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I'm revising the opening to a story that I hope will be a companion novel for THE WOLF'S CURSE and thought I'd share some tips for #PitchWars friends prepping for submission. 1) Ask yourself what your character expects to happen at the start of every chapter.
Then ask what actually happens; the difference provides the tension that drives the story forward. 2) Make a list of what you have to accomplish in your opening chapter. For example: introduce main character, establish setting, establish small (specific) problem to engage reader.
What else is important? Is there another character it's important we meet? A particular world-view your MC has we need to know about? A larger story goal you want to establish? The more you know about what you need your opening to accomplish, the easier it will be to get right.
Make sure your list includes any world building or backstory that has to be included in order for the opening to make sense. (If you aren't sure, try cutting it. Does the opening still make sense? If so, leave it out.)
It may be that there are super important world building elements or backstory that we have to know about, but don't force feed these to us in the opening--give us only what we need to know at the time and save these morsels for later, when they come up organically in the story.
3) Is your opening tangible and specific? Does it immediately introduce us to a character and allow us to visualize the scene? 4) Does it establish a clear "want" for your character so that we can see an arc as your character travels toward accepting what they actually need?
5) Is the opening sentence gripping? Unputdownable? Does the opening paragraph make us ask questions so that we want to keep reading? 6) Have you gone to bookstores/libraries and read the openings of lots (and lots) of current books? And comps?
7) Study mentor texts/comps to see how other authors approach these issues. Type out chapters and/or highlight them in different colors to identify elements like character, dialogue, setting, backstory/worldbuilding, and emotions.
8) Share with beta readers and CPs. 9) Proof for typos. 10) Read the story out loud. 11) Change the font and/or print it out and read it again. Now go over it seventy bazillion more times.
9) Easy, right? (Okay, it's not easy. Not at all. But if it were easy, everyone would be writers. So stick with it--the effort is well worth it when you see your craft improve.) P.S. None of these tips are hard and fast rules--just things to consider.
