Five common issues in first chapters

I know this is a bit of a sweeping statement, and it’s probably a little overdramatic, but bear with me, because reading really did change my life. Where it started I’ll take you back three years or so, when I was having a quite severe anxiety flare up. Post lockdown and my kids were having problems readjusting back to school life, I was having a hard time with the lack of structure and my brain going into overdrive. My anxiety hit an all-time high and my brain had shut down. I had been a self-employed seamstress for six years, and my business was plodding along nicely. All of a sudden, I was shutting down, I couldn’t concentrate on my job, I was making mistakes and I couldn’t think straight. So, I stopped taking on clients and mothballed the business. Anxiety takes over My brain was so focussed on the stress of what was going on, that I was no longer living any kind of life. I didn’t leave the house in case the children needed me and I was constantly waiting for the phone to ring. My brain was all consumed by the anxiety. I knew I had to do something. My thoughts needed to be diverted from thinking about what might or might not happen. So I picked up a book. Usually I was that person who only read a novel when I was on holiday, sitting by the pool with a cocktail or two. I often struggled to get into a book and wouldn’t even consider reading ‘the classics’. But I often enjoyed a romance. Starting to read was very much a leap of faith. I was still in the mindset that I should be doing something more constructive with my time. Barriers to reading There was always a barrier to reading for me, as if it wasn’t important enough to dedicate the time to. There was always something more important, like laundry and housework. I often struggled with complicated sentences. I had to read every single word on the page slowly, so I could follow the storyline. Reading felt like a guilty pleasure. I don’t remember why I chose the book I started with, maybe I’d seen it on social media. But I’m glad I did because it had me hooked straight away. The characters were relatable, and the story was quirky. Brain reset Once I started reading, I was swept away into different worlds, somewhere that didn’t have my problems and my fears, and it was such a refreshing change. So I continued, and was bought a Kindle for my birthday, which opened up a library full of reading potential. After a while I started to feel more like myself, my brain started opening up and I actually began to feel things again, real emotions that my brain had locked away. I was able to form full sentences and actually engage with people better. After nine months I had read 130 novels and my whole outlook on life began to open up. The anxiety was not as fierce now my brain had been distracted. Reading as adults As adults we aren’t really encouraged to read. There is often a thought that reading is for intellectual prowess and not for pleasure. We are encouraged to read business and self-help books, but never just for pleasure. When we do read, we are conditioned to think that we must read a variety of different genres, but yet keep to our own reading age. This is an absolute fallacy. Starting to read can be daunting but there are no set rules. You don’t have to read the most popular books, or the ones that are 1000 pages and you need a trolley to transport. You don’t need to read within your age range. If you are in your 70s and want to read young adult literature, that’s okay. If you want to read graphic novels, rather than wordy books, that’s fine too. To really make reading beneficial you need to enjoy it, be able to be immersed in the story, to live those characters’ lives, to resonate with the emotions of the story. And that means reading what you enjoy. Benefits of reading Reading for pleasure has so many benefits. It opens up your brain, and helps with communication and vocabulary. Reading, as well as other brain exercises, can help slow the onset of dementia. And I know all too well, it can reduce stress and anxiety. The more I read, the more my brain opened up. I started to rethink about past experiences, which included my love of writing, and also getting myself out and doing more. The writing journey begins At this point I didn’t feel I was anywhere near focussed enough to write an actual book. Instead, I decided to start planning. New notebook in hand, fancy pens ready, I set out planning a romance novel, in the same vein that I had been reading. As I put pen to paper, the characters were young women, getting involved with more experienced, worldly wise men. But something seemed off. I didn’t resonate with these characters, so how could I write about them? Instead of planning these characters, I just knuckled down and wrote. Inspiration came from situations and experiences that either myself, or my friends, had lived through. They played out, movie style, in my head, and I put them on paper. Stories about women nearer my age, living lives I could relate to. Eventually, joining all those situations together, I realised I had written the majority of my first novel. I mean that’s the simple version. I haven’t mentioned the major imposter syndrome, teaching myself how to self-publish a book and the meltdowns at not having an ending. Maybe that’s a tale for another time. I absolutely love being an author, having those characters that are inside my head become real to those reading is a privilege. And although I don’t get chance to read as much as I used to, I still use reading to help with my anxiety. What advice would I give to someone wanting to become an author? I often get asked what advice I would give to others starting out, and the advice is always the same. Just write it! Sounds simple, but authors sit on ideas for years, procrastinating. They think their work needs to be perfectly formed from the word go – or chapter one – but it doesn’t. The best bit of advice I was given was, you can’t edit what’s not there. Get those ideas on paper, get them out of your head and on to the page. Then believe in yourself. Believe that the story you wrote and loved will be someone’s new favourite book. I believed and I’m currently writing my fifth book.

