Beginnings Part One
February 15th, 2008
8 comments
Face it. The first five pages (sometimes the first five sentences) are going to make or break your book. They will be the first pages that a prospective agent or editor will read. Later, once the book gets picked up, they will be the first pages that a prospective book buyer will read.
So how do you make those five pages, and the rest of the beginning of the book, so good that the editor, agent, or prospective reader wants to keep reading?
A good beginning must do six things:
1) Hook the reader
2) Establish a bond with the Lead and the reader
3) Present the story world
4) Establish the general tone of the novel
5) Introduce the opposition
6) Get the reader to keep reading
Let’s take them one at a time.
