Last time we talked a bit about how to build a great opening scene for your novel. It’s important that you make it clear just where this is all going. At the very least you need to make it clear that it’s going SOMEWHERE.
I know I mentioned a lot of elements last time, but be careful not to lose your readers by trying to do too much. If readers have to work to understand your opening scene, they may simply choose not to. Even if your plot is very complex you want to make it easy for readers to get lost in your opening scene.
In other words, don’t get so caught up in explaining why the opening scene is the beginning. Give readers a good reason to keep reading. This scene is all about hooking the reader. He or she picked up your book because of a promise or tease presented by your book’s cover or in your back cover copy. Something about your book’s plot or premise got them to pick up the book. The opening scene needs to confirm that this IS what  the book is about, and get readers moving on a journey through that premise. So your opening scene needs to connect back to that plot or premise.
If the first draft of your opening scene has stuff that readers have to slog through to get to the good stuff, cut it! If your opening scene has anything really cool, amplify it. And if something in the situation is unique to your plot or idea, so much the better. Remember, the opening scene should promise the reader that he’s getting into something great.
In your opening scene you should share as little backstory as possible. Don’t give away the info that would make readers curious and want to keep reading. This is not a scene just setting up for something else. Something interesting needs to happen in your first scene. But this scene should not be about a situation and how it arose. It should be about a character dealing with a problem.
So to recap: You want our novel to open with fascinating characters dealing with an intriguing story problem, and a premise so cool readers can’t wait to get into it. There should be questions, but not too many. Enough need to go unanswered for now to spur curiosity.
It’s as simple, and has challenging, as that.