How (Not) To Start Your Novel

You might be wondering why I am returning to the topic of your story’s beginning again, given that I have written about twice in the recent future- first, with the 8-Word Spark exercise, then again with “The Best of Times: A Story’s First Sentence”. One of the reasons it is so important to get the beginning right (while acknowledging that you shouldn’t get stuck trying to make it perfect) is that so much of what follows is impacted by it. The more you are able to begin your story well, the ea...