By Tony Flood
For those of you who are thinking about writing a book, I would like to pass on some very helpful advice from experts, which has already benefited Anderida Writers members, of which I am Chairman.
Patrick Walsh, the founder of Publishing Push, tells writers: “Ask yorself if the first five pages are vital to your story. Would the story suffer if these five pages were removed? If the answer is ‘no’ you should consider removing them.”
Mr Walsh adds that most readers don’t quit on chapter one. The first chapter usually has enough of a hook to get them to chapter two. They quit somewhere between chapters three and five and the reason is almost always the same.
He explains that the opening to your story may set up a promise in chapter one, but it is not delivered in the following four chapters.
The story implies it’s going to be about something like a problem, a question or a tension between characters. Then, somewhere in those middle chapters, the story stops paying off the promise and starts wandering.
There are scenes that don’t advance anything; conversations that exist to deliver information; subplots that introduce themselves and then forget to do anything. The momentum from chapter one fades, and the reader starts to suspect the book isn’t going where they thought it was going. This is the moment they put it down.
The fix for this is to make sure every scene between chapter one and chapter five is paying off something the opening promised. Either developing the central tension, complicating it, deepening character through it, or moving toward whatever the story is actually about.
Mr Walsh says: “If a scene in chapters two through five isn’t doing one of those things, it’s where you’re losing readers.“The hardest part is that this is invisible to the writer. You know what each scene is doing in the larger plan but the reader doesn’t have your plan. They only have the chapters in front of them, and if those chapters don’t feel like they’re building toward something, they leave.”
Best-selling author Peter James gives this advice: Decide upon the ending of your book before you start writing it – you wouldn’t drive a car if you didn’t know where you were going.
As an author myself, I can also give comfort to those of you who have published in haste and repented in leisure!
You can make changes and corrections by re-publishing on Amazon.co.uk without incurring any cost.I have done this with my latest crime thriller Beggars Belief – Deadly Disguise and Web of Lies. I suddenly thought of a new twist, which I felt readers would greatly enjoy, so I have added an extra ‘explosive’ chapter. The new version is now available as both an e-version for £1.77 and paperback for £7.99.Hopefully, my experience will help others.You will be most welcome to come along to meetings of Anderida Writers where guest speakers have included our own Maria Bligh. The next meeting is at the Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne, on Tuesday, July 21st, at 7.30 pm when actors Brian Capron and Sue Thacker will read out entries from those entering the annual Short Story and Poetry competition.
Author Bio:
Award-winning writer Tony Flood spent most of his working life as a journalist, initially on local and regional papers and then on nationals. He was also editor of Football Monthly, Controller of Information at Sky Television and enjoyed a spell with The People before retiring in 2010.
More details and book offers are available on two websites as follows:
https://tonyfloodauthor.wordpress.com/
http://www.fantasyadventurebooks.com
Tony is the chairman of Anderida Writers, Eastbourne, a group formed to support local authors. The group holds monthly meetings at which regular guests offer advice and support to members. Visit their website at: www.anderidawriters.co.uk for dates of forthcoming meetings.
Contact Author:
Email: tflood04@yahoo.co.uk
