The Fantasy Writing Show with Jed Herne

I Read 761 Fantasy First Chapters & Kept Seeing These 5 Mistakes

April 11, 2026·22 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

There’s 5 critical first chapter mistakes I see new fantasy writers make all the time. I know about these because when writers apply for my classes or coaching programs, they have to send me an application that includes their first chapter. I've now read 761 first chapters from these applications. That’s a lot of data for me to learn from! So today, I want to share what I’ve learned with you, so that you can avoid these mistakes and instead write an amazing first chapter that makes people beg to read the rest of your book.Want to improve your writing even further? Read my new book, Plotting Your Fantasy Novel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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