None of these are required and doing them allis not probable— but, adding a few of these into your novel could really elevate your first page! Here are a few different ways to open your story in a way that makes it more intriguing! Lesssgooo:
1) Consider grounding your reader on the first page. No… not in the sense of sending them to their room (), but rather— place them in a setting and make sure they know where they are from the start. You don’t want to confuse your reader by waiting too long to describe the setting. Make sure they know where they are so that they can vividly see the scene in their mind. Plus, if it’s a breathtaking fantasy world, that could be your hook.
HOWEVER, make sure you’re not ONLY describing the setting. Try to mix some narration, action or dialogue in there.
2) Have a clear, distinct voice from the start. Voiceis the mixture of tone, POV, word choice and punctuation that an author uses to tell their story. Essentially, it’s their writing style (similar to how musicians all sing differently). Some writers have such a unique voice that you can tell it’s their writing right from the get-go. If your unique voice/style comes through strong enough on the first page, it could very well be one of the major things that captivates your reader.
3) Allude to something that’s about to happen. My favorite example of this is The Hunger Games. In the very firstparagraph, The Reaping is mentioned. This compels me to read more because I want to know what it is and why it has everyone stressed out.
4) Consider showing who your protagonist is. If your character is a hothead, maybe the plot starts while they’re extremely angry. If they’re an assassin, maybe they’re planning a hit, already on one… or just finished one.
5) Introduce tension and conflict. Conflict can be huge (a car chase) or super minor (running out of milk). If you do not want conflict on the first page, consider alluding to future conflict. Make the readers feel like something is about to happen (drop hints) and that whatever it is… will change the protagonist’s path— thus beginning their journey.
6) Based on your audience/genre, create a hook. For example, if you’re writing a fantasy, you could tease the magic of your world. You don’t have to explain your magic system and all it’s rules (in fact, the first page is way too early for that) but you could rather allude/hint at how: “her fingers felt hot, like when she burned them on the stove as a child. She couldn’t wipe off the heat, it was like they were on fire.”
7) THINGS NOT TO DO:
Don’t let your character(s) wander around aimlessly. Give them something to do, put their goals and wants to use right away.
Don’t overwhelm the reader with a ton of names or locations
Don’t start your story in an overly generic way that editors have seen too many times (waking up, dreaming, running from something, etc.) The exception is if you can put your own unique twist on it.
Point #4, show who your protagonist is, is a really good idea. Give the reader sufficient evidence this character is worth following around, worth investing in, and worth suspecting good (or bad) things about. Many readers are looking for reasons to trust or distrust characters. Some early-career writers think of the first page as a “first impression” of sorts: What imprint should this character make on readers, on the story, or on other characters he or she meets for the first time?
Is the character good at her job? Is the character prone to making tiny but consequential mistakes? Does he leap to conclusions? Is she successful but often at the cost of personal fulfillment? Is he self-doubting?
