Subscribe to Read | $0.00
Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!
Quick and Easy Sign Up!
It takes less then 1 minute to sign up, then you can enjoy Unlimited eBooks.
Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!
Quick and Easy Sign Up!
It takes less then 1 minute to sign up, then you can enjoy Unlimited eBooks.
Read Anywhere and on Any Device!
Rate this book!
Write a review?
Writing a book? Hard. Writing the beginning of a book? Rocket science! Strap on your spacesuit, because thanks to Munier’s nuanced, actionable breakdown of every possible aspect of a gripping opening, authors everywhere can now take their books to the stars.
Paula Munier shows authors how to set up their stories to captivate agents, publishers, and readers, and she does so with deft clarity and invaluable insights. This is her third book on writing and she once again shares her vast knowledge as a top literary agent about narrative structure, craft, and the current state of publishing. I will keep this with her other two guidebooks within arm's reach of my desk. Five stars!
Great guide to craft
This was seriously amazing and so helpful for my WIP!
Outstanding. A must-read for every aspiring and already-published novelist. A resource to return to with each new novel, remembering what it is that keeps agents, editors and, most importantly, readers who trust you with their time and money, reading past page one.
Some interesting ideas and strategies for stroy openings. A lot of imformation to digest, and may need some parts re-read. The only criticism I have is that the author mentioned writers having boring pages that turn readers off. She did this with pages of her own novel, used for comparison and structure, and I couldn't get into it. Perhaps it's just me.
A nice guide for writers. She discusses point of view, characters arcs, plot and so on. Her recommendations are geared toward finding an agent or a publisher: the best techniques an author can use to get his or her book noticed in the crowded market place. She uses many examples for each topic he covers. I would have been happier with fewer excerpts throughout the book since I didn't even read most of the books. Did this book help me? No. It reinforced principles I already knew. But I'm never go...
The Writer's Guide to Beginnings is packed with tips and exercises that will help you sharpen that pivotal first scene in your novel. Unfortunately, it's also packed with so many quotes it becomes bogged down by them. It starts out innocently enough with solid beginning examples from popular novels. Terms like "narrative thrust", and "organizing principle" are words to keep in mind when you're working out that opening. Chapter 7 is the high point in which she details how to structure your beginn...
I took my time reading this one and did the exercises it suggested with the novel I wrote. I am still incorporating the advice, but it takes time. I am now on my fourth draft of my novel and I am the better for it. If you are writing your first book like myself, I highly recommend getting this book. This is a library copy, but I made so many photocopies of pages throughout the book that I will definitely buy my own copy to refer back to over and again.
I was hoping for more. I loved the references to other works; those parts were great, and there was a lot of good information on what to-do and what not-to-do, but the book had the feel of being written as part of an unwanted assignment - like the heart of the writer wasn't really in it. I believe Paula knows her business, but the fluff and fill in the book to get it to length was distracting to me. Too many quotes, and most weren't very helpful.I'm glad I read it, I would not recommend it.
Sticking with my new year's resolution to read more books on the craft of writing, I'm ahead of schedule, as my resolution was 24 books, so 2 per month, and this is book number 2 so far.The author, Paula Munier, is a literary agent with quite a following on the internet with her Query Shark column of ripping apart queries to tell hopeful writers what that poor sap did wrong. She likes telling people they messed up, and I think is genuinely trying to help people learn. Let's just say her approach...
Terrific advice for writers covering not just how to create a great opening chapter, but also idea generation, self-care, professionalism etc. An inspiring addition to any writer's book shelf.
Competition is fierce in the publishing world. Anything that gives a writer an edge is welcome. This book does just that. It is an excellent, well though out and presented primer for creating a beginning to a book that will grip readers and keep them reading. More importantly, it describes what literary agents and publishers want to see in the beginning of a book that will make them request to see the rest of the story. Getting an agent or publisher to that point is one of the most daunting hurt...
Exquisite. I recommend writers study this book as if you were back in high school learning, because if there were a class on how to write a book, this would be one of the textbooks and we would all be so lucky to have Paula as one of our teachers. I highlighted, bent pages, took notes, and re-read over and over, committing her wisdom to memory. I have this on my writing desk as reference now.Where is the hidden sixth star on Goodreads. I wish I could award the content of this book an additional
