WHAT A FIRST CHAPTER SHOULD ENTAIL by Motsidi (Jay_Tsidi)
• Author of Scattered Stars
• The African Awards 2019 Winner.

This will solely depends on your writing style, genre, storyline and plot. There are a few common ways in which first chapters are normally written.

E.g

Your main character is introduced:

By that I mean you basically introduce your main characters. Who they are, what type of person they are, their lifestyle (generally the setting) simple things that make up the core traits of your character.

What your story is generally about:

This could depend on your story's point of view, if it's in the third perspective then it's easier to start with what surrounds the story. If it's a mystery you normally start with the misty forest or abandoned building or weird haunted house. If it's a romance it's usually the girl and guy bumping into each other in the hallway or the car accident. So it varies.

Your first chapter is where your story begins to take life so it needs to be perfect because that's where you need to hook your readers. By perfect I mean grammar wise, spelling, everything needs to be top-notch. If I read a book and the first chapter is a mess I will automatically delete the book from my library and I won't even think twice.

A lot of people think the first chapter is a way to introduce the character physically. It's not mandatory even though you can still do it. And I point this out because writers usually describe characters once in the first chapter and never again. They think once you have described the character there is no need to do it again, like in the little details later on in the book. And this stunts the growth of your character because you have boxed your character into a certain type of person and only that person. Even protagonist can be villainous and make mistakes, they can be mean and they can be whiney.

The Tense of Your Book.

The tense you start with needs to be carried out throughout your book, whether it's past tense or present tense. A change in tenses disrupts the flow of your book so before you start typing you need to decide on the tense of your book.

A first chapter is not a prologue or a blurb.

Prologue- an introduction to a play or a book.

Blurb- a promotional statement.

First chapter- the first part of a book or story.

A first chapter is longer than a prologue or a blurb so don't write a five hundred word piece and say it's a first chapter. It's essentially part of your story as a whole, without a first chapter your story shouldn't make sense. It is not a filler.

There are no perfect steps in writing a first chapter or else everyone would have the same thing, the most important thing is to stay true to yourself and your book. Don't try to write like someone else or your work will not feel authentic, it will feel forced and a reader will always notice.