Opening Chapter Checklist: Does your opening chapter accomplish its goal?
Get over here and evaluate your hooks, style, pacing, starting point, and characterization with me!
Does your opening chapter accomplish its goal?
To this day, I don’t think there’s a single opening chapter that I haven’t completely deleted and rewritten.
On average, from what I’ve seen among fellow authors, the first chapter gets rewritten at least a dozen times, with a few of those rewrites being complete overhauls.
It makes sense; the first chapter is your only shot to hook readers, pique the interest of literary agents, and set up the entire book for success. It’s the most heavily revised piece of every novel by far, with some authors revising it 40-60 times.
Here, you make a promise to the reader. If the payoff doesn’t match the promise, they’ll be sorely disappointed; in contrast, if the payoff exceeds their expectations, they’ll be over the moon and clambering for the next book.
But first, you have to make that promise clear, and that starts from the opening line.
You don’t want to be cute here. And you definitely don’t want to be cliché. But you don’t have to overthink it, either.
I know, I know, that seems like I’m asking the impossible, but I promise, it’s not as crazy as it seems. I always catch myself face-palming after the second draft, wondering why I ever stressed about my first chapter in the first place.
Over time, I realized I was checking for the same things in each opening chapter time and time again. So, I decided to create a little checklist for myself to simplify the process. I’d love to share it with you to simplify your own editing process!
The Opening Chapter Checklist
This simple checklist ensures my opening chapter is on the right track. It goes through my writing conventions from the opening scene through the end of the first chapter.
In my checklist, I break things up into the following categories:
Opening Hook
Writing Style
Pacing
Plot Starting Point
Characterization
End Hook (Cliffhanger)
Each category has its own short checklist of things to look for in a first chapter. I’ll go through them individually in a moment.
But first, I want to address the elephant in the room.
Isn’t a checklist a bit…rigid?
You may be wondering if it’s wise to follow a set of rules. After all, isn’t creative writing meant to live outside the box?
In short, yes and yes. Creative writing itself breaks the rules of English consistently, and many forms of writing are accepted as grammatically and conventionally correct in a non-traditional sense.
Still, every successful book has something in common: narrative structure.
You don’t have to copy Fourth Wing’s first chapter structure line by line to be successful, but you do have hit the ground running with a strong narrative like Rebecca does. This checklist is here to ensure the strength of your narrative, not to cap your imagination with something “commercial” enough to reach readers.
There isn’t a set of strict rules here. All writing is still subjective, the same way all literary agents are subjective in their manuscript selection process. I’m not going to say there’s a perfect right or wrong answer to any literary question.
But there is such thing as weak writing conventions. If your first chapter is lacking in any conventions, readers and agents will be able to spot it right away. People expect the first chapter in any book to be strong, appealing, and full of potential. So, if we’re going to get our first chapters to that goal, we have to evaluate them carefully.
Below, you’ll find an explanation of what I’m looking for in each category of my checklist.
Opening Hook
The purpose of the opening hook is to introduce tension, curiosity, and a clear question or stance.
Some of the best opening hooks I’ve seen to date involve a thought-provoking comment from the narrator. For example, one of my favorites from a fantasy novel:
“When Rowan was young, he once asked his mother if humans had a weakness. She had turned to him with her hard expression and said that sleep was the greatest burden on humanity. That was the day Rowan learned about the supernatural; not just the myths and the stereotypes, but the real truth.“
~Restless Waves, Sianagh Gallagher
Intriguing, isn’t it?
That line makes you question why the mom thinks the greatest burden to humanity is sleep. It also divides the audience: some may agree, some may disagree, and others will be completely dumbfounded.
In the coming paragraphs, you find out that Rowan’s parents believe that sleep is a burden on humanity because they have to abstain from sleep for 48 hours in order to see merpeople, which they hunt for a living.
It keeps getting more interesting, doesn’t it?
That’s what an opening hook is supposed to do: set up the rest of your first chapter for mounting intrigue.
Now, just because the opening paragraph in this book begins with a childhood memory doesn’t mean that every book should open this way. This is a very well-done opening by well-written author, and she knows how to open with a scene that moves along the plot without needing to drop you directly into the action.
