We all know how important a book’s first page is for catching a reader’s attention. It’s arguably one of the most stressful parts of a book to write, but there is no real set way to ensure you do it right. In fact, the more different it is to other books the better. However, I’ve found there are seven things you must establish on the first page in order to have a successful start to your story.
Before we jump into those items, I want to emphasize that these all need to be done on the first page. Normally, a book’s first page, whether in print or electronic, has between twelve and fifteen lines. That’s approximately two or three paragraphs, depending on how long you write them. It’s an insanely short amount of space to cram information. However, despite the daunting task, it is possible and necessary to do these seven things on the first page.
1. Identify The POV
You will need to establish the point of view for the story. This is simple, and you will do it naturally. The story will be in first person, third person limited, third person omniscient, etc. The reader needs an idea of how the POV will feel so they know if they want to stay with the narrator the whole book or if they find it too annoying to continue reading.
2. Introduce The Protagonist
This is the biggest and most important thing to get on the first page. Readers follow characters in stories, and they need to know who the protagonist is and if they like her enough to keep reading. You have to show her personality, goal, and maybe even some fears. You will want to give at least one physical cue as well, like age or a distinguishing feature. This gives the readers someone to picture in their mind and hold on to throughout the scene. The first page is like the reader’s first impression of the protagonist. They need enough to judge if this is someone to befriend or run from.
3. Show The Setting
You also need to drop some hints about the place and time of the story. You don’t need to spend a paragraph describing it though. Just put in some details about what they are wearing or the technology they have to show time. Then you can have the protagonist interact with the setting to show place. Is she walking up a dirt road in the heat or running to a hover craft in the rain? Just a few little things will help the reader fill in the picture for the scene.
4. Set The Tone
You also need to make sure that the first couple paragraphs give the reader an idea of the story’s mood. Make them laugh if it’s a comedy, or make your prose poetic if it’s a drama. Set the tone for the book so the reader doesn’t start a story laughing and then find out the first page was the only funny part. People read to get a specific feeling, and they want to know what type of story you are promising them when they read the first page.
5. Start The Conflict
There also needs to be some tension on the first page. A story that starts out with nothing wrong is not interesting. You don’t have to have the main conflict on the page, but you should hint at what’s to come. The tension can be interpersonal or even something as small as being late for work for the third day in a row. Anything that shows the protagonist struggling and helps reveal some about their character by how they handle that tension.
6. Hint At The Genre
Usually the book description or where the book was found in a store will tell the reader the genre, but I find that putting a hint of the genre on the first page is beneficial for more than one reason. First, if readers somehow didn’t pay attention to the books genre, then they will know by the first page if it’s science fiction, fantasy, or a thriller. Second, if the readers did know the book’s genre, often they read that story type because they like those traits. If you can put some genre cues on the first page, you’re already giving the readers a payoff for reading your book. So, put in a scary scene in a horror book or a hint of romantic thoughts for a romance. It can only help.
7. Raise Questions
This means creating a hook—something that makes the reader wonder about the protagonist or what will happen next. Building off that idea though, I think you need to also answer a question to build trust with the readers. I recommend raising a question, answering it, and then raising another question in the first fifteen lines of a book. If the reader has a question and then it’s answered, they will trust that if they keep reading, the second question will be answered eventually too.
The first question and answer don’t have to be big. You can do something small and then use the answer to raise another bigger question. For instance, the protagonist is running and the reader wonders why. You answer that question by showing the police chasing her. The next inevitable question is why are the police chasing her. Now you’ve caught the reader’s attention and gained some trust.
Final Thoughts
These are the common traits that I see bestsellers do on their first pages. While they all start with different scenes and approaches, they try to connect with the reader through these seven concepts. I’m not saying that your book will be a hit if you do this on your first page, but, if you have a good book, this should give you the best chance at catching the attention of readers who will love your book.
Thanks for reading!
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2 Comments
Malcolm Tanner · October 10, 2023 at 2:07 pm
Good read. What if you want the reader to guess if the character is the protagonist or antagonist? Should you not use identifying pronouns, but instead use they, their, them, making them neither make or female in chapter 1? Your thoughts.
Liz · October 10, 2023 at 7:10 pm
Great question, Malcolm! In my opinion, it’s best not to confuse readers from the start. Remember, the goal is to get them hooked in the first chapter, and confusing them too much will make them put the book down. They need something concrete to hold onto in order to get invested in the story. I’m assuming you’re asking about the pronoun “they” because your antagonist is one gender and the protagonist is the other gender. In that case, I personally wouldn’t recommend using “they” to only change to “he” or “she” later. It would be like calling one character a “she” and then change to “he” part way through. That would confuse the reader. I would recommend finding a way to write the passage that cloaks it in mystery while not leading readers to the wrong assumptions that you will later have to correct. A good example is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. He begins his book with dialogue between two characters, but there are no dialogue tags. We don’t know who is talking, but they are discussing Ender so we still have a character to latch onto for the story opening. Try to brainstorm creative ways to introduce your story in a mysterious way that also gives the readers a concrete character. I hope that helps!