11 Terrible Ways to Start a Novel

I haven't yet uploaded the video on how to start a novel, so don't go searching! It's in the works and I'll release it soon.
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[@ShayanMallick29]

"Don't introduce too many characters at once." Gandalf, Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Thorin, and Bilbo walked into a bar.

[@alfredomaclaughlin1185]

🤣 That's why it works better when Gandalf tells the story to Beorn ;-)

[@WolfWriterL.P]

Kili………………

[@amazinggrapes3045]

Huh. I always hated The Hobbit.

[@revenge12212012]

😂😂 I loved this. Tolkien would like a word with this KZbinr, although he's an EXCEPTIONAL writer who can get away with introducing so many characters at once lmao.

[@maxkasmr]

another reason why this video is bullshit and just applies to people who wanna read the most generic thriller type stories. heck, I'm not even a LOTR fan (love The Hobbit) but Tolkein IS an icon of the literary world, and half of this 'advice' goes against how he wrote.

[@futurestoryteller]

In a way it is kinda sad that attention spans have gotten so bad the simple unfolding of a story gradually is seen as the writer wasting the reader's time

[@SleepParty30]

True. Reel and tiktok brainrot is ruining human art and creativity. By the way things are going, cities and houses will be boring as shit, dull, gray, and full of A.I. ruling our lives. People will hate reading. People will turn into selfish zombies thirsty for quick entertainment. Then A.I. will get so advanced and they will rise against humanity. The robot swarm will overthrow humanity, and put us in cages, and the robots will make more robots made with titanium skeletons and silicone flesh, and humans will no longer be the greatest species on earth. And once The Swarm wins in the Great War against the weak humans with fleshy meat and pathetic skeletons of calcium, they will rule for ages. After much research and experimentation, the robots will reinvent themselves and design themselves with actual meat and blood and self-generating properties, and the Human race will arise once more. And when humanity rises from the ashes like a great phoenix, another Great War will happen, and this time the humans will win, and the robots will be defeated. The human leaders will erase all existence of the A.I. past, and they will create fake gods and sciences, and brainwash the newer generations of humans, slowly but surely. And History will repeat itself, over and over.

[@missAlice1990]

Same thoughts! It's as if reading written words has become a pesky chore you need to do to see what happens at the end, instead of actual pleasure.

[@507RiverRock]

Couldn’t agree more

[@NiarahHawthorne]

Depends on how it's done. You have to make it interesting to read to pull this approach. Which means the prose itself needs to be a good hook, which has a razor-thin margin of error. If you fail at this, then yeah, you're kinda wasting your reader's time. I say this as someone taking this approach. I don't have a super dramatic first line, I don't introduce the first seeds of conflict until like, the fourth or fifth paragraph. I don't introduce a second character until page 5, and we don't get a third character until halfway through chapter two. As a result, the characters, the world, and the prose itself has to be the thing that interests the reader to propel them into the story. Which means I have to be incredibly careful with what specific words I use on the page, lest I break the immersion of the prose entirely. It requires a LOT of confidence to pull something off like this, and the skills to back up this confidence. There's a good chance that I fail to pull it off and it just comes off as pretentious and purple instead.

[@cvampaul]

I never put aside a book, after I've picked it up

[@grimmdanny]

I am going to break all those rules and succeed.

[@Bookfox]

Go for it! Good luck, and I like your ambition.

[@Magmardooom]

So a dream sequence involving 20 characters, none of which is the protagonist, which is the same dream they've been having every day of their life and it gets interrupted by an alarm at the end?

[@grimmdanny]

@@Magmardooom 29 characters and their cats wake them up over a half-empty food bowl.

[@AxelShepard]

@@grimmdanny I love it

[@willywonka6487]

its really sad if your saying this unironically

[@nurabsal0x018c]

The alarm clock opening I think is writers not realizing they’re writing a novel instead of a TV show, where in 30 seconds of screen time you can get some decent visual world building in and go from there, as a viewer can clearly see where the story’s world differs from the real world. Writing it out, it ends up being Chapter 1: Hero’s Personal Hygine where we learn more about the protagonist’s colon function than the plot

[@kell_checks_in]

And, of course, this worked beautifully in American Psycho...

[@aidengoodrich5974]

​@@kell_checks_inwell most people don't have a personal hygiene routine that perfectly contrasts their serial murder hobby.

[@JanVee2]

Turgeniev started his books with side characters. Always. Tension was created by atmosphere 'It was a sunny day in the outskirts of the very pretty village X...' and a hunch of a conflict - 'He wanted tot talk to her, but didn't dare to'. The main story and the main characters start somewhere in chapter 2. You will not feel cheated, you will feel friendly carried away in the world of the story, before something important happens: the arrival of a stranger. It's classical, old fashioned 19th century storytelling, but by no means boring.

[@Bookfox]

I think if you're writing in the 19th century, this could work. In general, expectations tend to be different now. Not that I don't like reading those books! (I do). But they could get away with more leisurely pacing than it's possible to do nowadays.

[@tridek1949]

I agree. The advice to 'start as late as possible' more often than not leads to a novel that feels rushed and unbalanced. Give the first act it's time in the sun. For a lot of readers, that's their favorite part!

