Seems like a long time since I’ve given an update, eh? Yeah,
funny thing happened…
I was just about ready. I’d compiled my list of prospective
agents, and then re-sorted it once I figured out exactly how to categorize my
writing. I’d sketched out a query letter (which I’ll talk about some time soon,
just can’t even right now). I was just about ready… but not quite.
A bit more research! I told myself. I didn’t want to just be
ready – I wanted to be ready. So I started googling the agents at the top of my
list. Turns out one of the agencies had a blog. Okay, great. I start reading…
and here’s an interesting series: nine posts on story openings to avoid.
I read the first post, and then spend the next 15 minutes
kicking furniture and cursing up a storm because of course that’s exactly how I
opened my story.
The agent is absolutely correct: While I poured my heart and
soul into creating a striking, brooding image of a lonely young lady reaching
the top of a hill as the sun set on an icy winter day, nothing is actually
happening – and that’s the problem. All that ruminating is great for conveying exposition,
but it also means I wasn’t starting at the true start of the story. It’s the
literary equivalent of a movie that opens with endless voice over or text
scroll. Boooooring!
So I had to throw on the brakes and reconsider my opening. It
took some time, but I found the starting point I needed. In case you’re
wondering, it looks a bit like this:
I guess it could have been worse: I could have opened with #8.
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