Hi guys, I’m currently working on the first chapter of my first story and I think it’s going relatively well, but I would like to ask you guys, what makes a great first chapter? And what other advice can you give me for my first story and especially my first chapter of my first story.
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This might be my own personal preference, but:
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Don’t start the episode with narration describing your main character.
There’s nothing worse than starting a new story and you’re hit by “My name is Blah. I’m blah years old and I live in blah blah.” -
Don’t make the whole first episode CC.
I like customising the main character as much as the next person, but I really don’t want to spend the whole first episode changing my parents, my brother, three love interests, my two best friends, and my dog’s grandma. -
Have a hook for the ending.
If you want people to read the next two episodes that are already published, you’ve got to keep them wanting to read more. -
Use the first episode to set your scene.
Establish your characters and where they live, how they act with others, who their friends are. But, don’t give it all away immediately. You’ll want to reveal little bits of personality as the reader goes throughout the story and the character develops.
MOST IMPORTANTLY:
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Have fun with your story.
Write it because it’s what you want to write and just enjoy writing it!
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So far I have a very short intro to the story, just p much explaining there will be multiple endings etc. Only the MC is CC. I kind of having a cliffhanger for the first chapter planned out but idk how effective it’ll be 
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Sounds interesting so far! The whole no narration thing is just a personal preference of mine. Or, if it must be there, try and have it at the end of the episode (like if you use the point system for your multiple endings, tell the readers where they’re at)
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Yeah I am using the points system, I wasn’t actually going to tell the reader how many points they have for each of the LIs (there’s only 2 so it’s not crazy) but now I think it’ll probably be better to let them know so that if they are looking for a specific ending they will know whether they might get it or not
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Just occurred to me that I don’t actually know how to code in saying how many points each have unless I use a bunch of ifs
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That’s basically what I do 
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Thanks a bunch for your help
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Try to make the chapter interesting at the first 20 lines. But don’t try to start from the ending and show for example someone dying or stuff, I don’t know the character so I don’t care if he lives or lost his powers or idk what, except if you are trying to make a war or a thriller but keep in mind that I just don’t want to be confused from the first 20 lines , try to make the plot evolves and make every scene interesting, if you write nonsense then I ain’t going to read it even if the rest is interesting. Also do not make the plot evolves too slow I had read an episode that from the first chapter was describing how the M.C broke up and all the activities that she did to get over him… yes don’t do that, Just jump to the description that you wrote for your story
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Good directing, at the first chapter the reader decides of the “quality” of your episode. If I see that a character talks but you haven’t put any animation, then I will leave even if the plot is perfect
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Figuring out the pacing so far I think is one of the most difficult things I’ve had to think about haha
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I know, I know, I have to same problem. If you want one more advise: write all the episodes without publishing them. This is helpful especially if this will be your first story because you will take the time that you need and not rush because readers want to read the next episode. Also, till you write the episode 20 (for example) you will not remember exactly what happened to the first episode and when you read it again you will be more advanced and you will be able to tell what you did wrong. If you complete it and see that it’s perfect and it does not want any change, then go ahead, publish it, 1 episode per week, that way you won’t have the problem that you will be late to publish 
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That’s pretty genius right there haha I think I might just do that, I’ll probably get a few people to test read it before the first few chapters get published to see if I made any mistakes that I didn’t notice or smth
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That’s what I am doing and I am glad, I am reading my old unpublished and I am cringing. Also, what I said to you was just my opinion, as I saw, when I said: “do not start from the ending”, people have different opinions about it. May it turn out good, but some authors are like “Ok, now that I managed to get their attention I can write wtv nonsense I want”, no please don’t do that, I have given up on many stories like this. But if you think that it will turn out good starting from the ending and it will continue to be good then do it. One of my favorite movies, “Megamind” started like this, from the end but managed to keep my attention because later on it shows how his planet destroyed, etc. But sometimes it gets me annoyed when something really dramatic happens and the author thinks that I will care 
, it’s all about how you will write it
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Tbh I’m not a big fan of the starting from the ending thing either, esp since my story is going to have multiple endings depending on the choices made throughout the story (which means there’s going to be a ton of “ifs” in the final chapter haha) sometimes that starting from the ending can be done well, I just don’t think it works for my story.
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Good luck with your story 
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Thank you, and thank you for your help also 
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Hi there @Qwertyu, I’m Sydney the moderator. Welcome to the forum! 
Moved this topic to Episode Fan Community since it doesn’t fit into any Creator’s Corner category. Make sure to check out our Forum Tutorial for more info about where to correctly create topics, and feel to PM me if there are any questions. 
Whoops, sorry 
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