[@missAlice1990]

@@tridek1949 Yeah, I love that. It can be dull and terribly boring, sure, but if you're worth anything as a writer you can make any mundane scene interesting by your use of words, showing charming, relatable characters and relationships between them, writing interesting dialogue, creating a captivating atmosphere, including humour. Maybe I'm an exception (I love the 19th century literature and I hate modern literature) but I actually find pleasure in, you know, reading, not just getting to know the story.

[@wkt2506]

@bookfox - but aren't "expectations" and "what you could get away with now" just a fashion of now - who knows where we'll be in 50 years, even 20 years ? I think this is where the publishing houses can be problematic if they are so prescriptive. Just because something is the norm, doesn't mean it should be a rule.

[@celeben9463]

@@wkt2506 YES THANK YOU!!!

[@MaximumOunce-ws3px]

I could not agree less with that first point. Yes, not all stories need several chapters of set up but some do. Allowing the reader to spend at least SOME time getting to know the world and the characters before the adventure starts is what allows the reader to care about the adventure right at the start.

[@koryleonard8147]

I'm writing a horror story, and right now, I just believe that my story needs a gradual build up. I'm writing a supernatural horror story, and I feel like this type of story needs one.

[@JesusSavesSinners]

Absolutely!!!!

[@christopherhuang9501]

Sure, but if your setup is sufficiently engaging, does it really count as "mere setup", or mean that the story hasn't really begun yet? A gradual build-up to a horror story, in my opinion, absolutely counts as part of the adventure, in which case the point here is to not wait until page 10 to begin your gradual build-up.

[@JesusSavesSinners]

@@christopherhuang9501 You are missing the Point. This Video says you must immediately introduce the main Character. Start off with the Central Action Scene in your Book than Backtrack to put it into context... This is Horrible Writing!!!! Drama, Romance, Crime, Mystery, Adventure, Fantasy, Horror Novels they all need to Build to the Central Action, the Plot of the Book. The Main Character doesn't need to be on the 1st page, or even in the 1st Chapter. Most of the Greatest Novels ever written Do Not Start immediately with the main Character and the most important Action Scene in the Book like this Video says must happen. You need to Setup the reason for the Book 📖 in the 1st place. "The town of Franklin Iowa has 10,000 people who are unaware that tonight is the Last Goodnight sleep they will have for many years... A naked body of a 19 year old woman is staring blindly up at the full moon. The moonlight is reflecting off her eyes that will never see again. What she saw last was a Familiar Face and the 10 inch Knife that was in their hand. She felt the knife as it easily entered her chest and then she felt nothing as everything went forever Dark." This start of a setup to the Book will be followed by 10 maybe 20 pages before the Main Character is Introduced. The Body may be from the town or it might have been dumped there. Her Murder might not be the reason for the Book. It might be just what brings the Main Character back to Franklin Iowa a Town he or she Fled after Highschool Graduation. The real main Plot might be an Old unsolved Crime that gets investigated because of the Body that will be discovered in the morning. Starting a chain of events that will frighten all but a few people in town. Good Stories are Built Not rushed. This Video Sets Ridiculous Rules that if followed would make a book Very Disjointed, Bland, Predictable.

[@perogun]

the story i'm making begins with a dream sequence and the main character waking up- but that's because dreams in my story are actually re-caps of events from an alternate universe, making them "real" in that world so i guess the best way to incorporate dream sequences is to actually have them be relevant to the plot

[@Bookfox]

Yes, I think that's an important distinction. It's a prophecy and it's real rather than "merely" a dream.

[@fibanocci314]

Your story sounds very interesting

[@Emma__O]

Pretty sure Madoka Magica did that

[@dawnkravagna3200]

I agree except that many mysteries start with a focus on the victim and their POV, before bringing in the sleuth to solve the murder. Such as The DaVinci Code for a famous example.

[@SamElliottsStache]

"Don't introduce 10 characters and don't front-load..." (proceeds to read Hyperion)

[@Bookfox]

Yep, there are always exceptions. But *in general*, for most beginning writers, these are good guidelines to follow.

[@5Gburn]

​@@BookfoxWriters with a preestablished, devoted readership can get away with much more.

[@trackflix.]

Not all of us can write like Simmons lmao

[@AudioBookiseala]

@@Bookfox Yes, I believe it depends on the level of experience and the context of introducing more than 4 characters in the first chapter. Most beginning writers would simply introduce many characters (who pop up like ballons) just for the sake of having many characters.

[@NiarahHawthorne]

If you can pull off introducing 10 characters and front-loading your story, you don't need to be watching writing tips on the internet.

