Tag Archives: first page critiques

January 31, 2020 · 4:24 pm

The 9 Most Common Mistakes I See on Opening Pages

Here’s a great new discovery: Annie Bomke. This post lays out almost every first-page show-stopper I’ve heard agents mention at conferences. “Over-narrating” is a trait I constantly have to work on. See if something here resonates with you!

Annie Bomke Literary Agency

A while ago when I solicited advice on what topics to cover in my blogs, someone asked me to cover common mistakes I see authors making in their first pages, so here is my rough list.

One quick note before I start the list, just to give you an idea of my mindset going into a manuscript. When I read a submission, I don’t ask myself: “Is this a good book?” or “Is this person a good writer?” I ask: “Am I interested in reading more?” There’s no such thing as an objectively good book, because reading is a subjective experience, so I don’t attempt to judge what’s “good.” All I’m looking for is a desire to read more. If I don’t feel compelled to read more, I stop reading.

So without further ado, here are the most common reasons I stop reading:

No Sense of POV
There’s a description…

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Filed under Editing your novel, Finding literary agents for writers, Learning to write, looking for literary editors and publishers, self editing for fiction writers, writing novels

Tagged as #amediting, #amquerying, #amwriting, agents, creative writing, fiction, first page critiques, how to query an agent, novel first page, writing, writing novels

October 11, 2019 · 11:33 am

3 Critical Things You Won’t Learn in an MFA Program – by Susan DeFreitas…

Everyone should read this! I’ve learned from attending conferences that agents and editors read differently from writing-group colleagues. Until you’re critiqued by an actual agent, you can’t know what works for them in your opening pages. You won’t get that feedback from cold querying, but conferences provide opportunities to learn firsthand how what you’ve written is received.

DeFreitas provides a link as well to a good series on first novel pages. Dig in!

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Jane Friedman site:

The pros and cons of an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in creative writing are widely debated: on one hand, such programs offer students the opportunity to work with accomplished authors, whose expertise (and endorsements) could make all the difference in publishing their first book. On the other hand, such programs often come with a hefty price tag, with fully funded options few and far between.

But regardless of whether you go for an MFA, some things are critical to establishing a career as an author that you probably don’t know, unless you’ve learned them the hard way (or you’ve worked in publishing).

I say this as someone who went for an MFA and then went on to establish a career as both an author and an editor. And this is information I want to circulate widely—first, because I know how hard it is to have…

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Working on Your First Page? Here’s Good Advice

Writers in the Storm often supply good lessons. This is a particularly cogent first-page critique Woman writing that takes aim at some my worst foibles: too many metaphors, authorial intrusions, details readers don’t need, details they do need–what about you? How would you rate this first page?