Here's how you write your novel. This system is not the only one, but it will work. You need an idea You may already have one, which is why you wish to write the story, in which case, jump to the next point. If you don't, where do you find one? A news article might inspire you. As I write, there are stories about using DNA to bring back wolves. Of course, this theme has been exploited by the author of Jurassic Park , Michael Crichton. Still, your angle might be a domestic take: a local dealer producing pure breeds of dogs from former times. Or it might be by simple observation. I was once in a Caffé Nero and sitting high at a table in the window; there were those sitting below, outside, at small round tables, and one person was looking through government papers. I wondered what might happen if these were confidential and revealing… That became an essential part of my book Bram, A Spy Story . Buy a paper copy of one of the Sunday papers and leaf through, cutting out possibilities. Take a walk with your notebook and observe what goes on around you. Write every day Start with a goal of 500 words per day, minimum. If you wish to write that novel, you must agree that you can no longer wait until you want to write any more than you might exercise when you feel like exercising. It is the brushing your teeth protocol. As a child, you did not want to brush your teeth; a hard-working parent made it a habit. You need to make writing a habit. Of course, set up your comfortable writing nest and turn up, but be willing to write on a bus, train, and in your cramped EasyJet seat. Write when you have a cold, a headache, and are in a bad mood; you will be surprised what material you produce. To introduce a new behaviour, it is best proven by executing it daily. Start and finish Very soon after you have written the first chapter, write the concluding chapter. It will remove pressure to know it is done: you now have the start and end of your arc. Come back to them regularly and improve them. You seek to produce a first chapter that will not let the reader go until they have read the final word. And a closing chapter that will leave them with a profound sense of satisfaction. Be clear about the genre Whether it’s a thriller, romance, etc., genres have conventions, and readers have expectations. Thus, in the crime genre, there are expectations that multiple characters could be guilty, with clues pointing in misleading directions. In the romance genre, there 'ought to be' many obstacles that challenge the couple's relationship. Of course, you can break the rules, and a few first-time novelists do, but stick to what works unless you have a breakthrough idea. Generate quantity Write, write, write. Hit your target. Every third day, concentrate on editing and turning your quantity into quality. If you cut large chunks or chapters, keep them in a separate file; they may become useful later. I once had two novels on the go, neither to my satisfaction. I was inspired by Paul McCartney talking on the radio explaining the sequence in Abbey Road and how he had lots of bits… well, you know the rest. He stuck them all together and created the delightful B-side sequence. I used that concept to create one of my novels. Practise your skills If it is your first novel, like any new skill, it takes time to get good at it. Hence, write daily. No excuses. Once you have written 25,000 words, read a couple of books on novel writing techniques. Many will not add more elements than this article, but all will add valuable details, such as what is expected in each genre, how to improve your dialogue, and the critical stages of a novel. Your word count is vital, but that must be balanced with quality. Finish before submission Remember, completing your novel before considering finding a publisher is essential. Most agents aren't interested in just 'an idea' from first-time novelists. But hey, rules are made to be broken, right? Maybe you can break that rule if you have a genuinely stunning idea. Just be sure you can sustain it beyond a couple of sample chapters. How to Write a Bestseller Honestly, I wish I knew. However, consider these potential strategies as you write and occasionally pause for a coffee. The Breakthrough Style Day of the Jacka l is a splendid example. Frederick Forsyth brought a journalistic, procedural tone to his fiction, which consequently felt fresh and gripping. Other examples of style-driven breakthroughs are Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, with its raw Scottish dialect, and fragmented narrative; The Road by Cormac McCarthy, with its sparse punctuation, minimalist language, and rhythm; and House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, with its experimental layout, typographic weirdness, and matching content. Zeitgeist Grabs Gone Girl helped launch a wave of books with ‘Girl’ in the title ( The Girl on the Train , The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo , The Girl Before , etc). It tapped into a moment of psychological thrillers with unreliable female narrators. Other zeitgeist moments are Twilight , which led to the paranormal romance boom and suddenly vampires, werewolves, and angsty love triangles were everywhere; The Da Vinci Code , which launched a thousand historical conspiracy thrillers with their tropes of esoteric symbols, secret societies, and puzzles which needed decoding; and The Hunger Games and the dystopian YA wave: Divergent , Maze Runner , Matched , etc. Cultural Taboo / Shock Factor Lolita , American Psycho , and Fifty Shades of Grey are all books that got people talking and/or clutching their pearls. But for Now. . . 95K words is the norm. Go write.