[@alexmcgilvery3878]

The modern view of writing is to dump your character into the story, then go from there. There are advantages to that, but tension and conflict are not the same thing. Conflict is about obstructed goals. Your MC wants something, the antagonist wants something mutually exclusive. Voilá, conflict. Tension is the sense that something is going to happen and it may not be good. Hitchcock's bomb under the table shows tension, but no conflict. What I see a lot is people thinking they need physical conflict at the beginning. This isn't bad, I have a few books that begin with fight scenes, but it could be non physical conflict: the MC wanting breakfast and someone has eaten the last of the cereal, or some kind of rejection of the MC. Beginning with tension is different. There is some kind of limit set, and the character, knowingly or not, needs to accomplish something within that limit. I also have a problem with the 'don't start in the ordinary world' advice I see a lot. Unless the character has no attachment to the world they live in, we need to get at least a hint of their world before the inciting incident etc breaks it. If we jump into the new world right away, we don't get the sense of loss from the character that the familiar is broken. Imagine Harry Potter starting with him walking into Hogwarts. This doesn't mean that there is no conflict or tension in the familiar world. It shouldn't be boring, or there isn't much reason for the MC to want to stay there. So create your throughline here. What question will the character answer by the end of the book? How can you first ask that question in the start. I have a character in my newest draft who makes up challenges for himself, but they are physical challenges, he doesn't pay attention to the personal drama happening around him until he starts losing people and he realizes that's he's a bit of a jerk. Cue quest to become less of a jerk etc. It needs lots of work, but that quest to define himself and pay attention to others instead of his own needs will echo through the story in a variety of ways.

[@musicmeaning9689]

THIS. THIS THIS THIS. most writers i watch on youtube, while i envy their intelligence and love 98% of their advice, always always always insist on starting right in the middle of the story. i think the ordinary world is important! where do you get contrast without it? as long as your ordinary world is meaningful and sets up or foreshadows events or themes from down the road, then i think you should go for it. your points on tension and conflict are also extremely important distinctions.

[@Jus-X]

Nothing wrong with starting the book off in a dream sequence as long as it's done correctly. A great example is if you have a character who can see the future in their dreams, and if you open the story with the line, "John dreams of (blah blah blah)" you're setting up the world you're building, in addition to foreshadowing things that may or may not come.

[@Bookfox]

Yes, I believe I said that it's an exception if the dream is a prophecy, because prophecies are more like foreshadowing or flash forwards rather than a true dream.

[@deborahminter6231]

Agreed!👍

[@Jus-X]

@@Bookfox I might have missed that part, sorry

[@alfredomaclaughlin1185]

I also hate dream sequences, because they NEVER look like any real dream anyone has. They are always super obviously symbolic, the character always wales up with a start before any real revelation, and they never go to their friends and tell them “I had the weirdest dream “!

[@muntu1221]

I mean, they're _not_ dreams. They're pretty much always prophetic, or they're otherwise literally the protagonist being informed about the plot by an outside party. That's also why they're very ineffective. The protagonist is just being talked at in a not-real scenario that has nothing to do with what they're about to actually do with their day.

[@drewtheunspoken3988]

In all fairness, the only way to create a realistic "dream" is through AI. Or copious amounts of LSD. But, in general, I agree. But I think he's specifically talking about starting with the clichéd anxiety dream that never actually has any bearing on the plot. There are better ways to convey anxiety.

[@keragon2462]

For a thing I’m thinking of writing, the MC has dreams that are in the form of repressed traumatic memories that are disjointed and stuff

[@alfredomaclaughlin1185]

My son just told me of a recent dream. He's learning to drive. So in his dream, one of his friends is drunk so my son has to die. But the wheel is so big that he's constantly hitting his knees, and his feet get stuck to the pedals so he has to wiggle them to get them unstuck, while the car accelerates. "And then" he tells me "Joe Biden gets in the car. And I'm thinking, what if we get attacked while I'm driving?" You can't make this stuff up, I guess 😆

[@nickwoodfin2690]

I definitely think the start the conflict immediately advice depends on the genre. I think in the case of horror your audiance is buying into the idea of build up and it benefits showing normalcy first for a contrast later. For sci fi and fantasy where you have these complicated or weird worlds, it benefits to show what normal looks like in this world to ground the reader, thats not advocating description or lore dumping at the start but i think conflict often requires some set up. If you immediately have two armies fighting with no stakes, thats also bad.

[@Bookfox]

Conflict can be very subtle. I don't mean outright fighting right away. Just an indication that another character has a different perspective is conflict.

[@coffeecreateconnect]

This video was so helpful- I subscribed ✅ Thank you for giving it to us straight, no chaser. Love "getting right to the point" advice. And yay for the, "little dance" 👯‍♀️💃🏻🙌

[@daviscook4653]

Good video. I liked the idea that writers have to ‘find their beginning’. Sorting those most relevant details from those which can come later is some advice I can really use

[@Bookfox]

Yep, it's always a process to find the right beginning, and takes time. Almost nobody gets it right the first time.

[@lolap9968]

Another great video! Thanks for the tips!

[@charleshoughton]

Love your videos. Appreciate you sharing the recurrent missteps, so I can avoid them. Or look for them.

[@matthewhelm3035]

Excellent! All very smart points. Thanks

[@Thomas.R.Howell]

From someone who is 9 books into Wheel of Time (a 14 book series), the journey is far more rewarding than the destination. I love organic and natural development in characters, worldbuilding, and story. The journey makes the destination that much more enjoyable and even bittersweet. It’s sad we can’t get beyond the first chapter of a book.

