Episode 140

Mastering Your First Chapter

In this episode of the Writing Momentum podcast, hosts Christopher Maselli and Gena Maselli, along with their good friend Rene Gutteridge, discuss the importance of reworking the first chapter of your book.

They share their experiences and insights on how to make the first chapter captivating and foundational for the rest of the story. The conversation covers how often they rewrite their first chapters, the significance of introducing characters and settings, and the challenges of establishing an ordinary world before the inciting incident. The episode also highlights the difference between fictional and non-fictional first chapters, the process of setting up future story events, and offers tips on building a connection with readers right from the start. Additionally, they introduce their Writing Momentum membership, which provides support and accountability for writers.

  • 00:00 Introduction to Writing Momentum Podcast
  • 00:38 The Importance of the First Chapter
  • 01:29 Rewriting and Refining Your First Chapter
  • 02:11 Real-Life Example of First Chapter Revisions
  • 10:36 The Role of Entertainment and Trust in Nonfiction
  • 11:31 Introducing Characters in Fiction
  • 15:50 Join the Writing Momentum Community
  • 17:30 Final Thoughts and Farewell

LINKS:

  • Liz Wilcox's Email Marketing Membership at https://wmdeal.com/liz
  • Get your FREE Move the Needle goal-setting for authors ebook at https://www.writingmomentum.com
  • Write with us! Join our writing membership and get your book DONE! https://wmdeal.com/wmmrene
Transcript
Gena:

How can you make your first chapter the best it can be?

Christopher:

We can help with that.

Christopher:

Hello and welcome to the Writing Momentum podcast.

Christopher:

I'm Christopher Maselli.

Christopher:

I'm here with my wife, Gena Maselli, and we're here with our

Christopher:

good friend, Rene Gutteridge.

Christopher:

How are you doing today, Rene?

Rene:

I'm good.

Rene:

How about you guys?

Christopher:

Doing well.

Christopher:

How are you doing, Gena?

Gena:

I'm doing really well because it's always fun when we get together

Gena:

with Rene and talk about writing.

Gena:

I feel like I always learn something.

Gena:

And I always feel like it's just fun to get that extra perspective.

Christopher:

100%.

Christopher:

And I think this is going to be really good though, because you know, we have

Christopher:

all between the three of us written a lot of first chapters, right.

Christopher:

And, uh, they are important because just like the first sentence draws

Christopher:

you into the first chapter, the first chapter has to create the entire

Christopher:

foundation for your book, right?

Gena:

Well, and I have a question for you two.

Gena:

How many times do you, how often do you go back and rework your first chapter?

Gena:

And what would you say for a book that you write, how much do you go back

Gena:

and hit that first chapter one more time, one more time, one more time?

Christopher:

I'll let you go first Rene.

Rene:

If you're not rewriting your first chapter, are you

Rene:

really writing, you know, like?

Gena:

What would you say, Chris?

Christopher:

I think I always almost.

Gena:

Do it brilliantly the first time.

Christopher:

No, I, I, I think I keep the meaning of the first chapter, like

Christopher:

what I was trying to accomplish with it, but often I'll go back and that's the

Christopher:

chapter that probably gets massaged the most because as you write later chapters,

Christopher:

you keep thinking of, oh, but I've got to now set a little bit more foundation for

Christopher:

what I am bringing up in this chapter.

Christopher:

In the next chapter.

Christopher:

In the next chapter.

Christopher:

And so you might start just changing things up just a little bit.

Christopher:

Maybe sometimes it's just massaging a sentence or two, right?

Christopher:

But it's, it's just making sure that everything is set up properly because if

Christopher:

it's not, then it's going to be jolting later on because the reader's going to

Christopher:

feel like, where did this come from?

Christopher:

Right.

Christopher:

So you've got to lay that proper foundation.

Gena:

Yeah.

Gena:

I just had this happen, uh, recently.

Gena:

I was, I've been working on a book for a client and I worked based on, uh, some

Gena:

transcripts that I had and I created the first chapter and then he and I had

Gena:

a conversation and that sparked an idea and so I, I wrote the first chapter

Gena:

based on what he, what I originally had, sent it to him and then that sparked a

Gena:

conversation that we had about really, more in depth about what he really wanted

Gena:

from the book, which then sparked an, uh, another thought of a story that kind of,

Gena:

you know, I kept looking for that spark to open the book with that, that story

Gena:

that was just going to be dramatic and kind of set the tone for the whole book.

