My friend Lia was lamenting that her first chpater was nowhere near as good as she meant it to be, but as she hadn't yet finished her first draft, my advice was think of it as a place holder and keep writing until you get to the end. (Lia is a phenomenal writer so I had no worries that it would all come together!)
This is because in my experience, can't write a good first chapter until you are totally sure of what is important to your book and you can't know that until you finish it!
My first chapter is always the hardest to get right, and invariable takes the longest. It doesn't know where it's going, or which of the themes it hints at are going to be the most significant, so it's also the chapter that gets rewritten the most. It also get dumped, chopped, merged and ruthless shortened and mangled.
But in the end there it is perfect just how it should be - normal it's chpater 3 in disguise as I always start the book to soon, then have to find where it really starts. But tat's okay. That's expected now, on my third novel I know that's how I ease my way into the story.
But the first line - that's so hard to get right, and really the first and last line are the most important, the hook and the ohhh. Yes I really need to keep reading and wow that was totally worth it.
This is the response I'm aiming for...
Looking back at the many drafts my current novel, SNOWPOCALYPSE, has gone through it's amazing to think they were all from the same original idea!
Here are just a few:
1- Where were you when the sky exploded?
2- I should never have come.
3- A bolt of bruised cloud hung on the horizon, suspended between two trees like a promise.
4- I lingered at teh doorway until the tail lighst disapeared
5- Zombies I could handle. It was real life that sucked.
Guess which one is 'the one' right now?
As I do the final polishes on SNOWPOCALYPSE I wonder what teh first line will end up being after agents and editors input. To be honest I can't wait to find out!