Help on opening of book?

[Alice]

So I am trying to write a book, it will be a sci-fi thriller, but I am struggling on how to write the introductory chapter. I have an idea on the plot; it is basically set in the far future and a scientist has made a translation machine, it can translate any language into our language. He uses his pet dog, Druff, to demonstrate it and it works. But there is also another person Chris Turbine who is an astronomer and his job has been to find out if there are any alien bacteria on space rocks, space dust and stuff like that. The scientist demonstrates his invention to a group of important people, including Chris, and they decide to send out a signal into space of a translation of them introducing themselves. But first they have to try and find an inhabited planet. Eventually they do and they contact them, the aliens arrive 3 months later but it all goes wrong. Alien invasion. A lot of people try to escape and try to defeat these aliens but eventually the aliens take over the earth and destroy humanity. The end.
I know it is very sinister, but I like the idea. I have made two introductory chapters before, the first line was meant to be half way through the invasion and will be the point of view from Chris, but I then thought of a different idea; this is the second one, it starts from the introduction of Chris in his work day, but written in first person, but my mum explained to me that that is how Fifty shades of grey is written and that is why most people didn't like it. So I don't know what to do! I also have to mension that in my book I wanted to switch between different characters, preferably 4 or 5, and introduce their stories and how they survived, or didn't. I am also struggling on a title for the book. One of my ideas is: The Third Row From The Front. It is a line in the first person introduction where Chris is in the presentation sitting in a seat from the third row from the front. Please help.

 

[melanie]

Don't worry! This is only a first draft - you have time to change it up and really get it golden. I always have the most trouble with that, too. I find that not worrying about it at first really helps. I can continue to write and get the ideas down, then if I get a flash of inspiration on how to really hook readers, I get it down and see if it works. Writing is dynamic and ever-changing. There is no such thing as the perfect scene or book or anything. Your skills are improving and your writing style, plus the way you think as you get closer to that 10,000 hours, change constantly.

What I'm trying to get at (admittedly, I took the long way) is that there's no point in worrying about it, because chances are that you'll grow by the time you finish it and want to change parts in it - the opening is often times the most changed.

In changing character viewpoints, that's fine. Something you want to do is make sure they all have differing personalities and can stand on their own. Something you CAN'T do (unless you DO have that 10,000+ hours) is change what POV to do. You can't start with first-person, then go into third person. It's a cold shock for readers and leaves a bad taste in their mouth; they'll put the book down and won't pick it back up again.

Plus, most writers tend to finish their manuscript first before they chose a title. It gives the title room the wiggle and can add more depth or meaning to your novel.

Keep writing! I really like the plot so far (I'm such a physics nerd, so I'd definitely pick this up in a bookstore). Hope I helped!