The Blank Page -- Writing the First Few Words

Although my shed is still mostly made up of holes, if you look closely you can see that some are door-shaped holes, and some are window-shaped holes and it's all starting to feel rather exciting...

In writing terms, you have probably done enough preparation -- become acquainted with your characters, drawn out a narrative thread, decided where your novel should be set -- to think about drafting the beginning, so that the thoughts that have been hurtling round the large hadron collider inside your head can at last start to be expressed in story terms.

So...the first draft of the first chapter.

You may as well jump right in,  as your lovingly-crafted opening words will almost certainly not be the opening words that you ultimately end up with.  You'll probably find that your first chapter proves to be a convenient place to start the narrative, rather than the point at which the narrative should begin-- you'll find out where that is later.

Although this is the your work, an expression of your creativity and imagination, there are some conventions that are worth observing, because they tend to launch the narrative with confidence and authority, essential elements in your writing if your audience is to commit serious amounts of time to reading what you've written.

• The first few pages are a lens through which the reader views the book as a whole -- they need to provide a sense of the geography of your story -- what genre it is written in and the kind of issues and challenges which are likely to face your protagonist. If you're writing an Aga saga you need to frame the story in cosy domesticity, if you are writing a thriller you need to convey breathless suspense and excitement - you get the picture.
• You need to introduce your heroine/hero.  Physical description won't do here, you need to show them in action, doing something typical.
• It shouldn't need stating, but somehow often does -- you have to hook the reader's attention.  You have to offer them something so tantalising and irresistible that they are willing give up hard-won, precious hours of time in order to devour great chunks of your matchless prose.

That should be enough to be going on with.  Keep thinking, start drafting.