Thread by @50storieslater

.@TheDanWells Dan Wells “First Chapters, First lines”. He's talking SUPER FAST so this is going to be a slightly delayed livetweet stream as I frantically take notes. #wxr18

@TheDanWells .@TheDanWells #WXR18 Early writers freak out over first chapters. Chillax. Just write whatever and come back and fix it later. or keep going til it gets good and cut the bad parts later. or Pantser: write chapter 1 last. however it works

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 What is the purpose of a first chapter? Better: what is the first chapter supposed to accomplish. 1. introduce the book; 2. make us love the main character; 3. Grab the reader's attention.

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 1. Introduce the book involves these: a. who's the main character? what's the setting? what's the theme? what's the emotional conflict?

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 Theme! Flashbacks to AP English. Themes are awesome and every book has one even if it wasn’t put there on purpose. Star Wars theme: sometimes you need to rely on something bigger than yourself. What is your theme? Doesn’t have to be complicated.

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 what is the emotional conflict? What’s going on in the world vs. what’s going on in the main character’s head. emotional conflicts are INTERNAL. who has to change in order for the conflict to resolve? the character. e.g. stand up for self, peace with past

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 Plot conflict is EXTERNAL. Almost never shows up in chapter 1. Start your book one scene before the inciting incident. Now don't think about it again (in the first chapter).

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 Reads the first page of Howl's Moving Castle, which looks awesome, to show how everything about the book is introduced in the first page.

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 2. Make us love the main character. what do they do that makes you love them? what do they do in the first chapter that makes you love them? how do they show these qualities?

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 How do you show these qualities? 1. when they do/say something cool; 2. are really good at something; 3. demonstrate qualities we admire; 4. help people; 5. do something we wish we could do. e.g. Princess Leia, Ron Weasley, Tyrion Lannister, Gregory House

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 Characters who are reader surrogates are, by nature, often very flat and uninteresting, especially at first. Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, Dorothy Gale. Not something to strive for.

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 Reads the first chapter of I Am Legend.

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 Don't waste your reader dumps. First chapters need action and movement. Keep the pace up and verbs active. No info dumps.

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 How to avoid info dumps. Show don’t tell: don't describe when you can demonstrate. Use dialogue and action instead of flashback and narration. If you tell us something matters, show us why we should care.

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 3. Grab the reader’s attention. Why is this book cool? a. Great voice; b. Compelling world; c. Awesome characters; d. tantalizing mystery; e. something we've never seen before; f. shows us something old in a new way.

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 On voice: Sometimes all you need is a single word. characters and narrators have voices. Books can have attitudes. Language itself can be voice: beautiful, distinct, poetic. Don’t use voice in your first chapter unless you keep it up for the whole book

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 Prologues are not terrible. They have their place. Easy to do wrong. A lot of chapter 1’s have sneaky faux prologues. High 3rd person disconnected narration that serves function of prologue. You can get away with prologues by calling it ch 1. if you want to.

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 The first chapter is a promise to the reader of what comes next. How do you get them past the first page... or first line? (ahh!)

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 step 1: don't freak out: it's okay to pace it like a novel, editors/agents know you take time to get things set up. But Cram as much awesome as possible. Make sure first pages don’t suck.

.@TheDanWells #WXR18 How do you write a good first line? Don’t freak out - not all of these first lines are showstoppers.

Q: what is a good point in the story to think about first chapters?
.@TheDanWells: depends on your story process. Recommend using one of the early methods to start. He doesn’t do that: he’s an outliner. Writing first chapter first helps to focus him on the book.
#WXR18

Q: If you’re writing a book with supernatural elements do you have to have that in the first chapter?
.@TheDanWells: you can get away with it but it’s hard. highly recommend hint about genre in 1st ch. or prologue to compensate e.g. Game of Thrones has magical zombies
#WXR18