Endings & Beginnings

John Martin’s ‘Pandemonium’, 1825 — illustration to accompany Milton’s Paradise Lost

A battlefield of white, a sword of ink: two choices lie before you. Throw your reader into the bedlam and chaos of a battle scene, with action here, action there, and a sideways glance at a main character that either revels or cowers in the face of it all, revealing their instinctual responses to pressure that will follow or change them throughout the novel. OR do you grab your reader by the arm, pull them int...