This is the second part of my Critique series. On how I do critiques. It may not be the way anyone else goes about it, but hopefully I can offer a few tips that you might find helpful. You can read the first part of this series here.
After the initial read and the narrowing of the genre, I start a second read and focus on the first chapter. This is the most important chapter. If you can't keep your readers' interest, they aren't going to keep reading. I look for the hook, the setting, the backstory, the inciting incident, and the overall story problem.
Hook: hopefully it's right in the first line or at least in the first paragraph. This grabs the reader's attention with usually a dramatic action, thought, or desire. It sets the mood for the entire book. (Example: the opening line to THE DRAGONSLAYER: Xan missed the shot.)
Setting: the reader must know when and where they are. Not the exact time and date, unless it's key to the plot. But if we're in modern times, the past or future. If it's a fantasy world, it could start off in a barn or a cave. Don't leave the reader in limbo.
Backstory: You want enough to get the story going, but not too much to overload the reader. People are tempted to tell a lot in the beginning of the story, but readers only need to know enough to support what's happening in that moment.
Inciting incident: This is the event that turns the protagonist's life upside-down, or at the very least, the incident that leads to the chaos. It could be a letter from a distant relative or an assassination attempt. Big or little, it must propel the plot forward from chapter one.
Overall story problem: This isn't the hero's goal of killing the monster. What I'm looking for here is the protagonist's key internal problem. A flaw or weakness, something that she struggles with and that she needs to overcome in order to be victorious. Even if it's not obvious in the first chapter, I need to see a sign of it.
The first chapter is usually where I end up making the most changes in my manuscripts.
What do you look for when critiquing a first chapter?
After the initial read and the narrowing of the genre, I start a second read and focus on the first chapter. This is the most important chapter. If you can't keep your readers' interest, they aren't going to keep reading. I look for the hook, the setting, the backstory, the inciting incident, and the overall story problem.
Hook: hopefully it's right in the first line or at least in the first paragraph. This grabs the reader's attention with usually a dramatic action, thought, or desire. It sets the mood for the entire book. (Example: the opening line to THE DRAGONSLAYER: Xan missed the shot.)
Setting: the reader must know when and where they are. Not the exact time and date, unless it's key to the plot. But if we're in modern times, the past or future. If it's a fantasy world, it could start off in a barn or a cave. Don't leave the reader in limbo.
Backstory: You want enough to get the story going, but not too much to overload the reader. People are tempted to tell a lot in the beginning of the story, but readers only need to know enough to support what's happening in that moment.
Inciting incident: This is the event that turns the protagonist's life upside-down, or at the very least, the incident that leads to the chaos. It could be a letter from a distant relative or an assassination attempt. Big or little, it must propel the plot forward from chapter one.
Overall story problem: This isn't the hero's goal of killing the monster. What I'm looking for here is the protagonist's key internal problem. A flaw or weakness, something that she struggles with and that she needs to overcome in order to be victorious. Even if it's not obvious in the first chapter, I need to see a sign of it.
The first chapter is usually where I end up making the most changes in my manuscripts.
What do you look for when critiquing a first chapter?
