: Re: How can I make the story less predictable? I'm working on my first novel. As I was going through the initial chapters, I felt that the story is quite simple and predictable (in the initial

@Sarah872

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Is it possible that the first 14 chapters are all backstory, and that you should just start your book with Chapter 15?
One of the things it took me years to learn as a writer is that not all the writing you do needs to end up on the final page. There are many things you should know as the author that you don't need to explicitly tell the audience. Books work better if you leave some mystery, and you don't spoonfeed every detail to the reader. If your story only really picks up at Chapter 15, make that the new Chapter 1, and sprinkle details from the first 14 chapters into the the rest of the book as needed. Or, as @computercarguy suggested in the comments below, "summarize the first 14 chapters in 1-2 chapters, then continue on with chapter 15."
It's not quite as extreme as case as yours, but in my current WIP, the eventual first chapter started out four chapters in. Sometimes as a writer, you need to taxi down the runway a bit before you figure out how to really get the story in the air. But unlike with an airplane, you can put the audience on board after that point.

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