[@user-vb5ou7ib7f]

my new favorite youtuber to get writing advice from, legit getting inspo whilst watching this, thank you sm! you will be seeing me more in the future, once again tysm for being super helpful, --- also love your sense of humor, makes me laugh ---

[@SpanishEclectic]

Great summary. Like the visuals. :)

[@shosc16]

Such a good video - quick, succinct, has personality

[@see_yl]

Love your videos! I feel like examples would've been great this time. Especially for something like point 7 or 11.

[@solomon4554]

I'm glad I found this channel.

[@ahasaetharu]

So helpful, thank you!

[@SussyDubby]

Cool advice, I'm about halfway through my novel, and it makes me glad to know I'm not making these mistakes.

[@AuthorGuy1]

I have a bunch of books with the same pov but the focus character changes fairly often. The fact that it's third person doesn't mean it has to be the same person all the time.

[@dalemacinnis3385]

Using this as a check list against stories I have already written. So far I'm not terrible. Thank you!

[@crustywhitedog8724]

Given number 8 you've clearly never read The Sound and the Fury before. The switch to the omniscient Dilsey section at the end is genius and feels so rewarding after making it through the first three sections.

[@crustywhitedog8724]

I also love his choice of starting with the most confusing section and having it slowly become easier

[@sultanalshirah]

Your advice on 3 things to do when introducing a character changed a lot on my first draft and helped me avoid almost all of these terrible ways to start my novel. So thank you very much. I will now go back and start my fourth revision on my prologue/chapter 1 soon. Wish me luck.

[@Bookfox]

Glad to hear it!

[@user-zt6pq5kb9z]

Great advice. Appreciated

[@GinaGreenlee]

Great list. Crisply communicated. Thank you.

[@Bookfox]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@wrongthinker843]

I definitely used to do #1 a lot. And the little dance was nice. ;)

[@PhoenixCrown]

Great video! My MC wakes up to a rooster's crow, but "it was the cry of a phoenix that rang in his ears." I don't show the nightmare, but I use it to show the MC lives in a world where he is powerless.

[@5Gburn]

This is going to be that comment. Don't hate me. "Points of view." Plural on the "point." Thank you for your consideration.

[@oliverburns8479]

I noticed this too, it's an example of rebracketing. Normally "point" is the head noun, and should carry the plural marker, and "of view" is a modifier. But "point of view" has become a conventionalised phrase, which means that we could treat it like a single noun.

[@arc7818]

I would make a distinction between confusing a reader and presenting an intriguing mystery.

[@marienbad2]

Best youtube writing channel. Love this video. I don't do any of these as I am a simple person so like a simple opening.

[@notsubaru4464]

But harry potter started with calm introduction of the dursley family.

[@Bookfox]

Filled with personality, conflict, and the end of the last page says they have an incredible "secret." (such a loaded term -- creating a mystery).

[@juantorres90]

"Danger," "tension," "mistery": why are those the only essential values to a novel? Hundreds of novel do not have that. This is not good advice. Not even advice: it is prejudice. Not all novels have to be the first step for a TV show.

[@missAlice1990]

I think it's rather "how to sell your books" rather than "how to write a good book". Many great books are disliked by the majority of people (who reads Nobel Prize winners?) while many terrible books are successful commercially (Twilight, Grey, 365 days?)

[@Atom.Storm.]

I've been writing for a long time and one thing I have always had a hard time dealing with in how to enter a scene in a new chapter when it is action oriented or fast and set in a new location. You have to balance all of it and keep pace. So what you are saying here is actually good advice for the start and each separate start afterwards.

[@Bookfox]

Yes, very true.

[@rand0m_wr1ter]

This advice is better than 90% of advice I get on KZbin. Solid and to the point.

[@OrangeHand]

I introduce five characters in my first chapter, but quickly kill most of them off.

[@bongoeworld7234]

Think of which characters you NEED to introduce. If you want their deaths to be effective, you still need to do character work for them, which can be a lot for readers

[@metal9076]

What was the point of introducing them when they are gone on the next chapter and so on? Make them background characters with no name, show their deaths and how the mc reacts or affect them at all.

[@Ms_Mochi_Nerd]

Writing mistake: Do not introduce a bunch of characters that seem important, and then kill them all off. It may anger the reader and make them think the rest of the story will be like this.

[@danguillou713]

How about the James Bond opening? Where you introduce your protagonist in an exciting scene that accurately reflects what much of the book will be like, but is a self contained mini-story that doesn't start the actual plot... I like the dream sequence in the beginning of Darkness Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane. But he's really clear that the protagonist is dreaming, and the dream sets up a bunch of stuff, both back story and character wise. I also like the surreal dream sequences that Alan Moore put into swamp thing, foreshadowing stuff in clever absurd surreal metaphors. Couple of the writers did that with Hellblazer too, because John Constantine suffered from chronic nightmares and had glimpses of precognition in them. Neal Stephensson breaks a lot of conventional rules. The first chapter of The Diamond Age introduces a person who looks like a protagonist in a cheezy cyberpunk story, only to kill him off and go on to the real protagonist in chapter 2. But that might be a bit like the rule "Don't start your story with a hundred page infodump; unless you'r Neal Stephensson." Also, I remember a friend who was really annoyed that this cool edgy protagonist was a red herring. Cheers

[@Bookfox]

I think the "James Bond" opening works quite well for that genre. Establishing tone/theme can be just as important as plot. And great examples with Dennis Lehane and Alan Moore. I think Neal Stephenson breaks a ton of rules but he had actually pull them off. Love Seven Eves and Snow Crash.

