EARLY, EMERGING, MID-CAREER
Summary:
Beginnings are crucial for engaging readers and publishers. This workshop combines writing exercises with critical readings to help you craft captivating first chapters.
If the first few pages of a story are weak, chances are no one will ever get to the middle, let alone the end. And, in most cases, a publisher, editor, agent, or judge will be making an initial decision about whether to support your writing project based on your opening chapters.
You don’t have to grab the reader by the throat to engage them necessarily (although that might work); rather, you can gently seduce them with a beguiling voice, tease them with a curious premise or charm them with an interesting character.
So, how do you go about crafting first chapters that will keep the reader wanting more? This workshop combines writing exercises with critical reading—looking at a range of beginnings across genres to help you understand what works and why, and to explore the effects created by starting a story in different ways.
You will learn:
- An understanding of how to engage readers in the opening chapters of your work
- What to do and what not to do in your opening pages
- An appreciation for how beginnings set up the relationship between the reader and the story
- How to develop a range of technical skills and aesthetic choices for starting stories
For more information, visit writersvictoria.org.au
