I wonder if maybe we could find ground on the following notion: that if a writer is struggling with an opening that isn’t working for them, or if they have beta readers losing interest by the second act, or if the book’s first act feels kind of trite, then a good approach to try is to cut away all the chaff from the beginning and jump straight into the initial driver (or inciting incident for non-Dramatica folks).
I could easily see someone trying that approach and solving a lot of the problems they’ve been encountering, and then if the opening felt too rushed they can flesh out the first chapter to create that sense of emotional context.
Would you agree with that?