The specific process of revising your novel's first chapter, often the most-rewritten part of any manuscript.
Opening chapter revision is the focused work of rewriting and refining your novel's first chapter after the rest of the draft is complete. First chapters are notoriously difficult because they need to hook the reader, establish voice, introduce the protagonist, and set up the story's central questions, all without info-dumping or rushing. Most published authors rewrite their opening chapter more times than any other part of the book, often overhauling it completely once they know how the story ends.
Your first chapter is an audition. Agents stop reading after page one if the opening doesn't grab them. Readers in a bookstore decide based on the first few paragraphs. But you can't write a great opening until you know what you're opening toward. That's why first chapters almost always need heavy revision after the draft is done.
Hemingway wrote 47 different versions of the novel's ending and also reworked the opening extensively. The final first chapter is a masterclass in tone-setting through restrained, concrete detail.
Rowling rewrote the first chapter of the series numerous times. Early drafts opened quite differently before she settled on the Dursleys' perspective as the entry point into the wizarding world.
Fitzgerald revised the opening extensively with editor Maxwell Perkins. Nick Carraway's famous reflection on reserving judgment went through multiple drafts before reaching its final spare, precise form.
Readers don't care about your world's history until they care about a character in that world. Open with a person in a situation, not a geography lesson or a family tree.
You don't know what your opening needs to set up until you know how the story ends. Write the whole draft first, then come back and rewrite Chapter 1 with full knowledge of the destination.
Trust your reader to be confused for a few pages. A first chapter that raises questions is more compelling than one that answers them. Prioritize voice and stakes over exposition.
These openings have become cliches because they feel like easy ways to introduce a character. Instead, open with the character in the middle of doing something that reveals who they are through action.
Pull up the first chapter of your current project and identify exactly where the first moment of tension or conflict appears. Count how many paragraphs come before it. Now try rewriting the opening so that moment of tension lands within the first three paragraphs. Compare both versions and notice how the energy shifts.