Comments on: Fix Your Beginning

By: true beginnings

true beginnings — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 06:40:00 +0000

[...] will spring forth new ideas about the true value of work, integrity, creativity and economy. …Kidlit.com · Fix Your BeginningThe same should be true for your book. Start with a scene that shows the reader, a) who … Try [...]

By: Kidlit.com · Contest Redux

Kidlit.com · Contest Redux — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:21 +0000

[...] So nailing a perfect beginning, while somewhat artificial, is a very specific skill. And I want to help people do this well. Of course, once you nail the beginning, you also have to nail the rest of the book. If you don’t, you’ll have what I call Conference Polish Syndrome. Since conferences pay close attention to the first 10-15 pages, writers who have been workshopped a lot usually have a really strong sample… but fall apart on pages 11-20. I’ve written about beginnings before. You can check out my other post about novel beginnings from Revision-o-Rama this past December. [...]

By: Elaine Long

Elaine Long — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:50:41 +0000

So here I was so happy that the story I entered in your contest doesn’t start out talking about the weather! Then I find this post and see the word ‘normal’….arg. There it is in my second paragraph. Does it not count if it’s in the second and not first paragraph of a story? lol Well at least now I know that it’s something I need to change or reword somehow. Thank you for this blog Mary. I have found it very helpful and will still read even though I probably blew it with this contest submission. LOL : )

By: Marybk

Marybk — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:19:04 +0000

Choke. Didn’t see this column before entering my first 500…ugh.

I’ve done the wake-up thing. The book kinda revolves, a lot, on magical realism during sleep-mode. Not trying to weasel out of this one, though.

And all the other bullet points were a breeze.

I’ll have to go back. Now I’m depressed-er than depressed. At least I’ve failed with about a third of the writing world?

And at least now I know I’ve failed.

By: Brian Higginson

Brian Higginson — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:48:50 +0000

An invaluable list. I tend to fall in to the backstory trap. I once heard a succesful writer use an angling metaphor - bait the hook, hook them, play them, reel them in. I don’t know that I’ve done that succesfully yet - as yiu say elsewhere: each time you write, you get better.

By: Marjorie Light

Marjorie Light — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:52:53 +0000

Mary - Great advice! Each year I give my 7th grade students small piles of new mid-grade & YA books to sort into ones they find intriguing and ones that don’t grab them immediately. They examine them for the “promise of the first page,” as this is often one of the main way they choose books when browsing in the school’s library. (Others include recommendations and looking at the cover.) After the activity they share their impressions of the novels. Invariably, the books they choose to read are ones that jump right into the action and reveal the character in the first page or two. I think all writers should bookmark your revision page and refer to it often…I know I do! Thanks again!

By: Substitute Teacher's Saga: Eye of the Beholder

Substitute Teacher's Saga: Eye of the Beholder — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:57:55 +0000

[...] http://kidlit.com/2009/12/07/fix-your-beginning/comment-page-1/#comment-2373 [...]

By: Theresa Milstein

Theresa Milstein — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:55:51 +0000

Mary, I took your advice to heart, and made the necessary changes. Now I don’t know why I was so attached to a bad opening. Thank you.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:49:29 +0000

Janet — Wow. That was easy. I literally had to do NOTHING but sit here and let you work it out by yourself.

By: janet

janet — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:26:07 +0000

Okay so you need to totally ignore my previous post. After I wrote it I took a look at my first two paragraphs, threw out the sleeping thing, had my character do something different, and now it’s way better. And it was so easy to fix. You rock!