A tip a day to keep the rejections away
Welcome to my marathon of writing tips—one tip a day to make
you a better writer.
What are my qualifications?
For several years, I’ve written the Pet
Vet column for the Post Bulletin newspaper. I’ve had articles published in RunMinnesota, DVM360 journal, and The
Wagazine. I’m in a wonderful
critique group that meets weekly to tell me everything I’ve done wrong.
Save yourself some time by learning from my mistakes.
Abbreviations as follows:
MS = manuscript
CP = critique partner
WIP = work in progress
POV = point of view
MILE SIX = YOUR
FIRST FIVE PAGES
The first five pages of your MS are critical. Get used to seeing them, because you’ll be
rewriting them a lot. But don’t get too
attached. The first page, even the first
250 words, can be tricky. In a few
paragraphs, you need to establish the MC’s voice, set the tone, and introduce
the main conflict. You’ve either got to
hook the reader (or agent) by then, or they won’t turn the page.
In time, you may discover that you’ve started your book
several scenes too early, or a little too late.
Writing, rewriting, and asking others for feedback are the only ways to
improve.
First, submit your first few pages to your critique group
and ask the following questions: “Do you
like it? Are you hooked? Do you want to read more?” Use their feedback to revise and resubmit over
and over again, until they’ve seen your first page so many times they’re
friggin’ sick of it. :.)
Then email the first few pages of your book to your non-writing
friends (but choose ones who actually like to read). Ask them the same questions. Tell them to be honest. Then incorporate their feedback.
After this, you can enter on-line contests and workshops,
and ask complete strangers what they think of your intro. I highly recommend Adventures in YA
Publishing’s “First Five Pages Workshop”:
http://firstfivepagesworkshop.blogspot.com/p/workshop-rules.html?m=0,
but keep in mind it’s only for YA literature.
The down side of asking so many people what they think is
the difficulty in dealing with conflicting opinions. The more people you ask, the more likely they
won’t agree with each other. Such is
life.
Don’t forget to check your resources. Yank all your favorite books off the shelves
and peruse their first five pages. What
drew you in? Use what you learn to
emulate, not duplicate.
Keep working, and don’t lose hope. You WILL eventually perfect your first five
pages, but it may take time (and about 500 revisions) to get there.
Good luck!
See you tomorrow for Mile Seven!
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