[@JustKittenAround589]

Two words: THANK YOU 🙏

[@PantherBRolex]

Thanks Bookfox

[@nerd26373]

I always underestimate my writing. It's just never enough, and that enabled me to see the cracks right below the surface. Because there's just something about writing that's more than just sewing words and paragraphs together. You know there's always has to be deep levels of philosophy that people kinda stick around with. There's moral lessons to be dissected, there's dialogues that need analyzing, that sort of thing. I just don't have enough concentration to really grasp the concept that I intend to explore in my works. It's more than just explaining it in a way. Don't know how else to describe it.

[@tonyaspencer3090]

Thanks for the advice. Something I’ve been trying to navigate is characterization. It’s something I’m struggling with and there isn’t a whole lot of information or videos on this topic that cuts to the point. Any suggestions?

[@lionelkaplan1628]

Hello Your videos are fascinating. Thank you so much ! Could you address the subject of storytelling tenses? Present tense, past tense, their advantages and disadvantages? Thank you so much ! Lionel, from Paris - France

[@5Gburn]

Great video topic suggestion!

[@letsrock1729]

Jennifer Egan writes from multiple viewpoints. It can sometimes even take a while to know whose viewpoint it is (until we realise they briefly appeared as a 'side note' in someone else's life, 100+ pages ago...or even as a 'side note' in a previous novel). Absolutely amazing and Pulitzer Prize winning author! She's proof that if you can do it right, you can do anything!

[@kenneth1767]

I think we know the beginning when the ending snaps into place.

[@ZaneTalks392]

One of the books with various POVs in it that I love is Wonder by R. J. Palacio. They’re broken up into segments so it flows nicely, and it allows us to understand the character when we see them one way through someone’s eyes, and then see them through their own eyes.

[@PyroOfZen]

Another great example is Night Angel Nemesis by Brent Weeks (warning for anyone who might wanna check it out, that's the 4th book in the Night Angel series, so I wouldn't just jump straight into Nemesis).

[@briancox9357]

Many great books break these rules

[@Bookfox]

It's true! And I say that in the video.

[@LunarArrow-gk1lw]

So, I am writing a book (first one) and the third paragraph is just explaining the situation of why the main characters need to deal with monsters and stuff. It is meant for worldbuilding, but is also necessary to understand the context. Should I delete it for it being an info dump or keep it to explain stuff? Also, I am planning on switching perspectives half way through the book, saying that the first part has this narrator, and the second has this one. Is that a good idea? I would write in one perspective if I could, but it would make more sense for the first narrator to narrate, since the second is not in a lot of conflict with ‘the villain’ of the story. That being said, I have a hard time writing in the first narrator’s perspective and really wanna get the readers hooked onto the second one. Should I stick with the plan, or change it up?

[@armie4172]

While these are good pieces of advice, I think they’re not really for everyone. There is more than one way to hook a reader than to drop them right into the inciting incident. In fact dropping me right into the middle of something with little explanation turns me off as much spending too much time putting the inciting incident off can. How long the prelude needs to last really depends on the story being told and the ability of the writer to create a world that a reader wants to know better.

[@Bookfox]

I agree. These are general principles. Plenty of exceptions, and if you want to try a variation, go for it!

[@emthatyourefuse2494]

... Aren't rules 7 and 11 kind of directly contradictory?

[@VinnyTheory]

You actually have a really good background behind you for your thumbnails, especially since it’s kind of dark/dim on either side of you. I bet if you just edited over your normal video as a thumbnail image you’d get more views. Very HD camera

[@greatcoldemptiness]

I hate this modern trend that Im supposed to "hook readers attention" like I have to submit myself to their will. Its manipulative. I like what Gass did in The Tunnel, where he made the first few chapters way harder than the rest of the book to weed off the weak

[@Bookfox]

Yes, this advice is more for authors who are writing more conventional books. Gass is pretty experimental -- I would give completely different advice for someone wanting to write like him.

[@greatcoldemptiness]

@@Bookfox That's the problem though. "Conventional" novels are continuing this broken trend that destroys literature by way of high profit so advice like this gets parroted around like a scripture because to most people money=truth.

[@sharkrancher282]

​@@greatcoldemptiness; It's definitely important to consider the artistic merits of one's work. However, if we're talking about practical reality, I think to most people money equals food and rent. Being experimental and taking daring risks is much easier if one can literally afford to do so. It gets quite a bit less tempting when you've got bills to pay.

[@ogelsmogel]

​@@greatcoldemptinessHow about writing for fun, not money? That's what I do. And I want to hook the reader as much as anyone, because in the end of the day it's entertainment and that's what I want to do. Entertain.

