Here's a question I wanna ask: When is the best time to start the action in a novel? Is it okay to start it in the first chapter? Can somebody help me please??? Thanks in advance
Starting the action in the first chapter is a wonderful idea! Action = exciting, and readers like exciting stuff. The sooner exciting, interesting stuff begins to happen, the sooner the reader is hooked. And if the reader is hooked right in the first chapter, then he or she could very well be hooked for the rest of the novel--which is exactly what you want!
So, go for it! Start the action the very first sentence, if you like
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I'm pretty sure it is okay. Every book I've read has action in the first chapter, just try not to over do it. If you make the first action scene too much, then that would be the climax of the story, right in the beginning, and the only way to go after that would be downhill.
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Um, my question should be, when should you NOT start off the first chapter w/ action? Anything...talking, sitting, eating, that could be considered action, so it would be aplicable to any genre. However, of course keep the niches of your particular genre in mind. You wouldn't want to have a fast paced street fight to start off you romance novel. What is your genre exactly? And what was your idea for the scene?
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Oh yeah, if it's the plot's action, then you might want to hold off on that. Starting off with action is great...but you need to introduce us to your protagonist's world. What was normal for them before the "hook" happened? (Now, you could cheat and start off with the action, then go back w/ and reveal what the character's life was like before...) for some things though, that's unneccessary. Like in action/adventure. I could care less that the hero was an average guy working at Chub's before the terrorists attacked, but there also needs to be credibility. If this particular hero happens to be a dead-eye with a bazooka, let's say, than I'll definitely have to have some explanation there. But you know what? it's better to start off with action than without.
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