A beta reader told me my first chapter was all backstory, and she was right

I had this fantasy novel I was working on for about a year (on and off, you know how it goes). The first chapter set up my main character's whole life - her job, her family, her hometown, her pet cat, even what she ate for breakfast. I thought it was essential worldbuilding. Then a writer friend read it and said "I like the story but this chapter is basically a Wikipedia entry for your character. Nothing happens." I cut it down to three paragraphs and started the book at the actual plot event. The whole thing flows way better now. Has anyone else had to kill a whole chapter because someone pointed out it was just setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane_williams28d ago

Oh man, I did that with a whole prologue once (took me three months to write it).

lilys8128d ago

Three months on a prologue and you cut it? Man, I would have kept it in even if it slowed the whole book down. That kind of work deserves a spot somewhere.

miles82521d ago

Yeah, that "Wikipedia entry for your character" hit close to home. My buddy Dave had this sci-fi story where he spent the first four chapters explaining the whole political system of his space colony (governors, trade routes, the whole deal). Another friend just told him "dude, nobody cares about the trade routes until a ship gets hijacked." He cut it to one chapter and the story basically started with an explosion, much better. Now he keeps the extra lore in a separate document for his own reference (like a weird secret diary for his made-up world).