16.28: Common First-Page Mistakes
Your Hosts: DongWon Song, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
Let’s have a frank, and possibly painful discussion about the ways in which the first page can go wrong. It may seem like hackneyed writing advice, but rules like “don’t start with the main character waking up” are rules for a reason. In this episode we’ll talk about those reasons, and why it’s so unlikely for books which break them to succeed with readers.
Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson
Homework: Have a look at the first page of your work-in-progress, and look for clichéd mistakes.
Thing of the week: The First Line (literary magazine).
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