This week’s video talks about one of the most common misconceptions about a great hook for your book’s beginning and shows you how to take grabbing your readers to the next level. Video Transcript: You know all about the hook for your book’s beginning, right? The hook is that tiny, important little bit of awe […]
January 27, 2015 by 32 Comments Beginning Your BookAre You Leaving This Crucial Ingredient Out of Your Book’s First Chapter?
This week’s video shows how you can take a page from Captain America: The Winter Soldier to hook readers with even a small amount of character development in your book’s first chapter. Video Transcript: Your book’s first chapter is hard. There’s so much you have to cram in there in order to get it to […]
January 21, 2015 by 58 Comments Beginning Your BookI Just Figured Out What All My Favorite Stories Have in Common—and It Blew My Mind
This week’s video talks about the secret ingredient that can take even mediocre ideas and turn them into your readers’ favorite stories, worthy of five stars. Video Transcript: For those of you who follow my book reviews on Amazon or Goodreads, you may have noticed I hardly ever give five-star reviews. I read over […]
September 25, 2013 by 28 Comments Beginning Your BookIn Medias Res: How to Do It and How Not to
This week’s video discusses, not only how to avoid the potential pitfalls of in medias res, but how to take full advantage of its awesomeness. Video Transcript: Nowadays, it’s kind of hard to be a writer and not know about—or at least have heard of—in medias res. This, of course, is the Latin term for […]
August 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment Beginning Your Book4 Big Pitfalls in Story Openings
Today, I’m guest posting on Jane Friedman’s blog, with a post on “4 Big Pitfalls in Story Openings.” Here’s an excerpt: Plant an irresistible hook. Give readers a reason to care about what happens to the characters. Introduce overall tone (satiric, dramatic, etc.). Introduce setting (time and place), conflict, and theme. The beginning of a story is […]
September 23, 2012 by 26 Comments Beginning Your BookWhy Story Beginnings and Endings Must Be Linked
The ending of your story is a loooong way away from the beginning. Tens of thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of words is an extraordinary journey. Contemplating the ending from the vantage point of the beginning is like looking up at the top of Mt. Everest and imagining yourself—in all your windblown, frostbitten glory—standing […]
July 15, 2012 by Beginning Your Book10 Questions Your Readers Shouldn’t Have to Ask
The most important thing an author can present in the beginning of any scene is a question that will hook readers into needing to know the answer. The second most important thing is making certain that question isn’t the wrong question. You want readers asking concrete questions. Who stole the Statue of Liberty? How is Westley going […]
February 22, 2012 by 30 Comments Beginning Your BookHow to Tell if Your Story Begins Too Soon
Authors are always being warned not to begin their stories too soon. The idea of beginning in medias res—or “in the middle of things”—is popular these days because it plunges readers into the plot right away without dragging them through pages of backstory or setup. But at the same time, you must give readers enough […]
January 4, 2012 by 25 Comments Beginning Your BookHook Readers With a Sneak Peek
This week’s video discusses how to hook readers with a “flashforward” at the beginning of your novel, similar to the one Edna Ferber used in Show Boat. Video Transcript: As many followers of my website probably already know, I am not a big fan of prologues or other gimmicky framing techniques for the beginning of […]
December 7, 2011 by 3 Comments Beginning Your BookHow Much Should You Explain in a Story’s Beginning?
One of the trickiest parts of any story is the beginning. And one of the trickiest parts of a story’s beginning is figuring out how to balance the need to keep the story moving forward with the need to explain lots of important background details to the reader. This is a balance that will be […]
