Developmental editors Anne Hawley and Rachelle Ramirez break down what your first page must promise—and how to deliver it for your ideal reader. From raising the right questions to dodging common traps (info dumps, action-for-action’s-sake), you’ll get practical ways to craft an opening that compels page turns and signals the book you actually wrote.
What you’ll learn
- Why your first page is a promise—and how to make the right one
- How to define and hook your ideal reader (not “everyone”)
- When to open with action vs. narration, and why “start in action” is often misapplied
- Raising mystery and intrigue without confusing the reader
- The truth about “show, don’t tell” on page one
- Where the inciting incident belongs (and when it doesn’t)
- Avoiding info dumps while still orienting the reader
- When to stop polishing page one—and when to return to it
- Simple exercises to sharpen your opening (including hand-copying a favorite first page)
- How to tailor your opening for agents and genre expectations
Timestamps
- 00:00 — The problem: “My first page isn’t hooky enough”
- 01:00 — Who’s your ideal reader? Hint: probably you
- 04:00 — The first page as a promise of the reading experience
- 05:00 — Do you really need to open in action?
- 06:00 — Orientation vs. info dump (especially for SFF)
- 07:30 — Must the inciting incident be on page one?
- 08:30 — Mystery vs. confusion: walking the line
- 10:00 — Intrigue through specific, telling details
- 11:00 — Do protagonists need to be likable?
- 12:00 — “Show, don’t tell”: what the rule actually means
- 14:00 — The trap of overworking your opening
- 15:00 — Write the draft first; promise precisely later
- 17:00 — The power of your first ~300 words
- 18:00 — Discovery writing and changing stories
- 19:00 — Craft exercise: hand-copy your favorite first page
- 20:00 — Making your promise clear—and pitching the right agents
Try this
- Pull three novels you love. Hand-copy their first pages. Mark where they raise questions, slip in exposition, and introduce desire or problem.
- Rewrite your first 300 words to:
- Gut-check: Does your first page promise the book you actually wrote?
Mentioned
- Ursula K. Le Guin (on word choice and deliberate narration)
- Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl (compelling “unlikable” protagonist)
- “It was a dark and stormy night” (Bulwer-Lytton) as an example of permissible telling
Quote
“Your job as a fiction writer is to raise questions. Why I turn the page is because there’s a question in my mind.”
Links
If this episode helped you rethink your opening, share it with a writer friend and leave a rating—it helps more writers find the show.
