Would Your First Lines Sell Your Book?
by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28 If someone read the first line of each paragraph in your book, would they buy it? I tried that exercise once, afraid of the answer. It taught me to pay closer attention to my paragraphs. Each line that begins a paragraph is like one of those people who are hired to stand on a corner and hold a sign that says: Come visit so-and-so. Except, your first lines hold an invisible sign that says: Keep reading! So try it. You�ve probably heard that customers look at the first line of a book to see if they want to buy it. But remember that they are likely to skim more of your book to make a final decision. Help them out. Take the first chapter of your work in progress, and read the first line of every paragraph. Then ask yourself the following questions. 10 Questions to Test the Quality of Your First Lines Do my first lines make me want to read the whole book? Do they make me want to read the paragraphs they begin? Have I used enough vivid nouns...