Get On Board: Keeping Readers on the Dramatic Train

By Allison K Williams

There is a glorious moment in almost every manuscript where the editor realizes, “Aha! THIS is where the story starts!” and breathes a prayer of thanks that the author does indeed have a book. Their labor has paid off, we discover, and we don’t have to send a diplomatically worded editorial letter suggesting they start again from scratch.

This moment is usually somewhere in pages 34-50.

Don’t get me wrong—I see plenty of strong first-page hooks. Intense confront...