But above all else, the Opening Image is an image. Yes, that sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many writers in my workshops don’t really grasp this right away. It should be a visual representation of your hero’s flawed life. So what does that mean? It means, open your novel with something active. There’s a reason it’s not called the Opening Inner Monologue or the Opening Info Dump. We should see your flawed hero in action. Remember all those flaws you jotted down in chapter 1, when we created our story-worthy heroes? Well, here’s where you pick one (or two, or three) and show us how
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