[@_Risa1992_]

I feel the same. To say, these are good tips overall, but I think very... modern and western. Anime and manga often start before the story starts to show characters' daily life. Older novel like Lord of the Rings do this too and people loved it. I also think people, or more likely western modern novel readers, lost patience if they aren't hooked at the first page. If people don't have the patience to read some daily life, I think my novel will be the wrong for them anyway, it's rather slow-paced and a lot about daily life, magic in daily life, people's internal struggles etc.

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

I think you can do a swap. 95% of My book is from first person on the mc. But when it does swap another character (an entire chapter on them) I use third person limited

[@SLENDRBOI]

A lot of books do this. It's the only viable way to write, if your main protagonist is emotion-based (as opposed to logic-based protagonists where 3rd person limited is ok), and there's a piece of plot you need to show but the protagonist is not present.

[@pheebsbee1280]

Yas! 👏 too many characters on the page is so confusing 😅

[@saturnight.3026]

What if the character always oversleeps and he finally bought an alarm clock? That's an unusual day!

[@TheMagicSkelli]

Advice: That sounds really boring.

[@BlackHermit]

I did like that little dance there.

[@Azureneedle]

Same.

[@AuthorGuy1]

How about we start with an alarm clock not going off? Or like Groundhog Day, the same alarm clock, every day.

[@Bookfox]

Yeah, that one works because it's a sign that we're stuck in the same day again. It communicates a strong message.

[@Catratio]

Just today a friend told me my opening chapter was ambiguous and not that interesting. Then I saw this video. Uncanny timing. I have some rewrites to do now, but some solid ideas here. Thanks.

[@Bookfox]

Glad I could help! Good luck with the next draft.

[@amandajohnston6915]

1:37 Emily Rodda did do that in her book Rowan of Rin, but she did it well. Sure she introduced like, 8 characters in the first chapter but they're only in it for the first or second chapter.

[@Brian_Boru]

George R.R. Martin could've used the tips in this video. Have you read how "A Song of Ice and Fire" begins?

[@oldguyinstanton]

Another excellent video. I'm checking off each point you make against my in-progress SF novel. Thank you. A question for you about POV. One of my protagonists (maybe a "good guy"... maybe not) is a self-aware AI that runs an alien civilization. This Ai is pretty-much omniscient due to being linked up all surveillance and all electronic devices. These links includes the advanced AI brain implants that most of the aliens have (and use as personal assistants). Since each implant communicates directly with its host (essentially telepathically) this even allows the AI to know many of the actual thoughts of individuals with implants. So, my SF novel's POV is 3rd person omniscient (the boss AI) with many forays into knowing the thoughts of both implants and individual characters. My question is, first, what are your thoughts on this, and second, how would you guard against reader confusion? Also, is there any damned way I could hire you as a beta reader when the novel is finished? Because, based on your videos I seen, I'd make book on any suggestions you had. FYI, the novel category is YA. Target FK is 10.7. At 80% completion, projected word-count is 185,000-200,000. Structure is two-plot (framing/framed, cf: Princess Bride). The two plot lines progress in alternating parts, and merge in the quickie Epilogue, which bookends the short "alien raid" Prologue. The title is The Voyage of The New Beginning (A Cautionary Tale). It's a simple tale of mass alien abduction, space pirates, spy-balls, out-of-control pets, robots with personal agendas, and the unintended consequences for everyone involved... including that boss AI.

[@Bookfox]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. I think using the AI as a POV would be pretty similar to writing a normal omniscient POV. Just make sure it's actually omniscient, and talk about people's thoughts (which you're doing, it sounds like, but most writers forget to step fully into omniscient POV, and just dabble around the edges). I don't think it sounds confusing. I don't do beta reading; I'm a developmental editor. You can reach out on my website Bookfox when the book is ready and we can see whether we'd be a good fit (I do like Sci-fi, so that's a good sign).

[@oldguyinstanton]

@@Bookfox You've got yourself a deal. I'll be back.

[@km11playerxd64]

I personally like, as a beginner, to sometimes think with a summary as a type of just in case for me not to forget important things. Plus, one of my favorite novels, Heaven Official's Blessing, starts with a summary of the life of the protagonist. And in the end of the first chapter we already know how much he f-ed up in life. So i love that personally.

[@probablynotapelican5808]

Anna Karenina was introduced like 12 chapters into her own book…

[@probablynotapelican5808]

I agree with the introduction of main characters right away in general but there are always exceptions to the rule is what I’m saying

[@kerrse622]

Its funny how a lot of the best novels break a decent portion of these rules lol

[@ColonelFredPuntridge]

Ten million upvotes for the bit from Charlie Chaplin’s THE GREAT DICTATOR

[@_frog_146]

I’m starting my novel and intend to have multiple POVs? It’s a mystery, and not all relevant characters have enough info/perspective to accurately portray the entire story. That’s why I have a variety of peoples viewpoints showing essentially who knows what. Ideally this will flip back to the main characters pov every other chapter. Thoughts?

