: 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

@Moriarity138

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I'm going to share a change I made in the story I'm writing recently. My old version was to begin with the character, a day in his life, an unsuccessful day at his sales job returning home to his curry noodles and internet when he gets the phone call that changes his life and I felt that was a perfectly fine place to begin. Introduce the character and start with a day in his life.
It occurred to me recently that the reader gets into the story much better if I begin two weeks later at his job interview with the company that hires him, because that's where the story gets juicy. I lose some conversation over breakfast with the antagonist but I'm OK with that. I think starting where it gets interesting is much better than starting at the beginning.
You mentioned it's a revenge story and in being a revenge story, you need some buildup, but try to find the point where what's happening is essential to the story or character development and start there. It's OK to cut a few chapters, at least, it's OK if you're me. I've done it.
For example - if you begin with "The neighbor moved next door yesterday and he seems OK, but I wish he'd turn the music down" - not very interesting. You're hinting that he may not care about you, but nothing juicy.
Compared with "The neighbor moved in next door and now my dog is gone." - that pulls the reader in.
Or the more creepy. I turned and saw a pair of eyes staring at me through my window. I grabbed my son's baseball bat and ran outside but whoever it was, they were too fast. They were gone. I looked around for clues. Anything that might tell me who it was who was staring at me through my window and but all was quiet. A gentle wind blows by and I hear a faint click. The gate to my neighbor's house is unlatched.
Begin with some kind of tension. Find the point that you can't eliminate without hurting your story or losing key character elements and eliminate everything before then.

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