We will consider the need to establish setting, show the main character’s normal world, reveal the stakes, and meet genre expectations. How can you accomplish all of this in the first chapter?
Point of view is one of the most important decisions you make before you begin writing your first chapter. Whose perspective will you choose–yours, one of your characters, or multiple points of view?
The first thing a first chapter must do is hook the reader with one or more catchy opening sentences. Learning how to write the first chapter of a book is difficult, but mastering how to write a great first sentence is at least as important.
What is a plot convenience? Can you identify examples of plot convenience in books and movies? Learn how to avoid plot convenience in your novels.
Make a Living as an Author: Debunking Author Myths
The one part of the time bucket analogy that works is to do your best to put the big rocks first, so the less important things either fill the spaces between the big rocks or slip over the edges of the bucket and go undone.
We have all seen courtroom dramas where the witnesses called to testify get on the stand and are shown to
Use content pillars to generate content for your blog, social media posts, and newsletters. Stop struggling with what to write about in your blog and your author newsletter and your social posts!
Before you send your manuscript to beta readers or to an editor, here are seven more ways to immediately see an improvement in your manuscript.
