Now, I know there are fair few aspiring novelists out there. I know there are a lot of people who love the written word. That love young adult fiction. But, the question is where do you begin?
Today, I thought I would share ways on how to begin your YA novel. What should the first page, the first chapter consist off? What are the ways to pull the reader in from the get-go? To capture them, to intrigue them. There are many published young adult novels out there, thousands upon thousands. So you have to stick out in the crowd. You have to be unique. So here are some ways to begin your novel in style:
Waking Up in a Young Adult Novel
Waking up is something everyone does, so why not open your YA novel with it. Your protagonist has to sleep, don’t they?
Ahh, what a horrible day it is. I have to wake up and go to school. No, Mum, leave me alone. Just a little more. No turn off the lights. Oh, the sheets are now being pulled off me. I don’t want to go to school.
That’s a usual YA protagonist waking up, opening scene. Your protagonist is a teen, so they don’t want to get out of bed. They don’t even want to go to school. Thier parents have to come in and take the sheets of their bed. It;’s normal and must happen in an opening scene.
Looking in the Mirror
Now you are in a young adult novel, your protagonist has to look in the mirror. So let’s open the novel with your protagonist looking in the mirror, staring at themselves.
They are normally in the clothes that they are wearing for the day. Seeing how it looks on them, how it fits on their body. They aren’t happy with their body, so they wear baggy clothes to hide how they really look or they don’t care how they look. Or, they need to look perfect. The clothes that they are wearing needs to be right, nothing out of place. A dress, or maybe a skirt and a top.
Now your protagonist has to play with their hair. There are two ways that this scene can go. They can hair make sure their hair is perfect. Either dead straight without a kink in sight, or have beautiful curls. Or your protagonist can ‘not give a shit’ and just pull their hair up in a messy bun.
First Day at School
If you are writing a YA novel, most of the time there is ‘a first day of school’ involved. Whether it’s at a new school or the start of a term. It’s bound to happen.
If it’s your protagonist first day at a new school, everyone has to stare at them. They have to watch them walk up to the front door. There has to an over excited person willing to take your protagonist around the school. They have to stand up in front of the class and introduce themselves. And don’t forget about the ‘mean girls,’ they have to have a nice first meeting.
If your protagonist is just having their first day of a new term, then they have to meet up with their friends…if your protagonist has them. If not your protagonist has to walk into school with a hoodie on and go straight to their locker to collect their books. There also has to be a ‘mean girl’ in this scenario has well.
Waking from a Nightmare
Another scene to start with is your protagonist waking from a nightmare. Sweat has to be running down their forehead. They have to huff and puff. There has to be a few tears running down their face. They have flashbacks of the dream that they just had. It’s about something horrible and it’s going to play out the entire novel. You can’t forget that your protagonist now has to get up from their bed and get a cold glass of drink. Then they go back to bed and try to sleep.
Explain How Your Protagonist Looks
Now, you can’t have a YA novel without the protagonist explaining how they look. It’s normal, they have to tell the reader, speak to the reader. And again it can go a few ways.
First, we have the protagonist that loves how they look (which is totally fine), they normally have long blonde or brown hair. Sometimes it curly, but most of the time it’s straight. They have the ‘perfect body.’ Tall, long legs, small waist, big boobs. All the guys look at them when they walk by – and they love it.
Then we have the protagonist that doesn’t really care about they way that they look, however they need to explain to us how they do. This protagonist also has the ‘perfect body.’
Then we have the protagonist that doesn’t think they are beautiful. They have straw-like hair, and their skin is white as paper. They perspective themselves as ugly, But really they again have the ‘perfect body.
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Okay so, I hope by now that you know that this post isn’t supposed to be taken seriously. I’ve just given you an insight on the YA beginnings that I really don’t like to see. It’s happened, over and over again. I love something different, something unique – and none of these are.
It doesn’t mean that if a YA novel starts like this it’s bad, or horrible. But, after a while, reading book after book with essentially the same opening. It gets boring and repetitive.
Hopefully, you have enjoyed this post and agree with me. What are some of YA beginnings that are overused? Do we share any of the same? Let’s Chat!
You can check out other discussions I’ve had on here about Wattpad and Fanfiction. I love talking so talk to me over on my twitter @angel_reads, Facebook, instagram, tumblr and Goodreads. You can also follow Angel Reads on Bloglovin and via email (in the sidebar)
