The Elusiveness of the First Three Chapters
Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.
– The Sound of Music
I can’t overemphasize the importance of first lines and first chapters in well written novels. The first three chapters introduce the main characters, establish the setting, and often hint at the driving conflict. The first lines are the first exposure the reader has to the primary text of the novel. Up until that point, the information they’ve received has been secondary or tertiary in nature.
Consider some of these famous first lines in some of the greatest novels ever written:
Call me Ishmael. -Moby Dick
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. -Pride and Prejudice
I am an invisible man. -Invisible Man
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. -1984
I could go on about the significance of each of these, but I’d rather talk about how intimidating it can be for aspiring writers to begin their novel. They understand the significance these first lines have had on literature, and they feel this drive to hit it out of the park as well. Furthermore, when an author sends out queries to agents and publishing houses, the first few chapters are the method by which stories are deemed worthy of attention.
I’ve talked with dozens of people in the last 20 years who shared the desire to one day write a story of their own. I always tell them “Do it!”. I’m sure that many of those people have taken it further, and stared at a blank word processing document, having the desire, but lacking the confidence to write the first words. Or they get those first words out, maybe even a few chapters, then scrap it, feeling wholly inadequate to the task.
Fortunately, I started writing before I had these crises in confidence. But I will be completely honest now about those first few chapters. I go in knowing that they will be changed and tweaked and manipulated at least a dozen times.
Nobody can fully know their characters or the conflict going into the story unless it is a sequel or part of a series. The author must come to know those elements as they draft the story. In my book Gather the Stones, I began with no more of an idea about a father and son struggling with their relationship, due to the son’s desire to take a different life course. It was originally called, “Broken Chain”. As I began writing, characters like Mindy, Celeste, and most importantly Chuck Fredrickson appeared, and shaped the protagonist and the novel into what it is in its finished format. I rewrote those first few chapters once I knew my characters, and I rewrote them again to succinctly introduce the major elements of the story. In truth each of these re-writes consisted of at least half a dozen rewrites each.
The people around you, possibly society at large, need your stories. The true story will emerge as you stick with it. As you begin writing, knowing that those first things you write will probably be scrapped, the task becomes much more approachable, liberating you to wonderfully lose yourself in the world you imagine.
