Hello, amazing fellow creatives! Here’s to more fun perusing the library’s new releases to see what strikes our fancy. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve retitled Story Cuppings to better fit the premise of the podcast.
As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.
Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?
Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:
Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.
JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST 50 PAGES
What will you, fellow creative, learn in the first five pages? Let’s find out!
If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.
I have to be honest–the opening pages of Verity by Collleen Hoover did not move me to keep reading. Hoover’s prose style cuts like a knife, and her word choices say a lot with a little. But there’s something about the intense message about Manhattan’s lack of humanity mixed with a protagonist who *desires* to lose her humanity and be “as hard as the concrete” beneath her feet that makes it very difficult for me to relate to this protagonist as a reader, especially when considering the bloody death the protagonist witnesses in the first five pages. The protagonist is determined to *not* connect and *not* empathize. This approach certainly gives the writer opportunity to build layers that can be peeled away as the story progresses, but a reader has to be invested to see that happen first.
This is just my reaction as a picky reader, though. Perhaps you’ll feel differently about this book–or whatever book I select next from the library’s New Release shelf.
As always, I love hearing what’s on the shelves of your own libraries. Libraries Rock!
Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!
