Everyone says to begin at the
beginning – but don’t forget – begin with action. You must grab an editor or agent within the
first two sentences of your manuscript, then within the first one thousand
words.
Make the ‘reader’ care immediately about your character(s)
giving them challenges, personality, temperament, a defect or two, and of
course assets.
Present your character’s challenge and conflict(s) in the
story. Set the tone; is there danger,
suspense, drama, heartbreak, treachery, or betrayal? Give the reader a taste of what’s to come . .
. so they’ll want to continue reading.
Don’t make it easy for the reader to guess the ending – give
foreshadowing at the beginning, middle and end that might implicate several
possible killers or accomplices. I so
want to be surprised, don’t you?
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