Gena:

And he had the, the idea of, well, this, this happened.

Gena:

And when he had it, it was kind of like, Well, yeah, I really

Gena:

want to share about this.

Gena:

And as he's telling me, it was such a dramatic story that I went.

Gena:

Oh my gosh.

Gena:

Yes.

Gena:

Let's, let's meet.

Gena:

Let's talk about this.

Gena:

Let me interview you.

Gena:

That story changed the entire first chapter because it was like the

Gena:

spark that I was looking for, for the whole, to set the whole book off.

Gena:

And so when I went back in, I opened with that scene and with that story.

Gena:

But then, It just brought it all together.

Gena:

So I say that because I started with version one and worked on version

Gena:

one very, uh, quite a bit, but still kind of had just that nagging

Gena:

feeling of this it's not quite there.

Gena:

It's not quite there, but I'm not quite sure that I have the material.

Gena:

And then through more conversation and more interviews, It became, I got

Gena:

more information, I got something more dramatic, I got a better opening to

Gena:

the whole book, and that just was, so now I don't even know how many

Gena:

revisions I've got on this book.

Gena:

By the time I've done it, I mean, because each time where I would get it to a

Gena:

point, that would represent maybe five rewrites of getting it to the right place.

Gena:

And I say rewrites, not always super deep rewrites, but where I would try

Gena:

to, okay, is this explaining it enough?

Gena:

Is that explaining?

Christopher:

So maybe the lesson is you have to be willing to do a little bit

Christopher:

of sacrificing after the first chapter.

Christopher:

What do you think, Rene?

Rene:

Yeah.

Rene:

You know, cut your darlings as we say sometimes because

Rene:

they don't matter anymore.

Rene:

Even that really, really great sentence, you know, sometimes you

Rene:

sit down and write a sentence.

Rene:

You're like, this is amazing.

Rene:

You go read it to your spouse or whatever, you know?

Rene:

But, um, yeah, like, I mean, I think there's a rewrite coming always.

Rene:

There should be, um, unless you're just super brilliant and nailing

Rene:

it all the time like Chris.

Rene:

And, uh, but you know, as I write a full book, I have, I have my notes

Rene:

that they're always filled with, set this up, set this up, make sure

Rene:

this is clear, do this, do this.

Rene:

All of that is going, you know, as I write and now most of that is at least

Rene:

in act one, if not in the first chapter.

Christopher:

So, so are you always kind of keeping an inventory of

Christopher:

What you've done as you write future chapters so that, so that you're, you're

Christopher:

able to make sure that, okay, I'm on chapter eight, but I kind of remember

Christopher:

in chapter one, here's how I set it up.

Christopher:

And so I need to go back and edit something there.

Christopher:

Do you make a note about that?

Christopher:

I mean, you're, you're, so in other words, you're kind of keeping it in your

Christopher:

mind, that first chapter in your mind, the whole time you're writing your book.

Rene:

Yeah, I mean, unbelievably in my 20s, I didn't take notes, but, you

Rene:

know, that changes as you, as you drift into your 30s and, uh, but yeah, that

Rene:

inventory for sure, like I, you know, I know I haven't set things up right.

Rene:

Um, I think I have in the moment I have, but as I'm adding and, and

Rene:

working through my story, then the first chapter just does not work well.

Rene:

It's probably, there's more rewriting in the first half of the book than the second

Rene:

half of the book, almost always, because it is all about adjusting and reworking

Rene:

and making sure everything is set up well.

Rene:

And in that first chapter, you know, we're, our job I mean, and at

Rene:

the end of the day, which is grab the reader, make it interesting.

Christopher:

We called that a handshake, a firm handshake, right?

Rene:

Right.

Rene:

And this, the second part of that, the first chapter is the actual

Rene:

coffee that you're sitting down with.

Rene:

Right.

Rene:

And I mean, it's like, you know, in the first, usually first.

