WRITING TIPS: THE BEGINNING OF YOUR NOVEL MATTERS A LOT

You may have a great story to tell but your novel may not interest many readers because of one thing, the beginning! You need to have a strong beginning to capture your readers' interest. Those of your readers who like the start and subsequently read the whole story, will want to read many more novels from your pen.

Look at how past master novelists began their novels. Learn how they plunged into their story straight away in order to draw in a reader. Think of how Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy begins or Charles Dickens' A tale of Two Cities. Weren't they brilliant? Reading these great masters and learning the secrets of how a novel ought to begin can greatly help young writers.
I normally follow the advice of a great professor who asked his writing class to consider cutting the first page of their essays in order to excite the reader and keep him glued and it works like magic!