Am I the only one who has this problem?

Really, I'm genuinely interested to know if I'm the only person who ALWAYS has trouble starting off a chapter.

Like, the first line... I struggle every time I have a new chapter as to how begin it. I can know exactly what the chapter will have in it, what it will be about and even who the chapter is focused on... but that first line is always a struggle.

Sometimes I can get by with starting it off with a spoken sentence or word, but then there's other chapters where the person isn't speaking. I'm bringing readers in right in the middle of action, something that's already going on and I sit here, staring at the blinking and somewhat mocking cursor that is waiting for me to get my shit together.

It's even worse when it's a first chapter of a brand new story-which is exactly what I'm trying to write. And it's a dramatic first chapter, so I feel like the first few lines have to have an impact, have to grab the readers attention and make them want to keep reading.

Maybe I'm putting too much pressure on it, but I really hate the first lines of a chapter. Haha. I think it's so frustrating because once I get going, it'll practically write itself; I just have to get it started! Argh.

Rant finished... for now.
March 8th, 2014 at 02:58am