Add an Element of Peril
If there's no reason for the characters to get excited or worked up about something then how can you expect a reader to. Whether it's action or intrigue, give me something that makes me interested in what's happening!
2. Make me care for the characters -
Stereotypes are Ok but original well rounded and often flawed characters that affect me in new ways are really great. Don't have a hollow set of characters that are along for the ride. If your story is like a road then the characters are the vehicles that carry me along it. As nice as a Volvo is when I need entertaining it's got nothing for me.
3. Tell me something new-
Even if you're telling a story that's kind of been told before, tell it in a way that surprises me and makes me want to get deeper into it. It's not particularly good when I kind of know what's happening next.
4. Make me beleive it-
Even if you're writing science fiction or fantasy, make sure that when something happens I'm not like "yeah, right." I can beleive that Ian Flemming's James Bond is going to knock out a badguy with one punch because of the way he's written and the style of the writing.
5. Put me in the action-
It's a very cliche' concept that every agent and publisher talks about but SHOW ME what's happening don't just tell me. It's much more rewarding when I have to do the work with the characters rather than just being spoon-fed what's happening. I may as well just read a synopsis.
6. Don't give me more than I need-
I need to be dragged into the world of the charaters and get gripped by the events and story. If you waffle on too long things can get sterile and then I'll put the book down. Balancing story, world building and action is, in my opinion, VERY challenging and the thing I personally struggle with the most.
7. Make sure it makes sense!
Rememeber also that if you make a balls-up of the start then there's every chance the rest of your novel simply won't make sense. There's nothing worse than wanting to get into a book because you can see kind of where the writer is going and the concept is good but I just can't follow what's going on. When you've got to flick back and be like "who's that character again?" or "what are they talking about?" it's a big drag...and a failure on the behalf of the writer. Reading is linear and pages should only be turned from right to left not the reverse.
Are there other ways to sart a novel that we haven't touched upon? Of course, writing is not a science it's an art and therefore people are always breaking the mould and wowing readers in new ways. For every book that does what I've just mentioned above there's writing that does the complete opposite and works. Typically however a writer needs to earn the right to be this adventurous. Even these out-there books that defy genre and style though will have a great start though. So even if you are planning on writing that 900 page Dune meets Pride and Prejudice mash-up as your first book, make sure the start is good.
Now let's put this in perspective. A good start won't get an unpublished author a six-figure advance or a seven book deal over at Bloomsbury. What it WILL do is give you a chance of getting to the next step towards publication. You can't get published unless someone who matters reads your work, and you have to MAKE them want to by being so engrossing at the start that they simply can't NOT read it. There's a great Kurt Vonnegut quote where he's discussing short stories that fits with this idea quite aptly; "use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel like the time is wasted." Essentially if you don't do this then you'll be doing far more than watsing their time...you'll be wasting yours! Most of us don't get paid to write (yet) so the biggest commodity you have is time...don't waste it, you can't afford to!
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