Description
The first 500 words can make or break a project. Most editors and agents, like most readers, make very quick decisions about whether to commit to a book.
A best-selling author, Danielle Trussoni has learned the first two pages of a book have to be immediately engaging and written in perfect prose. Trussoni will begin this class by discussing the importance of the first two pages of a novel, memoir, or work of nonfiction and what these pages should tell readers about what sort of book they have chosen. Then we’ll look at the beginning of a few well-known contemporary works as examples of great beginnings.
Finally, Trussoni will analyze the first 500 words of our writing, sentence by sentence, which participants will submit electronically in advance. Discussion will include the supreme importance of the first sentence, fundamental grammar, syntax, use of literary devices (metaphor, simile, alliteration), voice, point of view, showing versus telling, and foreshadowing.
Because of the time spent on each submission, this workshop must be limited to 5 writers. We’ll leave with a fully edited, compelling beginning for our work.
