Anna Staniszewski

I started reading the craft book Hooked by Les Edgerton yesterday. It’s all about how to write the best beginning for your manuscript. What I like about the book is that even though it’s very focused on the start of the story, it helps you set up all the ingredients you’ll need to make the rest of the story successful. The biggest mistake writers make, Edgerton says, is starting the story in the wrong place. Another mistake is putting too much backstory into the first chapter, instead of focusing on the present story and conflict. I think all writers have been guilty of these sins at some point in our writing lives.

Here’s a quote that I especially like where Edgerton is warning against the dangers of summary and telling (instead of showing):

Your goal is to evoke an emotional response that hooks the reader, and telling absolutely won’t get it. The reader must live through that opening scene right along with the protagonist. The is the only way the reader will really believe it and, more importantly, feel it.

I don’t think you can ever get enough reminders of how important it is to let your readers experience your protagonist’s emotional journey with him/her. As Cheryl Klein reiterates in her wonderful post on defining good writing, the characters and their emotions are what make a book stand out.