One Direction Writing Guide

Part Three: The First Chapter

This chapter is dedicated to BooBearsCam. An amazing writer who just got back from vacation. Suffice to say, she was missed dreadfully. Go read her stories!

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So you've planned everything out, your characters are reasonably well-developed, and you're pumped to start writing. Your mind is full of ideas and little tidbits just begging for release. You know you've created a masterpiece and you want everyone around you to know it. You've double and triple checked your plot for cliches and made sure your idea is unique. You've planned your characters to the very last detail so much that they're now like your friends. 

It's time to let it flow! Right?

Hold your horses for a second. You're not quite ready yet. Right now, you're at the crossing of the roads. Everything depends on your decision.

This is the first chapter AKA the most important chapter of the story. No other chapter is as vital to the reading experience. This is the chapter in which the reader decides if s/he wants to keep on with the story. 

You have to make sure that they do, but, not only is the first chapter the most important, but it's also the hardest to write. 

I've seen so many authors who just jump right into the plot. There is no exposition and rising action. And, for me, that kind of ruins the story, despite how well-developed the characters may be or how unique and un-cliched the plot may be.

KEEP IT REALISTIC

In fact I once read a story supposedly based on how a girl hated One Direction for some kind of wrong they did her. I was suitably interested and started reading.

However, in the very first chapter, the girl meets One Direction, gets into a fight with them, they come to her house, they tell her it's not their fault, she believes them, and in the very first chapter, she starts to fall in love with one of them (think it was Louis).

I exited the story after that. First of all, she meets One Direction. It's well-known that One Direction has hordes of crazy fans who would do anything for just a passing wink. So how are they walking around in public, with no disguises or security, and are not assaulted. Liam, at least, would protest that plan. 

However, I can excuse that. It's a weak bridge to be sure, but the story may still be excellent. But then, second, how did One Direction find her house? All they know is her name is her name and that she hates them.

The story is fiction, I understand, but fiction, especially that which takes place in the real world, should always be based on logic.

That, I find, is the chief problem, not only in this fandom, but in all genres. 

It's hard I know to wait for the action to build up so the story can really get going. But that's something you have to do. Zooming through the plot line in the first three or four chapters is going to leave the reader disorientated, confused, and frustrated. You need buildup.

Something, I'd suggest doing is to write down everything - all the scenes, all the ideas - you have on the story and save them for later. That way you have them if you need them and you don't need to worry about ever forgetting them.

HOOKS

However, the first chapter mustn't be boring either. It can't be as action packed as the climax but it can't function as a filler chapter either. Something needs to happen.

That something must introduce us to plot of the story, but not give away all the details. 

It has to be relevant to the story and it needs to "hook" the reader into continuing. It can be a crazy event that leads into the main story arc, like a car crash or a kidnapping. Or it can just be a poster announcing that One Direction is having a concert. 

It could also be a paparazzi article, introducing some new scandal or development.

INTRODUCING CHARACTERS

This is also the chapter where we meet our main characters. This is a VERY vital part of the story. When you introduce a new character, try to be subtle. Don't say right out loud,

"Hi. I'm Anna Stone. Seventeen years old. About to graduate. Curly auburn hair and green eyes."

The above is the easy way out and it's also really annoying. Be subtle while describing the character. For the name, maybe get her mother to call her name or see it on a book or pencil case. Direct characterization is OK when describing the character. Or of course, you could always go for, "I thrust my brush the snarls of my brown hair, growling when it just frizzed up again."

Don't be utterly blunt, especially when you're in first person.

Don't be too detailed either. Leave us room to imagine it ourselves. And, when faced with a block of description, most readers skip it, preferring to go on to the more important parts of the story.

STARTING THE CHAPTER

NEVER start with a "Hi, my name is..." It's one of the most frustrating beginnings and is the mark of an amateur writer and a lazy person.

One of the best ways to start (for me) is with dialogue. It can introduce the main character, give us a setting and time, and give us a glimpse into the personalities of the character.

Example:

"Anna! Get up! It's time for school!"

From that, we know that one of the character's name is Anna, that's she's in bed, it's a school morning, and that she's not an early riser.

Another way is an introduction into the setting of the story.

Example:

Sycamore Valley was a stereotypical English village. There were small well kept houses with neat little gardens in front, a white church surrounded with a board fence, quant little shops sellin everything from hammers to china, and a pub where the easygoing residents of the town stopped to relax and chat with friends. By all accounts, Sycamore Valley was a sleepy little town.

Except for the fact that the world's most brutal murder had been committed there. 

In that paragraph, we learnt of the setting and got an introduction into the plot. 

Those are my two favorite ways of starting a story, but there are of course others, such as flashback, character description, major event (like a fight, or participating in a street chase), etc.

GRAMMAR

This is  also the place where we get our first impression of you, the writer. Much of that impression comes from grammar and spelling.

No one likes to hear about  grammar and spelling, but they play very important parts in a story. Specifically, the "being able to read the story part."

I'm not going into much detail in grammar (that will be a different chapter), but I will say to remember what words are for what situation.

The biggest problem seems to be "you're and your".

"Your" implies ownership.

"You're" = You are.

Other things include "they're", "their", and "there" and "to", "two" and "too".