First Chapters: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (with Bestselling Author Jennifer Klepper)
Come join Abigail and USA Today bestselling author, Jennifer Klepper, as they perform a first chapter deep dive analysis of Celeste Ng’s bestselling masterpiece, LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE.
Abigail and Jennifer agree, Celeste Ng is an exceptional author and LFE is a book that every writer can learn from. And the first pages prove why.
Abigail admits that she found this scene particularly challenging to analyze, and she’s curious what YOU think. Read the first chapter, listen to this conversation, and let her know!
In today’s episode, you’ll learn:
- How the first chapter of LFE sets up expectations for the big picture, using the 7 Key First Chapter Questions from Paula Munier’s book THE WRITER’S GUIDE TO BEGINNINGS
- Why Shaker Heights provides the perfect setting for an inciting incident that blows up this small-town world
- How Celeste Ng masters multi-POV without distracting the reader (even with changing perspectives within the same paragraph)
- How a Crisis can work—and not necessarily “belong” to the central protagonist in the scene
- Options for how five commandments play out in engaging scene structure that advances the plot and develops character and conflict
- Plus, more!
Come study the first pages of Ng’s award-winning and bestselling work of literary fiction/domestic suspense. And then let us know, how do you think the 7 Key First Chapter Questions and Scene Structure work in the first chapter?
Email Abigail with your thoughts or share on social media and tag her. Let's continue the conversation!
LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE BLURB (pulled from Goodreads)
Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: How Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned—from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
Enter Mia Warren—an enigmatic artist and single mother—who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: All four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
When old family friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town—and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at an unexpected and devastating cost…
Buy LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE >>
Find Abigail and Jennifer:
Website: www.abigailkperry.com | https://www.jenniferklepper.com/
IG: @abigailkperry | @jennifer_klepper
Twitter: @abigailkperry | @jenklepper
