Noteworthy Blog Post: Concept Begins from Line One — Or What’s the Point? And a Contest Announcement!
If you haven’t seen the Adventures in YA Publishing blog and you are a fellow writer, check it out. I found this recent post particularly helpful:
This post has an array of great advice for novels from the first line, to concept and more.
I will share with you the most valuable reminder I took from the advice which is that every sentence, especially the first, should draw the reader into the next.
This is something I know I’ve heard before, but somehow that basic rule had slipped away from me. I feel like it is something that has been guiding me unconsciously, but of course it will be stronger if it is actively worked to make the most of it.
So that sounds pretty simple and basic: each sentence should lead to the next. While it sounds simple, I believe the execution can be tricky. What this idea suggests is that there be some kind of hook or question or revelation that leaves the reader wanting more. In a sense, I like to make the comaprison that each sentance is in some very small way its own riddle.
Here is an example for a string of sentences that would demonstrate this (I will insert some things which might come to your subconscious from each sentence in paranthesis after):
The air was musty with lingering moisture created by the collection of bodies, which also made the temperature hot (Who are these people? What is happening to them?)
So there is a small example of what it means to use each sentence to draw the reader to the next. There are many ways to do this and forms to take on in the process. No matter how it is approached, it is a great technique to be conscious of and I am so glad to have been reminded of it.
Hope you all enjoyed this post 🙂
