I’ve heard it said that writing a first page is like having a first date. If you don’t do it right, you never make it to the next date, or in the writer’s case, the reader never bothers to get to the next chapter. While I agree with that for the most part, I tend to give readers a bit more credit than some do. I’ve heard people teach that you have to have the best first paragraph in the world or readers will drop your book. Some writers will twist themselves virtually inside out to produce that gripping, jaw dropping, edge of the seat paragraph. It’s often so overboard that it seems an obvious cheap trick, and the rest of the book can be a huge disappointment as well.
I think you have a little time in your first chapter to captivate the reader. It may, for many, need to be done quickly in the first couple of pages or for those with really short attention spans, maybe the first several paragraphs (perhaps they should switch to graphic novels!) Realistically, there are thousands of best sellers over the generations that began with the most tepid narrative and the readers accepted it. Keep thinking of your writing as a whole and not as a bunch of tricks to hook a reader. It needs to be good throughout your book to keep a reader involved.
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Greg
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