This one is GOOD, kids. Lots of page-turning—but also a lot of constructive crit, discussion of who you’re writing for, and we really dig into the all-important distinction between curiosity and confusion, along with the reality of the editing or beta-reading experience. Big thanks to the writers for three great first pages that really helped us help everyone.
If you’re just tuning in—Each month (and sometimes more often), we’ll choose 2-3 “first pages” to review. A first page, for our purposes, is the first 350 words of your book—fiction, non-fiction or memoir. We will read the page aloud on the podcast and discuss with a single thought in mind: Would we keep reading?
Why just a first page? Because we know it’s HARD to get these right. And while you can count on your reader to know where they are in time and space and genre based on their selection of the book in some cases, in most you can’t be relying on that. You have to grab the reader AND make them feel settled and secure in wherever you are, even if that’s not what the protagonist feels at all.