If you’re new to writing opening scenes, I suggest starting with an action, decision, disruption, or conversation, because these are the easiest to jump into. These types of scenes more easily move along a story into the conflict, plot, and character introduction.
Writing Style
I would say 9 times out of 10, the writing style is what we’re rewriting for in the first revision. It’s difficult to nail a writing style during the first draft, let alone the first chapter of the first draft.
Usually, the style becomes clearer over the course of the book, which means the first chapter is on deck for the biggest makeover in terms of style during the second draft.
From your opening line, your tone should be immediately clear. The first chapter sets the tone for your entire book, so this is where you have to carefully choose your words.
If you’re going for something dark, for example, your word choice should match that. You won’t be describing a thunderstorm as “beautiful and majestic” if you’re trying to create a dark tone. I know, thunderstorms are beautiful (my favorite weather, in fact), but that’s not the tone we’re going for here. Try describing the thunderstorm as “ominous” and the thunder as “bone-shakingly loud.”
This isn’t to say you should mince your words. In fact, you’re going to want to watch your filler words and paragraphs in the first chapter, because this is where you’ll be judged most harshly for them.
Often, my first chapters turn out to be a giant word-vomit mess of whatever’s in my brain, and I end up cutting the word count in half during the second draft. That’s okay! No good book ever happened on the first draft. Don’t be afraid to be ruthless in your analysis here.
You’re going to want to be concise on your descriptions, too. I know that it’s easy to go off on a tangent and start illustrating your world to your reader, but this is going to bog them down in the first chapter. Your reader wants to be invested in the story first, then see the sights and smell the flowers.
And for the love, please go through and look for clichés. Readers and agents can spot a cliché in a first chapter from ten miles away. It’s okay if you started with one; I’ve written clichés before, too. Just be sure they all get ripped out in the second draft. No one’s judging your first draft, only your published draft.
Pacing
This. One. Is. IMPORTANT.
Highlight it. Underline it. Bold it. Put it on your bedroom ceiling. Whatever you have to do to bring it to the forefront of your frontal lobe.
Without proper pacing, you can do everything else right in the first chapter, and it would still fall apart.
Why is that?
Well, the simple answer is: readers lose or gain interest based on pacing.
If your writing style is off-the-charts amazing and your character is intriguing, but they’re drawing out their conversation with their mom for no good reason, the interesting conversation topic suddenly becomes dull. The reader will close the book and move along.
I don’t want that for you. I don’t want that for my books, either. So check. Your. PACING.
First of all, you better not be dropping the entire backstory in Chapter One. You wouldn’t show up to a first date and suddenly tell them you entire life story and why they should marry you the moment you sit down (or, at least, not in most cases). So, don’t do that to your readers. Again, they need a reason to care before they want to learn all the details.
Your chapter needs to start quickly, even if the pacing isn’t at breakneck speed. Start right in with a story, conversation, plot point, conflict, something, anything other than a backstory dump.
Exposition, action, and dialogue need to be carefully woven together, painstaking sentence by painstaking sentence. If you’re not blending them, your readers will feel like they walked into a long conversation they don’t belong in or a therapy session they didn’t sign up for—especially not as the therapist.
Or, in the case of a long action sequence, they’ll feel like they’ve been dropped into the Hunger Games, and they didn’t get a rundown of the rules before they started sprinting for their life.
Don’t do that to your reader, please. They’re looking to a book for an escape, not for another mountain to climb and possibly fall off of.
Plot Starting Point
I’m going to say it once, and I’m sure I’ll say it again:
Do not start your book with your character waking up and going about their daily routine.
This is FINE to have as a piece of writing you set aside for extra worldbuilding. It’s great to know your character’s routine, because that means you know them very well.
The problem? Your reader isn’t going to care as much as you do.
Unless there is something NEW or EXTREMELY IMPORTANT about your character’s routine THAT DAY, it’s not interesting enough to hook readers. You can incorporate their daily routine later at a more opportune moment.
With a daily routine, there are no stakes, no meaningful moments, and no problems to get invested in. Your reader needs to get invested before they jump into caring about your character deeply enough to enjoy their daily routine.
To get your readers invested, you have to promise them something—a conflict, an adventure, a thought-provoking event, a massive character arc, anything that gets them to stop skimming and start reading deeply.
