I’ve think I’ve talked about this before on ye olde blog, but I always find the first chapter(s) of a book to be the hardest to write. For starters, it is by far the most important part. If you can’t hook a reader by the end of chapter 1, then you’ve probably lost all but the most dedicated readers.
But more importantly, trying to find that balance between giving readers enough information to feel comfortable in your new world and just dumping info on them… that’s tricky. And an art I usually screw up until the third or fourth edit. Which is fine! But it still means that I spend way more time on the first three chapters than I do on any comparable section of my books.
AND, to add insult to injury, I often go back and cut the first three chapters entirely. A lot of the time they’re just there to give me a mental bookmark for where the story is, and isn’t really needed in the final work. Ah, such is the life of a writer!
Anyway, I’ve started classes again, and ready my first book for one of my courses (“Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese). It’s neat to be reading for something again, rather than just pleasure. It’s a hauntingly beautiful book, although definitely not my kind of work (too depressing). But he does an incredible job, no question. It took me about 3 hours to get through (although I’ll obviously have to go back to it in the coming weeks to make sure enough of it penetrated). And at the very least, the way he wrote about hockey is almost poetry.