The first ten pages of your novel do a lot of heavy lifting. They introduce your voice, your world, and the promise of the story you’re about to tell. They’re also the pages agents, editors, and readers often use to decide whether to keep going.
Did Not Finish (DNF)—this term has become a common way for readers to let others know that a book didn’t capture their minds and hearts. Time is valuable, and people want to spend it reading books they genuinely enjoy.
That doesn’t mean you should write for everyone. Not every reader will vibe with your book, and that’s okay.
But your first 10 pages matter, and they need to be intentional.
Here are the five most common mistakes I see in the opening pages of novels, and how to rethink them without losing what makes your story yours.
1. Trying to Explain Everything Too Soon
Worldbuilding, backstory, and context matter. But not all at once.
A common instinct in early pages is to make sure the reader understands everything: the world, the history, the rules, the relationships. The result is often an information-heavy opening that feels more like a briefing than a story.
What works better:
Let the reader orient themselves through action, character, dialogue, and sensory detail. Trust that they don’t need full understanding right away. Curiosity is more powerful than clarity in the opening pages.
If the reader is intrigued, they’ll follow you.
2. A Passive or Undefined Main Character
Your protagonist doesn’t need to be likable immediately. I personally enjoy a protagonist who earns my love. But they do need to be present in the first 10 pages.
Many openings introduce a main character who is mostly observing, reacting, or waiting for something to happen. This can make the story feel distant or stalled. Remember: your readers need to emotionally connect with your characters and feel invested in their journey.
What works better:
Give your protagonist a want, a tension, or a point of friction early on. Even subtle agency, such as a decision, a resistance, or a desire, helps anchor the reader and creates momentum.
3. Starting Too Far Before the Story Begins
This is a classic mistake many authors make, regardless of experience level. Not every beginning is the true beginning.
Writers often open with scenes that explain how things got to where they are instead of where the story actually starts. These early scenes may be well-written but don’t yet carry narrative urgency.
What works better:
Ask yourself: If I removed this scene, would the story still make sense?
If the answer is yes, it may not belong in the opening.
Another example: Does the action not pick up until Chapter 3? Are the characters sitting around in Chapters 1 and 2 while you attempt to info-dump worldbuilding details? If the answer is yes, Chapter 3 might be your new Chapter 1.
Start as close as possible to change.
4. Overworking the Prose at the Expense of Momentum
Beautiful writing matters, but not if it slows the story before it’s had a chance to move.
In the first ten pages, overly dense descriptions, long internal monologues, or highly stylized language can weigh down the pacing. While some readers may be intrigued enough to keep reading, others will move on to something more engaging.
What works better:
Aim for clarity, tone, and rhythm over perfection. Let the writing breathe. The goal early on is to invite the reader in, not impress them with every sentence.
Polish comes later. Connection comes first.
5. Forgetting to Make a Promise to the Reader
Every opening makes a promise about genre, tone, stakes, and the kind of experience the reader is about to have.
When that promise is unclear, readers feel unmoored. They don’t need a full map of the journey, but they need to have a reason to care. If nothing is at stake and the characters have nothing to lose, why bother?
What works better:
Within the first ten pages, the reader should have a sense of:
- What kind of story this is
- What’s at stake (even in a small way)
- Why they should keep turning pages
You don’t need explosions, chaos, or forced cliffhangers, but you do need intention.
A Final Note on First Pages
The goal of your first ten pages is to invite the reader into the world you’re creating and make them want to stay.
Most early-page issues are about distance and clarity. Writers are often too close to their own work to see what a new reader experiences. Remember, you’ve spent months (years!) in your fictional world. The reader is a newbie. Don’t overwhelm them before they’ve even had a chance to fall in love with what you’ve created.
If you’re unsure whether your opening pages are doing the work you want them to, or you feel stuck revising them in circles, I’m always happy to take a look and talk through next steps.
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