If you know me at all you know that I have a weird obsession with first chapters. (Oh, we noticed.) They are the first impression. You might strive to not judge of book by it's cover, but you can judge a book by it's first chapter. Seems a bit harsh, but it's true. It's like how most of the essays graded in school are based off the first sentence/paragraph. The same idea applies here.
(They are?! I never knew! 😱 Haha just kidding)

Moving on!

Think of all the books you have read. How many times did you read the first chapter and then put it down, never to return to it?

Unfortunately, too many. Same girl!

You don't want that for your book and so this chapter is about helping you find the best possible way of making that not happen.

I'm not saying this is a sure thing, but it's a start to help you on the right path.

At least you'll get a better idea of just why Joy is so obsessed with writing first chapters, if that was bugging you at all.
(😂😂😂)

So what does a first chapter need? It needs four things: an emotional hook, strong voice, a jump start and a touch of intrigue. What do I mean about these things? Well, let's take them one at a time.

An emotional hook.

(Again with Grant Gustin crying! Is this really necessary? You got me tearing up just at the sight of his adorably sad expression!) (Sorry, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use it!)

What is that? It's a strong emotion that the reader an relate to. It could be as simple as embarrassment, fear, hope, desperation. You need to find that emotion and heighten it. Sit in that moment where your character is feeling that emotion and let us sit in it.

It helps get your reader immediately invested in your story, somehow. They don't know much about the plot yet, or even the main character. But if they can grab a hold of a relatable emotion, you've got them hooked. (Get it?) (Haha I got it!)

Humans, no matter where they come from or what they look like, all go through the same emotional spectrum, so use that. Find just one emotion in your first chapter that we can latch onto. Because when we latch onto it, it means that we start to see ourselves as the character, no matter what age, gender, ethnicity they are. Once that happens we are in for the ride! (The ride being your story 😁)

A strong voice.

The voice of a story is you. It's your style of writing. The way you put phrases together. Your choice of words. You want to make sure from the beginning that you are writing in a style that is completely you and not you mimicking someone else. This comes from writing over and over again until you flush out your unique style. Because remember there is only one you and that is what we want to read.

Here is an example from Someday Maybe by @mariajenkins143 . Instantly this book has a clear voice. (Hey! That's my book!)

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"Bobbi has arrived. What's the ETA on the boys?"

Bobbi kept her ear strained to catch Alex's conversation but found it hard as she was stationed in front of the long wall of logos and told to smile for the multitude of cameras pointed her way. Aaron held on tight to her waist and pulled her close. Bobbi kept her face straight but felt a possible sneeze coming on at the scent of his cologne.

Soon enough Alex wrenched his arm from Bobbi's waist and moved him further down the red carpet, telling Bobbi to stay put. When she heard Alex mutter into her headset, "Send the boys in," Bobbi started to glance all around her for their familiar faces. She smiled genuinely when she saw them enter the tent and walked towards her.

Alfie led the pack, running his hand through his curly brown hair as he waved to the cameras and the crowd standing behind them. He was messing up the neat hair job Bobbi was sure several hair stylists had worked hard on to help maintain his head of curls. But his black three piece suit remained impeccable.

Sam followed closely behind and gave a few smiles out to the cameras and the crowd. But he kept a quick pace and came to stand next to Bobbi as Alex started to position them around her. His suit matched Alfie's, as Bobbi was sure Alex had arranged it to. But his hair did not need the help Alfie's did. His dirty blonde locks were pulled back and wrapped up into a nice man bun, sitting high on the back of his head.

The crowd had started to scream when Alfie and Sam had stepped out of their car. But its volume tripled when the door to the car behind them opened up and its only occupant stepped out. Bobbi shook her head when she saw he had ridden over in his own town car.

Theo took his sweet time walking over to where Bobbi and the other boys stood, casually buttoning only one of his jacket buttons over his black and white patterned button-up. And only about half of those buttons would be actually buttoned, Bobbi was sure of it.

He gave a half-smile to the screaming crowd and waved up at them. He even paused to take a few solo photos at the start of the red carpet, running his hand through his perfectly styled dark brown hair. That move received an additional scream from the crowd and he smirked as he finally turned away and walked over to the rest of the band.

"Thank you for finally showing up," Alex said, her tone snarky as she wasted no time in setting Theo into place.

"My pleasure." Theo replied.

He smirked when he locked eyes with Bobbi and a wave of strong emotion came over her. He set his lips in a tight line then looked away and Bobbi was grateful one of them did. She huffed to let out the tension she felt, then turned once again toward the cameras. Her smolder replaced her smile as the boys were arranged around her.

Instantly you get a feel for Maria's writing and you would be able to tell the difference between her work and mine. You want that!

A jump start.

I don't know if that is actual a technical term. I made it up but this is what it means. It means dropping me into the heart of your story from the very beginning. A jump start! There is a reason that four out of the five books I have published start with a piece of dialogue. It instantly puts you into the story.

The other book (A Secret Service) started off with about three lines of description. But in those three lines you get an entire feel for the world you are in. (I'll go into more detail on that in Descriptions)

But you want to start off strong. If your story needs to start with your character waking up, then jolt them awake. Make it matter that they are woken up. It's kind of like gripping someone by the collar and talking to them really intensely. You want to grab and hold your reader. You do that by starting as late as possible.

If there is an explosion about happen, drop us into the scene only a few minutes before it happens. If the girl is about to run into the new guy at school, put us back a couple moments, where she is walking into the school.

Time is money and fifteen seconds is all it takes to make an impression. So make it an impression that is worth sticking around for.

A touch of intrigue.

You not only need to grip your readers but you need to give them a reason to turn the page. To continue on. So that means giving them a hint at something bigger to come or a mystery that needs to be solved.

This could be as simple as a familiar tattoo on the new guy's arm. A tattoo she only saw one other place. A place she pushed from her mind, but that didn't mean it still wasn't there. Haunting her.

What's haunting her?! What does the tattoo mean?! Now I have to know! I have to read and know what she went through! (Five bucks says Joy just got another idea for a story.) (Maybe... Can you blame me? I want to know about the dang tattoo now!)

When they start to ask questions that is when you get your readers to keep going. So find your intrigue and put it at the end of the chapter and so they have no choice back to keep reading!

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Well there you have it! ☺️ A formula to start off your book on a strong note. I really hope this has helped. I have an entire book of first chapters if you want to go check them out and see how I handled all four of these aspects. And you can see where I didn't handle them well in some cases. I'm still learning too!

If you have questions feel free to ask!

Good luck and happy writing! Let's flood the world with amazing first chapters! (Followed by amazing books as well!)