Rene:

Few minutes of having coffee with somebody that you haven't met before,

Rene:

whether this is, you're going to, you know, slog your way through this

Rene:

conversation, or you're gonna all of a sudden look up and 45 minutes is gone.

Rene:

And you're really hoping for that next coffee.

Rene:

And so, um, that's really what the first chapter should be.

Rene:

Um, but it has, it's doing all kinds of work that your reader

Rene:

will not be aware of in the moment.

Rene:

Uh, this is all behind the curtain kind of work that they're just

Rene:

reading along going, Oh, this seems like it's going to be fun.

Rene:

I'm enjoying this copy, you know, and in the back of behind the curtain, you know,

Rene:

you're, you're acting as the salesman.

Rene:

You're thinking, okay, how can I sell that second chapter?

Rene:

How can I get them invested?

Rene:

How can I do this?

Rene:

And so, You know, it's a lot, a lot of the smoke and mirrors, uh, that the

Rene:

reader's unaware of that you're working out, you're setting things up that

Rene:

are going to be, uh, important in the, you know, 8th chapter, 9th chapter.

Rene:

They have no idea that you've, you've mentioned a candlestick, but you've

Rene:

mentioned it in an entertaining way.

Rene:

So that they have no idea that, oh my gosh, this candlestick is going

Rene:

to be so interesting later on.

Rene:

It's going to matter to the whole story.

Rene:

Um, you're setting the tone, obviously, for your book.

Rene:

You're introducing the character as somebody who you want to spend

Rene:

time with, that's interesting.

Rene:

Uh, you're creating the setting.

Rene:

I mean, there couldn't be more plates to spin, uh, when you're

Rene:

writing the first chapter.

Rene:

And that is why it almost always should be rewritten, because

Rene:

those plates are gonna become.

Rene:

You're spinning so many, you don't even know some of them have fallen

Rene:

off and crashed and aren't there.

Rene:

Um, but once you get to the rewrite, then, you know, that's that's really

Rene:

the the second draft of that first chapter after the book is finished

Rene:

is where all the magic happens.

Rene:

And it's where you start to look brilliant, you know, and your reader's

Rene:

just thinking, that is just amazing.

Christopher:

How did they do that?

Rene:

How do they do that?

Rene:

You know, and it, and we all know that it's almost always

Rene:

you're working backwards.

Rene:

You know, you work backwards and set things up, um, because, you

Rene:

know, you people often say to me, I didn't even see that coming.

Rene:

And I'm like, I didn't either.

Rene:

I know you didn't because I didn't see it coming, you know, and and,

Rene:

you know, that's how we work.

Rene:

But it's not it's okay to let people think you're super brilliant in the moment and.

Rene:

You've had all this in your head and you just sort of speak to the

Rene:

screen and it types itself out.

Christopher:

It's funny.

Christopher:

It seems like when we were talking about first sentences that fiction

Christopher:

and nonfiction books maybe had a different reason for that first

Christopher:

sentence to be strong, right?

Christopher:

For a fiction book, it's, are you going to entertain me?

Christopher:

For a nonfiction book, it is, why should I read this?

Christopher:

It seemed to be a different reason that they, that different, something

Christopher:

that that person's had to accomplish.

Christopher:

But as you're talking about everything you just said, it seems like it's

Christopher:

kind of the same between a fiction, nonfiction book, as far as establishing

Christopher:

the foundation, getting the buy in from the reader and keeping them,

Christopher:

them reading from that point forward.

Christopher:

Would you say that's true, Gena?

Gena:

I would say, I, I would say for nonfiction for the first sentence

Gena:

or for the first, um, chapter, you have to, you, there's still

Gena:

an element of entertainment there.

Gena:

Uh, there, there still needs to be an element of entertainment and

Gena:

there needs to be that trust that's built, which is, I think what you're

Gena:

talking about, and, um, setting the vision of where we're going, which I

Gena:

think is important in the nonfiction.

Gena:

Um, but, In the fiction, I wanted to kind of tick these off as we're talking.

Gena:

So, in the fiction, we need to, it needs to be entertaining.

Gena:

We need to introduce our characters and tell me about that.

Gena:

How would someone introduce a character in fiction in, in that first chapter?

