How to Start Your Novel

Take a moment to consider the importance of your opening sentences.

After all, if the first few lines in this post don’t grab your attention, you’ll probably ‘X’ right out of it without another thought — right?

The same goes for books. The first few pages of a book are do-or-die: get it right, and readers will be intrigued enough to stick around for more. Get it wrong, and they’ll skedaddle right outta there. If the vast majority of readers start judging a book by its cover, then they make their final rulings by the book’s opening scenes. 

Especially for writers who are off to the NaNoWriMo races right now, it’s more crucial than ever to know how to put your best foot forward with your novel. Here are seven steps that will help you pull off the perfect opening scenes. 

Step 1: Think about your novel as a whole

Imagine yourself as a painter in front of a blank canvas. You may not be able to envision the entire composition yet! But you should know roughly when to reach for yellow paint, or blue. 

This is exactly the kind of grip you want to get on your novel before you begin. In other words: you don’t need to plan out every single plot point in your book before you start writing. But you should start seriously thinking about how you want the sum of the parts to come across. This way, you’ll be able to write an opening that effectively sets the tone for the rest of your book. 

To make sure that you’re striking this perfect tone right from the onset, ask yourself:

• What genre am I writing? A fast-paced spy thriller with a shootout in every other chapter, for example, might jump into an action sequence right off the bat. 
• What kinds of expectations do I want to set? For example, the opening chapter of “Pride and Prejudice” tells the reader to expect a witty comedy of manners through the strength and acuity of Jane Austen’s prose and dialogue. 

Step 2: Pick a point of view

So now you know the tone you want to strike in your novel. How are you going to execute it? 

A big part of that execution will come down to three words: point of view. Broadly speaking, there are four major types of POV: 

• First person uses “I” and “we” pronouns (e.g., “The Hunger Games” and “Huckleberry Finn”).
• Second person uses...

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