Publishing a book yourself is difficult. Publishing a book when you’re at the mercy of a huge organisation can make self-publishing even more difficult, especially when that company uses automated systems. In case you’re wondering what I’m on about, I’ve recently had the “joy” of trying to get through KDP’s identity verification system. This year I plan to publish a charity anthology and all royalties will go to Invest in ME. Submissions have been selected, copyediting and proofreading is ongoing, albeit behind schedule, ISBNs have been purchased, the book has a title, and a cover is in the works. The authors are incredibly talented and absolutely lovely (and patient). I honestly thought the set-up of the KDP account and eventual uploading of the book would be one of the straightforward aspects of this project. After all, I've walked authors through this. Bloody hell, was I wrong! Initially, all went smoothly. I set up the account, filled in my tax details, blah, blah, blah. One of the more mundane but essential jobs ticked off the list. Or so I thought. I received an email from KDP asking me to log in and verify my identity. They say on their website that they are now asking people to do this ‘To better protect those who publish with us and buy books from Amazon . . . This is to ensure an account is genuine when using our services’. This is, of course, completely understandable and I’m more than happy to comply. The first stumbling block was the type of ID they require. For the UK they accept a passport, driver’s licence, national ID (I’m still not actually sure what that is), and residency permit according to their help page. As a UK citizen from birth, I don’t have a residency permit or a national ID (what is that??) and as a non-driver (seriously, I’d be a liability on the roads), I don’t have a driver’s licence. I have an out-of-date passport that I haven’t renewed because it’s expensive and I’m not planning on going abroad. Anyway, I logged on to my account and clicked the dropdown box of accepted ID for the UK and was pleased to see voter ID as one of the options.

…ask them to explain their reason behind a suggestion. To reduce the amount of Track Changes you’ll have to deal with, editors don’t always explain why they have marked something up. It is okay to ask if you want to know why that particular change has been recommended. There is no such thing as a stupid question. …disagree with them. Editors have you and your manuscript’s best interests at heart but also need to consider your future readers. That doesn’t mean, though, there aren’t times when we get it wrong or miss a particular nuance. Contrary to popular belief, it is okay to disagree with your editor (unless it’s a major grammatical error). Using Track Changes to edit your document means you retain full control over your words and your manuscript. I only ever make changes with TCs turned off when it has been agreed with the author and is for simple things such as replacing double spaces with singles. …count on your manuscript being stored securely and not shared with anyone outside of your editorial team. I’ve heard terrible stories of authors basically having their story stolen or the premise shared on social media. The author—editor relationship has to be one based on trust and mutual respect. …expect them to treat you with kindness. The editorial process always involves a degree of learning (on both sides, I think). Within every manuscript there are strengths and weaknesses – and I literally mean every manuscript. The comments you receive on your manuscript should never make you feel bad about your writing or knock your self-confidence. And while we’re on the subject, it’s never a good look to call someone out for a typo publicly on social media. Shit happens and no one's perfect, especially when typing at speed on a phone’s tiny keyboard. Add to that, you don't know if the person has dyslexia. Send them a DM instead. It takes courage to send your manuscript to an editor for the first time. Don’t rush into choosing your editorial team. Some things are worth taking your time over.

