This is so helpful. I never considered thinking about form when it comes to my first few pages, but it makes perfect sense. If I were an agent I would be looking for every signal that the person writing is a good writer because I don't want to waste my time or theirs. I checked my novel, which I'm hoping to start querying in mid-late august, and thankfully it wasn't in that form! It felt like a win, so I wanted to share.
Also, as a side note, your descriptions of different novels are so hilariously accurate and parody-ish. I could read a whole post of just you saying what you think the common tropes are and then writing the start of it haha!
Knowing when to start and how to sprinkle in exposition is one of the hardest things (and the most intuitive in really good writers, I think). And now I want to read your vampire book.
“I told you to stay off the Twitter!” sent me haha
Love the description of info dumps as The Great Wall. I recently started reading a (published) book that I was having trouble getting into and realized it was because there was too much telling and not enough action/dialogue scenes. I looked ahead to see how much white space there was on the pages (not a lot!), so I knew I was in for even more Great Walls. (I tend to get many client manuscripts with very long prologues, which put up a wall before even getting to the main story!)
Not going to lie—I literally opened up my manuscript while reading this post and checked the shape of the first few pages! Thanks for making this idea really easy to grasp and be on the lookout for in our own writing.
This is so helpful. I never considered thinking about form when it comes to my first few pages, but it makes perfect sense. If I were an agent I would be looking for every signal that the person writing is a good writer because I don't want to waste my time or theirs. I checked my novel, which I'm hoping to start querying in mid-late august, and thankfully it wasn't in that form! It felt like a win, so I wanted to share.
Also, as a side note, your descriptions of different novels are so hilariously accurate and parody-ish. I could read a whole post of just you saying what you think the common tropes are and then writing the start of it haha!
Knowing when to start and how to sprinkle in exposition is one of the hardest things (and the most intuitive in really good writers, I think). And now I want to read your vampire book.
“I told you to stay off the Twitter!” sent me haha
I think I’m going to write it in my “free time” on spec
I needed to go back to the text to understand why you talk about Fledglings and Turn. I had completely skipped that weird sentence...
Brilliant
Love the description of info dumps as The Great Wall. I recently started reading a (published) book that I was having trouble getting into and realized it was because there was too much telling and not enough action/dialogue scenes. I looked ahead to see how much white space there was on the pages (not a lot!), so I knew I was in for even more Great Walls. (I tend to get many client manuscripts with very long prologues, which put up a wall before even getting to the main story!)
Really interesting concept! I appreciate your explanation, and I'm now adding that tip - look at the shape of the writing - to my revision checklist!
Not going to lie—I literally opened up my manuscript while reading this post and checked the shape of the first few pages! Thanks for making this idea really easy to grasp and be on the lookout for in our own writing.
Best advice: begin your book the day things changed.
Fascinating! In some sense, pacing in a story is represented visually on the page. Of course it is, but it's not something I've thought about before.
Really interesting thank you. You did make me laugh with your example scenarios for different genres.