Agency instead of Action in First Chapters

THE LAST MAPMAKER, BY CHRISTINA SOONTORNVAT

Christina Soontornvat’s The Last Mapmaker is an impressive example of how powerful middle grade fantasy can be. It has compelling characters, high stakes, lots of sea-faring action, and it tells a story that causes the reader to walk away looking at their own world in a new light. This ability to use the fantastical to reflect real-world truths is the secret sauce of fantasy, and The Last Mapmaker does this so well.

I was immediately drawn into apprentice Sai’s adventure as she embarked with Master Mapmaker Paiyoon aboard the Prosperity, set to map out the unknown world beyond the Harbinger Sea. The nation of Mangkon has just ended a long and successful war, and puffed up with their own might, the are ready to expand their glory beyond the known world.

Soontornvat does a wonderful job describing life aboard the ship, making one vessel a world unto itself, and filling that world with characters who have conflicting motives and interests. In fact, every influential character in the story has a secret to keep. And these secrets are all the more powerful because the reader comes to know them—a tricky thing to accomplish organically, especially when writing in first person POV. But the book focuses on Sai, whose own secret drives her actions through the whole book—and we learn about this secret in the very first chapter.

The interesting thing about this chapter is that there is, essentially, no action. Sai is standing in line at a bakers waiting to pick up her breakfast order along with the other assistants. She is mostly an observer. Yet while there is no action, there is character agency.

Agency is the character’s ability to affect the direction of the story.

Sai demonstrates this ability in several, non-active ways.

First, we see her agency through her voice—she tells us immediately that she’s dressed the same as all the other apprentices, a uniform that is intended to show that they are all “equals” for the year. And to that she says, “What a joke.” They all knew exactly where the other stood in terms of social class. Her tone of voice here indicates a contempt for the societal status-quo and in that contempt the reader starts to believe she is someone who can challenge societal norms.

Secondly, Sai lingers at the back, purposefully diverting attention away from herself by impersonating a shy girl. While there is no high-stakes action or drama here, there is action in Sai’s purposeful non-action. And in this non-action, we see that Sai is the type of character who can and will take care of herself. She is aware of her place in her society and that she is smart enough to work within the system. The contrast between her confident internal voice and her external, purposeful shyness demonstrates her ability to affect her own story. She has agency. And through that agency, we learn what is important to Sai (a secure and prosperous future) and what is important to her world (societal status based on family lineage)—and how that produces stakes for Sai (because she has no family lineage that will allow her a secure and prosperous future.) And therefore, she must rely upon herself.

So many people think that a first chapter needs to be filled with action, when really, what the chapter needs agency. Well-written, compelling action like fight scenes, chases, sports events, terrifying scenarios are all fine and good, but if you don’t show what the character wants, a sense of what they’re up against, and give us a sense that they have the agency to change their own situation, I will put the book down. Why? Because the most exciting action in the world means nothing if I don’t care about the character and believe they’re someone who can shoulder an interesting story for a whole novel through their actions.  Agency draws a reader in by convincing them that the character has the desire and the makeup of someone who can take charge of their own story.

Look at  your opening pages—does your character show the reader what they want through their either their actions or interiority? If the scene is full of high-stakes action, do you give the reader a sense of what the character wants and why so as to give the action meaning? If it’s a quiet beginning, does the character demonstrate an attitude toward their situation that demonstrates an ability to change their world?