Why Great Hooks Kill: Write the 1st Chapter Your Novel Demands

Описание: Is your first chapter a "hook" or a "handshake"? Many authors obsess over a flashy opening line but forget to build the bridge that carries a reader through the next 300 pages. In today’s session, Adam Simon breaks down the Matching Maxim: the idea that there is only one "right" first chapter for your specific story. If you set it up wrong, you’re promising a book you didn’t write—and a misled reader is an unsatisfied reader.

We explore the first chapter not just as art, but as a promotional sample (the "Costco Peanut Butter" theory), a legal contract with your audience, and a writing fulcrum that stabilizes your entire creative process.
In this video, you’ll learn:

The 40% Rule: Why nearly half of your total effort should be poured into Chapter One.

The Costco Strategy: How to give a "complete taste" of your book without giving away the whole sandwich.

Genre Confirmation: Using tropes to signal to your target reader that they are in the right place.

The 4 Pillars of a First Chapter:

Genre Confirmation: Proving your skill and niche.

Foundation: Efficiently introducing character and world without the "info dump."

Energy: Planting the seeds of conflict and theme.

Direction: Using the inciting incident to launch the trajectory.

Key Quote: "If you give people a big lump of peanut butter, it’s not going to taste very good. You have to give them the sandwich."
Pinned Comment

The "Matching Maxim" is the golden rule: Your first chapter and your novel must fit like a glove. If you change your ending, you must go back and change your beginning.

Challenge for you today: Look at your current first chapter. Does it contain a "Genre Trope" that immediately tells the reader exactly what kind of book they’re holding? If not, what could you add?

Timestamps:
00:00 - The Hook Myth vs. The Compelling Chapter
01:11 - The Matching Maxim: Why every story has one "right" start
02:20 - The 3 Goals: Promotion, Promise, and Fulcrum
03:30 - The Costco Peanut Butter Analogy (Sampling your Story)
05:40 - Genre Confirmation: Don’t say "Bonjour" in a Mexican restaurant
07:15 - The 40% Effort Rule
09:20 - The 4 Elements of a Successful Taste
11:00 - Avoiding the Info Dump: The Gossip Test
13:30 - Setting the Inciting Incident