Start at the very beginning!

I know all authors have different aspects of a book that make them want to a) cry, b) trash a room, c) drink, d) eat their weight in chocolate, e) all of the above, but for me, it is chapter one.

Where should I start? is a common mental block for me, that perfect spot where you immediately land a reader in an interesting place, introduce characters and location, what dramas might be pending for the hero or heroine, a nod towards the villain...eeeeeek, even the thought of this gives me hives.

Every book I've written, chapter one has been the head-desker. Complete deletes of hundreds of words, tweaking a paragraph for hours, putting in, taking out and putting in again, glaring, cursing, howling...you get the gist.

But a great opening, one that insists no other task could possibly be more important than diving into chapter two, that is gold. When you have the pages that makes an agent or editor scream MORE! NOWWWW! or reviews that say 'hooked from page one', you've aced it.

Try, try, and try again. It is worth it!