Novel Beginnings: How To Start Your Book

Beginnings, they're hard! How do you land a first page? First line? First act? What are some of the common pitfalls in book beginnings, things to watch and avoid?

I'm going over all the things to consider at the start of your book. Many agents, editors, and readers will only give you a page or two before they give up--so you want to make sure you hook them, keep your pacing up, nail that inciting incident, and get them into act two.

Some things I'm covering include first lines (do they matter?), first pages, starting in the right place, inciting incidents, info dumping, exposition issues, character development, plot beats, worldbuilding and more!

TIMESTAMPS

01:38 Starting in the right place
04:41 Exposition pitfalls
07:07 Info dumping & trusting your reader
09:14 Getting readers to care about your character/world
12:24 Inciting incidents
15:57 Examples of inciting incidents
17:31 Decision point/break into two
18:49 First impressions
20:18 Delivering on the promise of your premise/first pages
23:14 First lines (with examples)


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