Head-hopping Head-hopping refers to a switch in point of view within a scene or paragraph and, yes, it’s problematic even when writing in third person. Example: James was really pleased with Thorin. He was so calm around that other dog, he thought. Thorin was sitting patiently at his owner’s feet. Is James going to give me a treat for being good? he wondered as he wagged his tail. As you can see, we jump from James’s thoughts and perspective to Thorin’s. Why is this an issue? It throws the reader off and discombobulates them, bringing them out of the text. We want to keep the reader gripped, not send them away because they’re confused. It can prevent the reader from connecting fully with your characters and cause narrative distance. To resolve this, keep each chapter or scene from one character’s point of view. If you really need to switch perspective within a chapter, make it clear with an ornamental or paragraph break. Inauthentic dialogue Ensuring your character's dialogue sounds authentic is incredibly important. Stilted, formal, and unnatural dialogue can impact on a character's relatability and that, of course, impacts on the reader's experience. Common issues I see are the overuse of names and a lack of contractions. If you listen to a conversation, you'll notice how we rarely refer to each other by name. We don't need to because we know we're addressing each other. Names tend to be used when we are trying to get someone's attention. We also tend to talk in an informal way and will shorten our sentences. We use contractions such as 'won't', 'didn't', etc., rather than 'would not' and 'did not'. Switches in tense Again, this is something I see on a regular basis. When you’re in the throes of writing and concerned with getting the story down, it can be easy to jump from present to past tense and vice versa. If you’ve had a break from writing, take your time to reorient yourself before you start putting words on the screen. This is what tense switches look like: She walks across the room and gets a treat for Thorin. ‘Who’s been a good boy?’ she said. It should be: She walks across the room and gets a treat for Thorin. ‘Who’s been a good boy?’ she says. Write in the tense that feels the most comfortable to you. It’s probably more difficult to write in present tense than past, but this isn’t the case for everyone. Showing every action There can be a tendency to show every single action a character does and I sometimes think this comes from a misunderstanding of the expression 'show don't tell'. It is okay to leave some things 'off-page' and readers will pick up on the fact that certain actions have happened without them being told about them. Of course, I'm referring to the mundane everyday stuff, not the action. An example of this would be a character travelling to get to a destination. Rather than charting the entire journey from A to B, it is acceptable to have your character arriving at the destination without the reader being privy to them getting there (unless something interesting and integral to the plot happened). Cutting out stage directions will help with the pacing of your novel and keep readers interested. I often use the following quote from Elmore Leonard when completing a manuscript critique or developmental edit: 'When you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.' Point-of-view character overload There is a temptation to ha ve loads of p oint-of-view characters to create interest, I guess. It does the opposite, though, and prevents the reader from getting close to any character. Remember that narrative distance we talked about earlier as a result of head-hopping? This causes the same thing. It also leads to choppier, convoluted, and messy plots. You don’t need a million points of view and readers will thank you for keeping it simple. That doesn’t mean you can’t have more than one, just don’t go crazy.

Remove unnecessary words When you’re self-editing carefully think about the individual words you have used within each sentence and assess if you really need them. I have a shit list pinned up on my corkboard and it includes, among others, the following: ‘that’, ‘just’, ‘now’, ‘back’. Why are these on the list? Because a lot of the time, they aren’t necessary. Let’s take the word ‘now’. Consider this sentence: The dog reacted to her command and she now smiled. Yes, the narrative is in past tense, but we know the character is smiling because the dog has reacted to what she said and both actions (the dog’s response and the character’s smile) are taking place at the same time. So, we don’t need the ‘now’. If we remove it, it reads like this: The dog reacted to her command and she smiled. You have reduced the word count and the sentence is punchier simply by removing one word. Other examples include: She nodded her head. We only nod with our heads so She nodded will suffice. He waved with his hands . Again, the reader will know he is using his hands unless you state he is waving an object. Reduce filter words I have talked about filter words before (find that article here ). They are the words that filter the action through the character and include: ‘realised’, ‘felt’, ‘knew’, ‘hear’, ‘saw’, ‘noticed’, etc. Compare She could hear the dog across the road barking and felt her corgi’s lead tighten as he reacted. Realising she was going to be pulled over, she reined him in. to The dog across the road barked and her corgi’s lead tightened as he reacted. She reined him in to prevent being pulled over. The word count has reduced from thirty to twenty-three and the writing is more dynamic. Consider the order of your words Is there a shorter way of saying the same thing? Could She walked into the waiting room of the surgery be changed to She walked into the waiting room ? If the reader has already been told the character is in the surgery, absolutely. If not, changing the sentence to She walked into the surgery waiting room will also reduce the number of words used. Keep an eye out for repeated and unnecessary action beats We all have crutch words – even editors! These often take the form of action beats (what the characters do while they are talking). Smiling, nodding, looking at the other character, shrugging, and chuckling are all examples. They tend to be used far too often and become repetitive. An easy way to assess if you’re using a particular word too much is to use the Find function in Word: Highlight the word. Click on Home at the top of your document. Click Find. You’ll be presented with a list on the left-hand side that shows you every instance of that word. Ask yourself if that adverb actually adds anything ‘Don’t you dare!’ he shouted angrily. Look at this piece of dialogue. We are effectively being told three times that the speaker is shouting: the use of ‘shouted’, the added ‘angrily’, and the exclamation mark. In this case, he shouted is sufficient and the adverb isn’t necessary. As you self-edit, think to yourself, does this adverb convey information to the reader they won’t have already picked up? Making simple changes such as I’ve suggested not only improves your writing, making it more active and vital, it also helps to reduce your word count. If you’re self-publishing, this will also help to reduce the cost of editing and proofreading as many editors, including me, charge per 1000 words.