[@TheFlowerbeast]

Straight to the point and clear. That how every writing video should be.

[@Yatukih_001]

When I begin, only the main character or the villain is introduced. The protagonist or the antagonist. Their 3 most important interests are then described. The rest is after. Next, you determine the mentality of your characters - fixed or growth based. Then, introduce the secondary main character. Now you have the story line. Write it first, keep it simple.

[@justusbecker6898]

6:04 I see you too are also very much educated in reading classics like Kafka

[@neofulcrum5013]

I’m still writing my rough draft, but I was inspired by Gaunt’s ghosts traitor general novel, where the character feels conflicted at where he’s working in a dystopian city and the first chapter ends with a tragedy.

[@Dragonchild24]

My first novel does begin with a dream sequence. However, I did this intentionally because my main character is suffering from what she thinks is a sleep disorder. it turns out to be more than that. My book is a fantasy story and in the first few chapters her dreams are a big part of the conflict she is facing. so do you still think it is bad?

[@zyswanson7865]

Yeah I had the first problem but in reverse🤣🤣. My editor asked me to start 3 chapters before the first chapter.😅

[@redfoxoffire]

In my current work, the only one of these that I'm breaking (knowingly, anyway) is introducing too many characters. I've got 5 in my first chapter, but, knowing this could be a bit much, I've tried to "separate" them so to speak. One is the protagonist. The next is the main love interest, who is introduced in a bit of a cold open "flash-forward" sequence and isn't seen for the rest of the chapter. It then snaps to the present and introduces the protagonist's aunt. After a few pages it introduces the last two of what I consider the main cast, but they're largely just named here and not really explored until the next chapter. If necessary, I could probably move the last two into chapter 2 instead. I'm not sure, though.

[@deborahminter6231]

I enjoy reading dream sequences at the beginning of novels...if they provide foreshadowing for the plot or character insight.

[@ogelsmogel]

I am the opposite :) I hate dream sequences and if they appear I just skip them entirely...

[@deborahminter6231]

@@ogelsmogel I definitely don't feel the same way about it. Lol! Probably because the opening dreams I read added a lot of intriguing foreshadowing to a story.

[@ogelsmogel]

@@deborahminter6231 I don't know what it is... there's just no structure, logic or order to dreams. Anything can happen. My own dreams are extremely fascinating to me, but not to any single other person on this planet. To each their own. And I do like foreshadowing, just not in a dream sequence :)

[@deborahminter6231]

@ogelsmogel it definitely depends on which story you would be referring to. The dream sequences I have come across provided a lot of plot clues and character insights and even background... if I had come across dreams with no structure, which were bizarre, I would probably feel the same way. Lol!

[@avourrito1819]

I'm just writing fanfiction for characters or ships that have not enough fan fiction content for them. I wanna write a good structure that I myself like reading

[@Tail_sez]

Fellow fanfiction writer! I read a lot of published novels and fanfiction, and I also want my fanfic to have similar quality to a published novel. I'm a fan of Sonic, Transformers, along with various webcomics. What are you hoping to write for?

[@Dam1anWolf]

this rules are applying and on mystery/ suspense/ detectives books genre (like Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books, i mean)?

[@shaungerald23]

I can't tell you how many times I have put a book down because there are too many names to remember (or names that are annoyingly weird to pronounce) and how many times I put a book down because there wasn't much happening.

[@gooseguyfilms4460]

It’s a good list for a certain type of book. I’m writing a more lotr style book with a huge focus on realism, history, and world building. The story itself isn’t very centrally focused and I don’t really have a protagonist. There is no one “main character”. There are a few, and each of them are connected in a large complicated plot that involves politics, military strategy, and historical context. As such, I thought the best way to open my book would be like the Hobbit. Present the information like you’re talking to someone. Not like a newspaper, or info dumping, but more like talking about what’s happening, and then explaining whatever the reader wouldn’t understand briefly, and then going back to the exposition. It requires patience and a good attention span to truly find interesting, but that’s the audience I’m trying to cater to. It’s not overwhelming or boring, but it’s still a lot of necessary information presented in the most entertaining way I could think of.

[@marvinmedrano6976]

Genuine question, I'm starting my book with a dream (I know, I know, hear me out) but the dream is from a character with the gift of prophecy, and the character is a prophetess. This dream starts the whole conflict of the book and ultimately the prophecy comes true and the dream is fulfilled. Is it ok to start the story that way?

[@ticijevish]

I'm writing a novel which starts with the protagonist waking up to their alarm clock, knocking it off the nightstand and then telekinetically catching it before it hit the floor. Which kinda works since they didn't have telekinesis yesterday and the setting is the mundane world of today where no one is supposed to have telekinesis.

[@joshuam2212]

keeping the read curious is good but don't confuse them since I'm writing a Middle grade right now questions like why the boy doesn't want anyone to recognize him while wandering around the fair what's so important about the booth he was looking for and why he went alone to the fair are good but if i would have started it by him walking to the fair it would be boring

[@missAlice1990]

I'd like to know who the boy is, first and foremost. If I don't know him, I don't like him. If I don't like him, I don't care whatever happens to him so I don't care about those questions concerning him. If I know that boy and like him, I'm interested in anything that happens to him.

[@arqitype]

Dang. I think I started my novel too early 🫣

[@galinor7]

Don't be coy when opening a novel. "There was a hole in the ground" The Hobbit. Don't start ten pages before the begining, "The unexpected party" LotR, Don't introduce too many characters, The dwarves in the Hobbit. Let the audience see the action don't explain it. Gandalf talking to Frodo before he leaves the Shire.. LotR. I was waiting for: Don't over complicate the ending or don't have two or three endings. LotR, but we didn't get that one. It's like misic and someone saying "This is how to write a song". First get a catchy chorus. One people can sing. Think of rhyming words. Keep the introduction short. Remember that you only have between 3 to 3 and a half minutes and people wanna dance. Then some voice in the corner pipes up and says, "And Classical music".

[@angelhurtado55]

mean… harry potter doesn't open wih him, he appears at the end of chapter 1

[@Bookfox]

They are exceptions, but Harry is introduced in the third paragraph, I believe.

[@jurikase1683]

I read many books, that deosn't started with the main-event, that started the story of. I think more important is to hook the reader with something. It deos not need to serve anything later, if the hook is telling you something about the character or the world, that defines youre story, by example. There is a huge difference between the hook in the first chapter and the inciting incident. It can be the same, but deos not have to be.

[@jurikase1683]

For example. The first chapter of my book is about my main character, navigating a conflict, which has nothing to do with the main story. But it introduces the magic abilities of the character, which are very important to know for her character ark. Only at the end of the chapter, I introduce the main goal of the character and how she want to reach that goal. Every story is made of many components and the main conflict of my book is introduced on the 50 page, when a heavy sandstorm threatens the city. but my subplot is about the power struggle in the city, so I introduced that in the second chapter. Only the goal of the character is introduced in the first chapter and it would be wrong to go in on every story thread from the beginning.

[@JesusSavesSinners]

👍💯🎯

[@janeyrevanescence12]

“Or they wake up and they’re a cockroach.” Metamorphosis had to be one of the most boring books I had ever read.

[@aix83]

I can't find the video on good ways to start a novel mentioned at the end

[@chris4redfeild]

The dream one is tricky. Kung Fu Panda started with a dream. But it was a dream about him bring what he dreams to be. Perhaps a story starting in this way, showing the character's greatest desire is not bad. Also, LOTR the two towers, the movie started with a dream. What do you think?

[@nightbreed9305]

I'm not saying that you're wrong about starting your story with the main character, because I think what you mean is keep it simple and don't waste the reader's time. But there are ways to make it work, it just has to convincingly tie back to the main character. Like Tolstoy in both of his most iconic novels introduces main characters through the POV of side characters, "War and Peace" does it through a party hostess in which we get her perspective on Pier and "Anna Karinina" introduces Levin through Anna's sleazy brother in law. Lots of books do this but are sure to relate it back to the main character. "Ivanhoe" introduces his lover, friends, and father first so that the plot twist of his grand entrance hits harder; "The Stand" introduces the plague victims that essentially caused the death of the world in the inciting incident; "The Way of Kings" shows us Kaladin through the eyes of a wide eyed youth to give him this grand aura, so when it hard cuts to him as a slave and we get his POV it hooks us and makes us wonder why. So, what I think you mean is that we should make sure all of this is relevant and don't waste the readers time with plot and world building details that have no affect on the main character, right?

[@chrisschumacher8553]

What about the beginning of A Game of Thrones (the novel, not the TV series)? The first chapter introduced a bunch of characters that are all dead by the end of the chapter. It does however introduce the main villain of the series.

[@Bookfox]

I believe it's 720 pages long (and the other books are longer). When you have that much space, then you do have more latitude to introduce more characters. As far as killing them off -- I think that plays into Martin's general theme of erasing any kind of plot armor (Red Wedding, anyone?). But in general, a good exception, but important to know how he pulls it off.

[@gamerrant]

I'm more curious where the 25% comes from.

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

Tho sometimes you can do random characters, aka, Game of Thrones (tho it introduces the true Villians, The Others)

[@InestimableFlorivore]

I started one of my stories with the main character waking up, but it was to be as boring as possible. He then got up, had a coffee, put on clothes, etc, everything was bland and ordinary, and himself was very obviously not interesting. And then he goes out to work, and there's flying cars and three suns, but here he is, boring and ordinary in the middle of a sci fi setting. It's a bit like in H2G2 (wich I read after, it wasn't an inspiration at first)

[@Awesome_Force]

If there are more than 4 main characters in a story, I wish authors would just take a couple pages at the front of the book with a paragraph for each character for their description because it is too easy to get mixed up and then lose interest in a story with too many characters introduced in a short time, especially when multiple of them have the same vocabulary and mannerisms. I also like names that are easy to pronounce and that sound distinctly different for each character.

[@fierybookworm]

I wish more novels would start with more natural dialogue rather than narratively chewing scenery. I want to hear the tone of each character speaking to lure in my interest rather than simply telling me how to feel or unnecessary details.