Two recent posts by blogging agents illustrate once again the importance of your first pages. They have to TURN.
Where’s the urgency?
Agent Kristen Nelson, on her Pub Rants blog,
wrote about doing a workshop at a writers conference. In the workshop,
she and two other agents listened to authors read their opening pages,
and called “Stop.” at the point they would have stopped reading in
their offices. They then explained why they wouldn’t read on. Kristen
says:
Without a doubt this was the biggest issue we found in the pages that were read: The openings lacked a sense of urgency that would have propelled the story forward or would have engaged the reader immediately in the story or the characters presented.
In other words, most opening scenes had nothing at stake. A lot of the opening pages we saw were really back story disguised as an opening chapter
Now don’t mistake me and assume that you have to have an action-packed scene or bombs going off or some hideous moment occurring. Having something at stake can be a small thing, such as a missing photo, but it’s not small for the character in the story. For example, you could have a woman searching for a missing photograph and perhaps this photo is the one surviving shot she has of her father and so there is real panic that it could be missing—maybe even forever. That she can’t find it, that she can’t remember when last she saw it, that maybe there is something coupled with it that makes this missing photo even that much more crucial to have at this moment in time. There is something at stake for the character.
The goal of your first pages
Agent Jennifer Jackson, at the Donald Maass Literary Agency, asks for the first five pages in queries to her. On her Et in arcadia, ego. blog, she posed this rhetorical question:
What do I think is the purpose of the first 5 pages?
She answered the question this way:
To get me to want to read page 6 (and hopefully 7, 8, 9, etc.).
They don't need to be perfect. In fact, watch out for over-editing because that can make them seem stale. They do need to be exceptional.
These pages don't need to have bombs going off or start with a big action scene. Though starting in media res can be helpful
-- watch out for backstory that can bog down your opening. Someone recently repeated to me this advice: "Start the story as late as you can."Obviously, the whole story is greater than the sum of its parts. I'm not expecting to know everything about the book in just five pages. That's not why I'm reading them. I'm looking for a sense of things. The writer's style or voice, perhaps. A compelling character. A strong plot hook or concept. A taste that makes me want more.
All they have to do is get me to turn the page and want more when there isn't any more.
Pick up the nearest novel you have at hand and read the first page. What makes you want to keep reading? Or what makes you want to skip it for something else?
The reason I bring these up is that, occasionally, a writer gets a flogging here and then I’ll see them talk about it on their blog, saying that, well, really, the gotta-turn-the-page requirement doesn’t apply to my jewel because. . . It’s a natural response to defend what you’ve spent time and effort crafting—I do it too. So go ahead and have that reaction. And then move past it. Put on your objective eyes and look for a way to start the story more strongly. You don’t have to throw away the original that you love, you just have to try to beat it.
If, that is, you want one of these agents to ask for more.
Remember these words of advice regarding your first pages:
Kristen Nelson: Have something at stake.
Jennifer Jackson: They need to be exceptional.
For what it’s worth.
Ray
Your generosity helps defray the cost of hosting FtQ.
Public floggings available. If I can post it here,
- send 1st chapter or prologue plus 1st chapter as an attachment (cutting and pasting and reformatting from an email is a time-consuming pain) and I'll critique the first couple of pages.
- Please format your submission as specified at the front of this post.
- Please include in your email permission to post it on FtQ.
- And, optionally, permission to use it as an example in a book if that's okay.
- If you’re in a hurry, I’ve done “private floggings,” $50 for a first chapter.
- If you rewrite while you wait you turn, it’s okay with me to update the submission.
© 2009 Ray Rhamey
As much as I resisted this message in the beginning, I think it's spot-on. Isn't Maass who says something like "Come late to the part and leave early"?
Posted by: hope101 | June 03, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Uh! Long day. Throw a "y" up there for me, will ya?
Posted by: hope101 | June 03, 2009 at 10:21 AM