Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing Chapter 1 #MFRWauthor #amwriting

I'm not sure about you but for me starting the first chapter takes a long time.  There are so many things to consider making sure they're there. There's that first line designed to lure the reader into the world you've created, the world of today, yesterday or tomorrow or an invented world. Let's look at some things that need to be included in the first chapter. There are a number.

The first thing to consider is the triggering moment. This had little to do with the characters goals and motivations. This is usually something happening outside the character that triggers a change. Looking at the story I'm working on right now. The decision by the chief wizard to have a competition for a council seat between two young men, one his son and one an adoptee. This decision effects the heroine since she is to be given as the reward to the young man who wins. This sets off the story and needs to be in the first chapter. Maybe not in the opening scene but before the chapter ends. This sets off a number of situations for all the main characters of the story including an ancient hibernating dragon.

Then comes the setting for the story. Where does the action take place? The story could take place mainly in the city, the country, a foreign world but the reader needs to get a sense of the where. In the story I'm working on there are several settings but the opening scene takes place in the strongholdof the wizards and the hareem where all the women live. Other places to be visited in the story are touched upon in the story giving the reader a taste of the where so when the scene takes place, they can visualize without an entire lengthy explanation of the where.