Think about the prologue to Shakespeare’s plays. He promised the audience dramatic tales with endings to pull on the heartstrings. Once the audience knew what they were in for, they were willing to listen to the end. I mean, who wouldn’t be intrigued by a tale of star-crossed lovers who die in the end? That sounds like a fun, if dramatic, way to spend an afternoon.
Like the rowdy audiences of the 15th and 16th century, your readers need a reason to stick around for the entire book. So, show them that promise up front, and they’ll stay to hear the rest, including the slower day-to-day moments in between the higher-stakes moments.
To capture attention, you need to start your story with something along the lines of:
a tricky situation
a problem
a disruption
or meaningful conversation
Beyond that, these story starts have to 1) hint at the stakes or 2) outright EXPLODE into the conflict.
In Fourth Wing, Violet clearly doesn’t want to become a dragon rider, but her mom is forcing her to, and her first trial is today. If that’s not explosive conflict, I don’t know what is.
Then, through her conversations with her mom and sister, we learn of her dire situation: she’s tiny, she has weak ligaments, and her talents lie in being a scribe, but she’s being forced into the Rider’s Quadrant. Plus, she only had six months to prepare, and the cadets either ride dragons or die, so she definitely thinks she’s likely to die.
High stakes? Check.
Disruptive situation? Check.
Character background introduced? Check.
Clear conflict? Double check.
By the end of the first chapter, we’re invested, we clearly understand the genre and the conflict, and we’re beginning to see the motivations of the main character.
When you take a look at your first chapter, ask yourself honestly: Have you started in the right spot? Should you move your starting point sooner or later in the plot? Is this the right situation to start, or would a different angle better introduce your conflict, stakes, character, and genre?
One final note: the biggest thing about your starting point is that it has to move the story forward. You can’t start with a stagnant scene. That’s why waking up and going through a daily routine doesn’t work: it’s stagnant. Nothing new is happening. No choices have to be made. No conflicts escalate.
If you want to start your story on the right moment, pick the moment right before your character has to make a big decision, do something meaningful, or get roped into the central conflict.
Characterization
Besides pacing, this is probably the most important piece to the puzzle.
Your main character is the heartbeat of your story. Regardless of whether they’re the hero, anti-hero, or villain, they drive the story forward through their series of (potentially poor) decisions.
Right from the first chapter, readers need to know who your main character is. What kind of person are they? What are their thought patterns like? What’s their biggest challenge right now? Are they an optimist or a pessimist?
These are the things readers need to get a good feel for in the very first chapter. Even if they can’t write a dissertation on your character, they should have enough information that they can decipher the character’s archetype and compare them to someone they know in real life.
Bottom line? Make them three-dimensional right away. If your reader can’t imagine having a conversation with them in real life, they’re still 2-D.
Think about someone you know with a strong personality. You can probably hear their voice distinctly in your head, even if they’re not with you right now. Your main character should have that strong of an impression on your readers, too.
Throughout the first chapter, you have to make sure your character’s dialogue, style, decisions, motivations, and thought patterns align. In addition, it has to be easy to differentiate them from the other characters.
The biggest challenge, of course, is doing all this without directly spelling it out to the reader. If you’re writing, “She’s an anxious person,” rather than “Her hands trembled around her phone as she drew her hood over her head, refusing to meet the eyes of a passerby,” you’re telling rather than showing.
(Need help with showing vs. telling? Check out my book coaching options!)
By the end of the first chapter, your reader should be able to identify at least one trait, flaw, or contradiction in your character that stands out. If you can achieve that, you’re on the right track!
End Hook (Cliffhanger)
If I told you to “finish strong” with your first chapter, I’d be doing you a disservice.
Finishing your first chapter with a strong end hook is MUCH easier said than done. For me, this is the most difficult part of every chapter, and the first is just a whole different level of difficult.
You’ve done all this work your whole first chapter to ensure your opening hook is strong, your writing style is consistent and clear, you’re staring at the right place in your plot, your character is introduced clearly and memorably, and your pacing is on point.
Now, you have to finish it off with the biggest promise of all: an even more intriguing chapter to come.
It feels overwhelming, but as most things are within the writing process, it’s relatively simple. Your end hook can be as simple as an interrupted conversation or thought.
