Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The beginning of a new novel

It's hard to know where to begin a story. Do I start by telling the reader something quirky about a character? Do I start in the middle of an action scene? Do I set the scene first and then dive in from there? Books I've read about writing typically say to start with some sort of rising action. They say you only have a few pages, maybe even a few paragraphs, to hook your reader. It makes sense. A reader can download a sample of a book and know within a few pages whether they want to spend money on the piece of literature. So, the beginning is crucial. It is your first impression and it better be good. Hence, starting a new book takes a lot of consideration. I don't know how many times I rewrote the first chapters of my other two books until I felt satisfied. Each word had to be scrutinized. Each character description had to be just right. Each line of dialogue needed to reach out and grab the reader. Now, I just need to do that again. I need the reader to hang on and enjoy the ride with me.

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