Expert tips for novelists that work at any stage of the writing process
Writing a gripping first page is one of the hardest challenges in fiction. It is also the most important. Agents, publishers, and everyday readers make snap decisions within seconds of opening a book.
Author and writing coach, Joan Dempsey, has read five hundred plus manuscripts as an editor. She knows what works. She also knows exactly what sends readers reaching for the next book on their pile.
Below are her best strategies for writing a gripping first page—whether you are drafting your novel’s opening for the first time or revising something that already exists.
The opening line carries enormous weight
Every great first page begins with a strong opening sentence. It does not need to be long or complex. It needs to make the reader want to know more.
Stephen King described the job well. An opening line should invite the reader in. It should say, listen, come in here, you want to know about this.
Jhumpa Lahiri opens ‘The Namesake’ with a single sentence that tells you the season, the setting, the character’s name, her due date, and her unusual food craving. Every detail earns its place. Nothing is wasted.
A line can also work through radical simplicity. José Saramago opens ‘Death with Interruptions’ with just six words: The following day, no one died. Instant intrigue.
Look at the first lines on your own bookshelf. Study what makes each one work. Then ask yourself what your opening line is actually doing.
Key elements to include on your first page
Writing a gripping first page means checking several boxes at once. Here is what strong opening pages tend to share.
Establish point of view quickly. Readers need to know who the main character is. Ground them early.
Begin in ‘media rez’. This is Latin for ‘in the middle of things.’ Skip the setup. Drop the reader into action.
Introduce something happening. It does not need to be explosive. Something simply needs to be in motion.
Ground readers in a specific setting. Time, place, and atmosphere all help readers feel oriented.
Build anticipation. Ask yourself what questions your reader is forming. Then make sure they want answers.
Write lean, strong sentences. Every word should earn its spot. Long sentences are fine. Padded ones are not.
Common mistakes that undermine a first page
Knowing what to avoid is just as valuable as knowing what to include. These patterns appear again and again in submitted manuscripts.
Excessive backstory: Readers do not need to know everything you know. A heavy information dump at the start often signals the writer has not yet found where the story truly begins. Pepper backstory in gradually, only when it is essential.
Waking-up scenes: Opening with a character waking up and going through their morning routine is one of the most common first-page mistakes. Avoid it unless there is a truly compelling reason to be there.
Dream sequences that get yanked away: Pulling readers into an exciting dream and then revealing it was just a dream breaks the contract with the reader. It trains them not to trust you.
Long landscape descriptions: Extended passages of setting description can work. Steinbeck did it masterfully, but in most cases, modern readers want to be inside the story faster.
Talking heads: Dialogue without grounding leaves readers disoriented. Do not let characters speak to each other in a vacuum. Tell us where they are.
Generic settings: A kitchen is not enough. Tell us it had yellow linoleum and chunky walnut cabinets. Specific details make settings real.
Too many characters at once: Flooding the first page with names overwhelms readers. Introduce characters deliberately.
Handling backstory in a series
Series writers face a specific challenge. Later books need to serve new readers without boring loyal ones.
The writers who do this best open the new book in the middle of something. They then weave in past context naturally. A character reappears, and one sentence catches us up on who they are.
Think of how films do it. Movies rarely stop to explain what happened two installments ago. They trust the audience to keep up. Your readers are just as smart.
These are guidelines, not rules
Every principle above has a celebrated exception. ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ opens with lush environmental description. ‘Charlotte’s Web’ opens with dialogue. ‘Game of Thrones’ introduces a crowd of characters immediately.
The difference is intention. Each of those authors made a deliberate choice. They could have explained exactly why.
Ask yourself that question about every decision on your first page. Why am I doing this? If the answer is ‘just because,’ keep revising. If you have a real reason, trust it.
Does first page length matter?
There is no single correct length for a first scene or chapter. What matters is whether the opening serves the story.
Read widely. Study how published authors handle their openings. Look for the range of approaches that work, and then identify what they all do well.
See how your first page stacks up
Writing a gripping first page takes practice, revision, and honest feedback. Marlowe, the non-generative AI manuscript analysis tool from Authors A.I., can read and critique your novel in minutes.
Marlowe analyzes your opening pages alongside pacing, character, dialogue, and more.
Try it free at authors.ai.
Editor’s note: This blog post was written from a previous conversation by Alessandra Torre and Joan Dempsey on the First Draft Friday podcast.
About Joan Dempsey
Joan Dempsey is an award-winning novelist and writing coach based in New Gloucester, Maine. She is the author of ‘This Is How It Begins’, which won the Bronze 2018 Independent Publisher Book Award for literary fiction. The novel is also a 2018 Lambda Literary Award finalist, a 2017 Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award finalist, and a 2018 Sarton Women’s Book Award finalist.
Poets & Writers magazine named Joan one of ‘5 More Over 50’ writers to watch, and she received the 2017 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from the same organization. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles.
Joan’s work has appeared in The Adirondack Review, Alligator Juniper, Obsidian: Literature of the African Diaspora, and Plenitude Magazine, and has aired on National Public Radio. A grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation took her to Warsaw and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum archives in Washington, D.C. for research on her debut novel.
She runs Gutsy Great Novelist, an online community and writing studio for novelists, and teaches classes including ‘Write a Gripping First Page’. Learn more at gutsygreatnovelist.com.
About Alessandra Torre
In addition to her duties as CEO of Authors A.I., Alessandra Torre is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author with over thirty published novels. Known for her work in contemporary romance and suspense, she has built a loyal readership around emotionally driven storytelling and complex characters. Alessandra is also the founder of Alessandra Torre Ink, an education platform for authors offering courses, resources, and community for writers at every stage of their career.