Seriously. Have you ever gotten to the end of the first chapter in a romance, only for some hot guy to appear and dazzle in front of the heroine as he finishes her sentence? Or have you gotten to the end of the first chapter in a fantasy novel, only for a sword to be poised at the hero’s throat?
Yes, those moments can be seen as cliché, but if paired well with your unique style, character, pacing, and plot, it can feel as fresh as a spring daisy. I mean, would you not be clambering to flip the page if the hero got to the end of a celebratory public speech and all of a sudden the mayor pulls out a dagger and makes a threat—especially if the hero wasn’t expecting it?
The end hook can feel like a lot of trial and error, and oftentimes, it is. But that doesn’t mean it’s not intentional. You simply have to find a point in your plot that ends the chapter on a strong note and gives the reader an indication that there’s even more interesting events happening in the next chapter.
I know I keep using Fourth Wing, but the opening chapter is done so well, it’s a great example to illustrate my points. Violet ends the first chapter prepared to cross the parapet, where 15% of candidates die before they even get a chance to become cadets. In addition, the stakes are higher due to the strong winds and pouring rain, which will make the parapet even more treacherous.
You have to flip the page to know if she survives. You just have to. It feels like a crime not to find out.
That is the sense of urgency you’re going for in your end hook for your first chapter. If your reader doesn’t fill like they’ll miss out if they don’t flip the page, it can be stronger.
Take the checklist and run! Or not…just using it is fine.
Now that I’ve explained everything in detail, you’re all set to use the checklist! I’ve placed it below for you to copy and paste, or you can use my Google Doc link to make a copy for yourself.
Until the next post, happy writing, everyone!
The Opening Chapter Checklist
Opening Hook
☐ Does the first paragraph introduce tension, curiosity, or a clear question?
☐ Is something happening (action, decision, disruption) rather than backstory?
☐ Does the opening avoid info-dumping or excessive exposition?
☐ Would a reader feel compelled to read the next paragraph?
Writing Style
☐ Is the tone immediately clear (genre, mood, stakes)?
☐ Is the prose clear, concise, and free of unnecessary filler?
☐ Does the voice feel consistent and appropriate for the genre?
☐ Are sentences varied in length and rhythm?
☐ Is description specific and vivid (not vague or generic)?
☐ Are clichés, redundancies, and overwriting avoided?
Pacing
☐ Does the chapter start quickly (minimal delay before tension/action)?
☐ Is exposition woven naturally into action or dialogue?
☐ Are paragraphs and scenes moving forward without stagnation?
☐ Is there a balance between action, description, and internal thought?
☐ Does the chapter avoid unnecessary backstory early on?
Plot Starting Point
☐ Does the story begin at a meaningful moment (not too early)?
☐ Is there a clear situation, problem, or disruption introduced?
☐ Are stakes hinted at or established?
☐ Does the scene connect to the larger story direction?
☐ Is there a sense of forward momentum by the end of the chapter?
Characterization
☐ Is the protagonist introduced clearly and memorably?
☐ Do we understand what the character wants (even if vaguely)?
☐ Are personality and voice distinct through action, dialogue, or thought?
☐ Are emotions shown through behavior rather than told directly?
☐ Is there at least one intriguing trait, flaw, or contradiction?
End Hook (Cliffhanger)
☐ Does the chapter end with tension, uncertainty, or a new question?
☐ Is there a reveal, twist, or escalation?
☐ Does the ending push the reader into the next chapter?
☐ Is the final line impactful or emotionally resonant?
☐ Does it avoid neatly resolving the central tension introduced earlier?
Thanks for reading! I hope this checklist and its explanation is useful for your writing process. If you learned something today, leave a comment! I’d love your feedback!
The opening paragraphs of the first chapter of my latest completed manuscript MOLLY MCCOOL SAVES THE SCHOOL start with daily routine, but I think they work:
Molly McCool stood at the sink, toothbrush doing its work on her back molars. She brushed as slowly as she could.
“Molly, you don’t want to be late for your first day of fifth grade,” came a shout from her Aunt Yoko in the kitchen.
But it wasn’t Molly’s first day of fifth grade. That had happened last year. This was the first day of repeating fifth grade. Molly wasn’t sure she’d get it right this year either.
Wow. A checklist? Surely not.