It’s never too early to start marketing your book Work on establishing your author brand before you’ve finished your work in progress. Selling a book is more difficult than writing and producing it. The book market is saturated (and full of celeb “authors”), so you need to plan a sales strategy from the get-go. Use social media and also set up a newsletter. Building a community of loyal readers is so important and will pay off in the long run. This advice is also useful for authors going down the traditional route as publishers (yes, even the Big 5) rely more on authors doing their own publicity. Don’t leave searching for an editor until the last minute I make my living as a freelance editor and the money I earn pays the bills, keeps a roof over our heads, and ensures Thorin the corgi always has a full tummy. For that reason, I plan and book up my diary months ahead so we don’t end up on the street! If you’re going to publish a book, you also need to plan in advance. If you want your copyedit to start in March, it’s no good getting in touch with me in March as I’ll probably not be available. Start the search for your editor early to avoid disappointment as the majority of reputable editors will have full diaries. Don’t underestimate the power of a good cover Readers do judge a book by its cover. It’s the first thing they see so your book has to make a great initial impression. It will literally be competing with millions of other books, so this is an area it’s worth investing in. Without meaning to be rude or disrespectful, you can often tell a book has been self-published by its cover and, as wrong as it is, it will put people off. At the end of the day, you need to turn browsers into buyers, it’s as simple as that. If your graphic design skills are crap (like mine), please don’t try to knock up a cover yourself. Save up Publishing a book is an expensive endeavour if you want to do it in such a way that your book stands up against its traditionally published counterparts. Editing, cover design, formatting, the purchase of ISBNS, etc. all adds up, so put money aside while you’re writing. Have realistic expectations Don’t go into self-publishing thinking you are going to make loads of money from your first book. The reality is, you may not make any money initially. Or even from your second book. This also relates back to the first point and you have to go into self-publishing thinking of it as a business. All businesses take time to get off the ground and self-publishing is no different. I may have put you off and that is not my intention at all, however, I pride myself on being realistic and honest with authors setting out on their self-publishing journey. These are all things I would urge you to consider before you take the hard but wonderful leap.

What is a filter word? It’s a word in a piece of text that filters the scene through the character. What’s the problem? Filter words can create narrative distance and impact the reader’s ability to become fully immersed in the text. Rather than experiencing the character’s world and emotions, the reader is told about it (you have probably heard the phrase ‘show don’t tell’), which lessens the impact. This creates a problem as the story becomes something that is done to the reader rather than it being something they are involved in. Filter words include: Realised Felt Knew Saw Heard Noticed Watched Thought Looked Seemed Tasted Smelled Believed Removing filter words tightens up the text and makes it more dynamic. Going through your manuscript and getting rid of them will also lower your word count and make your copyedit cheaper! Compare She could hear the dog across the road barking and felt her corgi’s lead tighten as he reacted. Realising she was going to be pulled over, she reined him in. to The dog across the road barked and her corgi’s lead tightened as he reacted. She reined him in to prevent being pulled over. Immediately the narrative voice becomes more active and less passive. You feel (ironic, eh?) more involved in the action simply by removing hear , felt , and realising . And the word count has reduced from thirty to twenty-three. Of course, in fiction writing nothing is ever black and white and there will be times when filter words are useful to draw the reader back from tension and add texture to the narrative. But as a general rule, the majority of these words can be cut from your manuscript.

I celebrate five years of Abbie Editorial in January, and I have loads of plans that I think you’re going to love whether you’re a new or returning author to my services. If you follow me on X, you will know that one of those plans is the publication of a charity anthology. I’ve been thinking about this for ages and 2025 seems like the perfect time to do it. So, I’m asking authors to donate words in the form of short stories for a book I plan to publish in June. All profits will go to Invest in ME. This charity is very close to my heart as I have lived with the condition for over twelve years. It isn't something I talk about because I worry about people's perceptions of me. Research into ME is scarce and there are hardly any services for those suffering with the condition (my clinic has recently closed down), so if I can help raise funds for one of the charities carrying out research, that would be ace. To have authors along with me for the ride will be bloody brilliant. Want to take part? Here are the details: Genre: crime Theme: stories to be set in summer. If you want a challenge, I’d love some locked room mysteries Word count: 2,000 to 7,500 words Stories should be submitted via Word document, 12pt font, and 1.5 line spacing Email to: aecharitybooks@gmail.com Closing date for submissions: 1 February 2025 Please only submit original stories that haven’t been previously published. No AI generated stories, please. Those chosen will be edited and proofread by myself and my mate and ace proofreader, Lorna Hinde. I have asked for some locked room mysteries because many people with ME are effectively imprisoned in their homes due to their illness. I realise, though, that these can be challenging to write, so stories about crime, mystery and murder set in the summer months are also great. I really hope you will consider submitting. Of course, I have the fear that no one will, so I'll be keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed.