Stop Losing Readers
Make Your First Chapter Unforgettable
Your first pages decide everything.
If we aren’t hooked right away, we don’t stick around. The beginning of your book has one job. Keep us reading.
Readers are impatient. They’ll skim a couple of paragraphs before deciding whether your story is worth their time. If the beginning is slow, confusing, or bogged down with too much exposition, they’ll move on.
Your goal is to make them curious and eager to turn the page.
Grab Attention Immediately
1. Start With a Question or Mystery
Make readers wonder. Give them a situation that doesn’t quite add up.
“Tara stepped into the abandoned house. The door had been locked for years, yet the smell of fresh coffee hung in the air. Who had been here?”
This forces readers to ask, what’s going on? They won’t stop reading until they find out.
2. Open With Action
A slow build-up kills momentum. Instead of describing the setting for two pages, put the reader in the middle of the story right away.
“The sirens screamed through the city as Jackson sprinted down the alley, gripping the stolen flash drive in his pocket. If they caught him, he was dead.”
This moment drops the reader right into a tense situation. There’s no waiting. Things are happening now.
3. Shock the Reader
An unexpected statement forces people to keep reading. Say something bold that makes them do a double take.
Example: “I buried my best friend on Tuesday. By Friday, she was sitting at my kitchen table, drinking coffee.”
That’s an instant What? moment. Your reader needs to understand what’s happening.
4. Create an Emotional Pull
If we feel connected to the main character right away, we’ll want to know what happens next.
“Mom never let us use the word ‘cancer’ in the house. We were supposed to pretend she wasn’t sick. But that morning, she collapsed in the hallway, and no one could pretend anymore.”
There’s an immediate emotional weight to this. We care about people, not perfect sentences. Show your character in a real, vulnerable moment.
5. No Long Exposition
You do not need to explain the entire history of your world in the first few pages. Readers don’t care about backstory yet. They care about who is here, what they want, and what’s stopping them from getting it.
Bad start: “The city of Veritas was founded in the year 804 by explorers from the Northern Isles. Over the centuries, it became a hub for commerce, arts, and scientific discovery…”
This might be relevant later. No one picks up a book to read an encyclopedia entry on your world. If the backstory is truly important, mix it in naturally as the story moves forward.
Tighten Your Opening Scene
Once you’ve written your first pages, cut everything that isn’t gripping. Ask:
Does this sentence push the story forward?
Would I keep reading if this was someone else’s book?
Can I make this moment more intense?
Many writers start their books too slow. It’s common to waste time “setting things up” before getting into the action. Don’t do that. Start strong. Trust us to figure things out along the way.
Readers give seconds to convince them your story is worth reading. If your opening is slow, they’ll move on. Give them action, mystery, emotion, or shock. Never long explanations.
Grab us from the first sentence, and make it impossible to stop reading.