Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy)
I’m teaching at a writer’s conference this week, so instead of one of my in-depth posts, I thought I’d create a quick checklist for you.
Here are 10 writing mistakes that kill your first chapter (in no particular order). Get them before they get you!
#1 – A Boring/Generic First Line
Don’t show me the character doing anything completely normal and forgettable. Waking up, getting out of their car, folding their laundry…
Your first line needs to raise questions in the reader’s mind and make them curious or hint at trouble/conflict. Preferably both.
#2 – Point-of-View Shifts
Head-hopping is always a problem, regardless of where it crops up in your manuscript, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. I mean a point-of-view shift carried out with a proper transition. See More . . .
