Where Does Your Book Start? Avoid the False Engine

Where Does Your Book Start?

Once again I find myself staring at a screen, blank except for two words at the top of the page: “Chapter One.”

Once again, I write a few paragraphs, delete them, write some more, move things around, and eventually have a scene written. I run it through a mental checklist.

Have I introduced my protagonist?

Have I avoided putting too many other characters into the scene?

Are there hints as to what this story is about? Not everything belongs in the first scene, but...