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| The 'toon is from my Facebook page. |
The submissions ranged from fiction to non-fiction and adult
to YA, but the rejected pages seemed to have similar problems. The judges
identified four blatant writing miscues that caused them to stop reading:
1.
The story’s opening paragraphs failed to
establish where the story was taking place, the time, and the setting.
2.
The beginning was too slow. Too many details,
too much description, too much backstory, or too many characters—and all of that on the
first page—caused
the judges to lose interest. The opening paragraphs also lacked action or a
hook to entice the readers to continue to read.
3.
The writer didn’t establish a clear point of
view. She/he headhopped or mixed first or third person with omniscient points
of view.
4.
Mechanical errors earned a speedy rejection. What
are mechanical errors? They are the typos, punctuation errors (a lot of them involving
dialogue), and unclear syntax that can destroy a good story.
What agents or publishers see in the first few paragraphs
of a manuscript is what they expect to see throughout each scene and chapter. That makes for an acceptance or early rejection.
If you re-read the paragraphs of your manuscript, would you
see any of these miscues?
Lyrical Pens would love to hear how you construct a first
page. Do you re-write yours? I usually re-write mine many times as I work
through a manuscript.
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| Love this Chicken 'Toon from Facebook |
Okay, you-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try
to do
the same.
cj
DEADLY STAR (Publisher:
Crimson Romance)
PS: I intend to use the list to analyze a short story
I’ve just started, to make sure I stay on target.
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