Gena:

What do they need to know about that character?

Gena:

Because they don't necessarily need to know all the backstory

Gena:

of that character, do they?

Gena:

Or do they?

Rene:

Right, yeah, no, you're exactly right, and the very most important

Rene:

thing to remember, and I'm seeing this slide a lot in a lot of the fiction

Rene:

that I'm reading, so uh, I think we keep thinking, um, in order to hold

Rene:

the reader's attention, I have to just jump into the action, just what's big

Rene:

that's happening, and here we are.

Rene:

Um, I think that is really a mistake.

Rene:

Act 1 has to be established.

Rene:

Act 2 does not matter unless, um, Act 1 is established.

Rene:

And what Act 1 is, and what you're doing in the first chapter,

Rene:

first three chapters, is you're introducing the ordinary world,

Rene:

uh, before their world changes.

Rene:

If we don't know who they were when, you know, the world is ending or the

Rene:

cute guy comes into town or whatever the genre is, if we don't know that world,

Rene:

then the second world won't matter.

Rene:

So the first act one is all about, it can be really done in one chapter or

Rene:

three, whatever, but it's really about establishing who this person is or who

Rene:

these people are in their world before their world is turned upside down.

Rene:

And the challenge of it in character is to make sure that that character

Rene:

seems interesting enough as a person that when the inciting action

Rene:

happens, or the inciting incident happens, we are like, well, I got

Rene:

to go with this person on this.

Rene:

Like, I, this feel, this person feels like somebody I want to, you know, I

Rene:

thought we were just having a simple coffee, but my gosh, the world's ending.

Rene:

And, you know, you're so invested in this person.

Rene:

And so, There should be a lot of introduction to who they are on the

Rene:

inside and what they do on the outside.

Rene:

You know, the setting, the the, the job, whatever is appropriate for your story.

Rene:

Is he, you know, a cop that's in the middle of solving a murder or they've, you

Rene:

know, we introduced them in the ordinary world of, they've just, you know, been

Rene:

put on probation because they did this.

Rene:

This is where we find them.

Rene:

It's sort of the, this is where we found them moment.

Rene:

And so that's why backstory really isn't that important in the first chapter.

Rene:

Um, it's really about who they are and where they are in this moment.

Rene:

Um, and when we read a novel, we know, well, that's not going to change.

Rene:

That's not going to stay the same because.

Rene:

You know, we know something's going to happen.

Rene:

If something doesn't happen, then you've got a real problem in your fiction.

Rene:

Um, and so, it's really important to establish the voice of the character

Rene:

there through inner monologue.

Rene:

That, you know, we know who they are.

Rene:

From the outside and from the inside, you know, it's not just a baker, but

Rene:

it's a baker, you know, whose husband's just died and they're still in the second

Rene:

stage of grief or whatever, you know, and you pinpoint who they are and where they

Rene:

are in the world right at that moment and that's where you introduce them.

Rene:

You don't start the novel with inciting incident or we won't

Rene:

care about the character.

Christopher:

Wow, that's really good.

Christopher:

That's really good.

Christopher:

Well, that gives me, that gives me some things to think about with my

Christopher:

own, things that I'm working on, too.

Gena:

Well, and I think you're right, Rene, that the current school of thought

Gena:

is that we've got to throw them right into the action right away, but you're

Gena:

also that's where we are currently, but I think that's so true that if

Gena:

we don't know they're before, then we're not going to We're not going

Gena:

to understand how devastating or how transformative that inciting incident is

Gena:

if we don't know what it is beforehand.

Gena:

You know, if you don't know that, you know, it's a beautiful day in

Gena:

the neighborhood and then there's a tornado coming, you may not care that

Gena:

the neighborhood gets blown away.

Gena:

You know, you may not.

Gena:

You've got to care, you've got to somehow connect with the, the, the

Gena:

characters and their world beforehand.

Christopher:

Hey, you know what?

Christopher:

If you're, if you're listening to this and you're like, wow, you're all are

Christopher:

blowing my mind and I'm just trying to get past that first chapter and

Christopher:

it's so difficult, you know, the whole reason we record this podcast and we

Christopher:

have a writing momentum membership is because we don't believe that this is

Christopher:

a kind of, this writing life is not something you have to navigate alone.

