First chapter: Chop it or be Chopped!

I am a Food Network junkie. And my favorite show? Chopped. Ooh, I love a good competition and quick results! The competitors get a basket of ingredients and must come up with a meal course in 30 minutes. At the end of each round a competitor gets “chopped” if their dish is the most criticized.

The competitors are usually full-time chefs. They are good enough to cook food to sell in their everyday lives. And they only get minutes to prove their ability to the judges.

While I was reading some great advice from James Scott Bell in The Art of War for Writers, he reminded me that we as writers, are in our own episode of Chopped-- over and over and over again.

The chefs must impress the judges in a limited amount of time, with a limited amount of ingredients. Bell states:

“Wow agents and editors by grabbing them with your opening chapters.” 

Just as the use of ingredients in Chopped sell the dish to the judges, Bell refers to your opening chapters as your “selling documents” to agents and editors. Bell gives some great tips to make those first chapters shine, and I recently found one help in my recent submission to a publisher:

“If your first chapter absolutely precludes the use of dialogue, consider throwing it out and making chapter two your new chapter one.”

At first, I resisted cutting my first chapter...I loved my first chapter! It was the first breath of life into the character in my head. But once I sat down and tried to start from chapter 2 (more action and dialogue), I realized that most of my chapter 1 could be summed up in a few sentences, and shown through out the rest of the first few chapters.

If you watch Chopped, you'll see that the chefs might find their original plan must be changed to keep up with the clock and create a tasty and impressive dish...it's tough for them to do since they're racing against the clock, and for us, it's tough to cut those words that flowed from fresh inspiration. But try it...you might find they were the ground work for a winning dish!

Come up with that winning appetizer to intrigue those agents and editors to move on to your main course. Don't get chopped after those first chapters!

What techniques have you used to tighten up your first chapters for submissions to agents or contests?
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 Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across cultures. She is an ACFW member and CEO of a family of six.