First pages of a manuscript are tough to get right. Advice generally encourages writers to jump into the action to hook readers, but readers need a certain amount of information first in order to care about the people or events. I’ve written about this before in my post “Let the Main Character Drive the Bus,” and now I’d like to come at it from a different angle: the hook and the backpedal.

In my first novel, Steering Toward Normal, the first chapter follows a straightforward “set up” pattern. It shows:
• Diggy’s goal to win Grand Champion with his new steer,
• his good relationship with his father,
• his crush on July Johnston, then
• launches the inciting incident when Wayne is dumped in Diggy’s driveway.

That sets the hook. Then chapter two begins with the backpedal, supplying needed information about Diggy’s backstory when he, too, was dumped at the house. This information is essential to what happens next, and it could have felt essential that it be part of chapter one. It wasn’t, though—not until the reader sees Wayne’s rough abandonment.

Figuring out how much information is vital to an opening scene can be one of the most difficult parts of writing a manuscript, especially if the story involves complex world-building. When drafting, writers often tend to go too far on either end of the spectrum—overcrowding the scene with information or not providing enough for me to understand what’s happening or care about who it’s happening to.

Finding the balance of “just right” can be less stressful when we work consciously with the backpedal. The backpedal is knowing we have time later to supply more of the nuts and bolts that will hold the story together. It is such a common device one can pick up almost any book and see it. Sometimes it happens mid-first chapter, sometimes it happens in chapter three or four. It’s how the author “jumped into” the action without a big info dump.

In my second novel, Boy Bites Bug, the first three chapters are one scene arc (and short) in which Will’s best friend says something racist to a Latinx kid, and Will eats a live stinkbug to distract from the situation. The backpedal is in chapter four when we learn more about the community and Will’s values. It’s necessary information, but it doesn’t mean much until after we’ve seen the incident.

I picked up the first few books that came to hand and found the same.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Hook: Simon is blackmailed. Backpedal: Line break after the first five pages then an intro to Simon’s family and best friends.

The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away by Ronald L. Smith
Hook: Simon is genuinely afraid of aliens. Backpedal: Line break after the first two pages then an intro to Simon’s life as an Air Force brat.

Revenge of the Red Club by Kim Harrington
Hook: A girl wearing white pants gets her period, and the MC rescues her. Backpedal: In chapter two, an intro to The Red Club, a period support group in middle school.

Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya
Hook: Marcus is very large for his age and runs a business as a bodyguard and enforcer. Backpedal: At the end of the chapter the reader learns about the school bully, the instigator of Marcus’s “scary” reputation—and, unintentionally, his business.

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner
Hook: In a very short first chapter that is essentially a prologue, the MC asks several tantalizing “What If” questions. Backpedal: The reader meets the MC, learns he can’t read, and senses there is something very not right with the world.

I included Maggot Moon to briefly discuss the art of the prologue. Almost always, the prologue is the hook for a story that needs a longer set up than average. The hook promises, “Look, I have to backpedal a while to show you some things about the rules of the world so the juicy bits make sense, but I promise the juicy bits are coming!” Fantasy tends to have a lot of prologues for this reason, and that’s fine.

I do keep reading books like Maggot Moon because I do want to know the answer to those What If questions. The hook caught me, so I’m cool with the backpedal, even if it’s longish. Most readers are.

I’ve worked with enough writers to know that simply having the hook and the backpedal pointed out can be a huge relief in figuring out that first chapter. I hope it helps you, too!

Rebecca Petruck is the author of Boy Bites Bug and Steering Toward Normal, both with ABRAMS/Amulet. BUG received a starred review from ABA Booklist, who said it’s “…funny, perceptive, and topical in more ways than one.” It is a Louisiana Young Readers Choice selection for 2020-2021. STEERING was an American Booksellers Association New Voices selection as well as a Kids Indie Next List title. She has been a mentor for SCBWI Carolinas, Pitch Wars, and Writing in the Margins. Petruck holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UNC Wilmington and is represented by Kate Testerman of kt literary.