Christopher:

This is something that we do together.

Christopher:

It's not a solitary venture.

Christopher:

It's something that you can, you, you.

Christopher:

Write your material and then you get people to help you with the editing and

Christopher:

help you with the, just the accountability of getting that writing done.

Christopher:

And that's why we have this podcast.

Christopher:

It's why we have our Writing Momentum membership.

Christopher:

You can find out about@writingmomentum.com.

Christopher:

It's only $25 a month and we get together all the time, every single week, and

Christopher:

we write together, we write on our individual projects together, and it's a

Christopher:

way that we can just get that stuff done.

Christopher:

Mm-hmm

Christopher:

. Gena: And we support one another.

Christopher:

Yeah.

Christopher:

We ask questions.

Christopher:

I think it's a beautiful thing when.

Christopher:

We can come together in those groups and in those, um, in that writing time.

Christopher:

And we always start with 15 minutes of training, but some of those

Christopher:

trainings are just question and answers where we talk about it.

Christopher:

And then, of course, we've got critiques.

Christopher:

Which, um, have recently started in the last couple of months, it's the first page

Christopher:

critiques as well as roundtables where we really dive into, uh, deeper issues

Christopher:

and deeper elements of the writing craft, which work for nonfiction or fiction.

Christopher:

So, it's important and it's, um, I think it's very, um, comprehensive in how it

Christopher:

hopefully supports the writing community.

Christopher:

Absolutely.

Christopher:

So check that out, all out at writing momentum.

Christopher:

com.

Christopher:

Rene, what can you leave us one, one tidbit to leave us

Christopher:

with for the first chapter?

Rene:

Well, I would say just make, make yourself an interesting coffee date.

Rene:

You know, it's, It's so important to be interesting.

Rene:

That's why you're there.

Rene:

That's your voice.

Rene:

That's your writing style.

Rene:

That's your story idea.

Rene:

You know, all of that's coming into that first chapter.

Rene:

So, You don't have to be an interesting person.

Rene:

You know, I'm I'm not that interesting off the page.

Christopher:

That's so not true!,

Rene:

it can't be, you know, I'm not I'm never the, the star of the party ever.

Rene:

Uh, but yet what I am doing is, uh, sitting in a corner watching

Rene:

the star of the party and watching the interesting people.

Rene:

They have no idea they're interesting, but

Christopher:

And carefully documenting everything in your mind so that

Christopher:

you can use it in a future novel.

Rene:

I'm just exactly, I'm just like, man, that person

Rene:

is really fascinating to me.

Rene:

And, uh, and they have no idea they're just being, being themselves.

Rene:

Um And that, that's what you want to do is just create that interest

Rene:

and, and this amazing world, uh, that just comes off the page.

Rene:

And if you can do that, you'll always get your, get your

Rene:

readers invested into your book.

Christopher:

Well said, well said.

Christopher:

Well, this is not something, as I said, that we do alone.

Christopher:

It's not a solitary venture.

Christopher:

Come write with Rene.

Christopher:

Come write with Gena.

Christopher:

Come write with me, and I think you'll, you'll find it fun.

Christopher:

We're so glad you're here.

Christopher:

If you would, if you enjoyed this podcast, tell you one way that you can give back,

Christopher:

if you like this kind of thing, is to leave us a review on the podcasting

Christopher:

platform or on YouTube or leave a comment.

Christopher:

Do something that gives back to the community because that helps other

Christopher:

people find this material too because we're not in this all alone Together

Gena:

we have writing momentum

Christopher:

Bye

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About your host

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Christopher Maselli

Christopher P.N. Maselli is a Certified Digital Marketing Professional, an award-winning children’s author of more than 50 books, a direct mail writer, and a ghostwriter for many prominent, international speakers.

“I love sharing what I’ve learned over the past 25 years,” says Chris. “We’re all in this together and hopefully what I’ve learned can benefit beginners and veterans alike.”

Chris regularly speaks at writer’s conferences nationwide and on the training portion of WritingMomentum.com, he helps put other writers on the fast track to success. He holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Writing.