Readers are like fish. Smart fish. Fish who know authors are out to get them, reel them in, and capture them for the rest of their seagoing lives. But, like any self-respecting fish, readers aren’t caught easily. They aren’t about to surrender themselves to the lure of your story unless you’ve presented them with an irresistible hook. Our discussion […]
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 […]
September 28, 2011 by 50 Comments Beginning Your BookShould You Put Dream Sequences in Your Story?
It’s generally accepted that agents and editors dislike seeing dream sequences in your story. This is because a story opening that features a dream is a story opening that almost always fails to present a strong hook, character, setting, conflict, or frame. Although there are certainly exceptions to this rule, your wisest move is generally […]
