I'm a third of the way throw my next book, the third book in a fantasy romance series, and it's moving along well. I changed the start at least four times before moving on and letting it go as is until edits. I remember showing my very first completed novel to an agent at a writing conference. She read the first chapter and then told me to throw it out and start with the second chapter. It was good advice. The book eventually was published as The Greater Good. I've continued to use the 'throw out the first chapter' at times but mostly I try to find the correct place to start by applying some general ideas of what to put in the first scene and what not to do.Put action into it. Don't start with a cliche like waking to a ringing phone, waking from a nightmare or dream, or starting with a ticking bomb. A whiny teenager fighting with her parents isn't a great place to stop either though I've opened a few YA to find just that. I closed them right back up. Most sources advice having the first scene belong to the protagonist though many of my favorite suspense authors open their books with a crime in progress. That pulls me right into the mystery.
Even the first time novelist knows the rule about not filling the first scene and chapter with long descriptions of setting or pages of introspection. In fantasy there is a need to world build but it doesn't have to all be done in the first chapter.
