Tag Archive - first page elements

Five Months on the First Scene

writing on hand

Believe it or not, I’ve spent the first five months of 2012 discussing the essential elements that must be in the first scene in your book. Wow! Some of those elements, of course, pertain to all your scenes, but I’ve covered them all in as much detail as I (and maybe you) probably want to at this point. In case you never got your nifty first page checklist , download it here. And if you haven’t been following this blog, you can go back and read through the posts of the various elements and hone your writing ability—for that’s what this blog is all about. Continue Reading…

Where’s My Voice?

cat singing

One of the essential elements needed on your first page (and that continues through to the end of your novel) is your voice. This term is discussed in countless books, websites, and anywhere writing is taught. It seems like a nebulous thing. Just what is voice? How can you tell when an author “has it” and when she doesn’t? What should a voice sound like as it relates to the novel you are writing? Continue Reading…

Seeing the World through Your Character’s Eyes

Happy with Global warming?

One of the essential things you need to do in your first scene is ground your protagonist in her setting. Just writing that made me blow out a breath. Why? Because I edit and critique so many manuscripts that contain really dull narrative about the setting. Most common is the scene that goes underway for a paragraph or two and then suddenly inserts an author interruption in which I read a number of paragraphs (or pages) telling all kinds of details about the scenery, locale, and the world the protagonist is in. The problem is this information is all detached from the POV character. Continue Reading…

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