We are digging deep into first pages and what makes a great one.
What does a first page have to accomplish?
- Get the reader hooked and make them want to keep reading
What Makes the first page good?
- Voice
- Clear sense of time and space
- Curiosity
- Connection with the main character
- Bonus points for setting up the main conflict or hinting at it early
Types of First Pages
- Thriller—Schock Opening
- Flash Forward
- Narrator Intrusion/Intro
- Curiosity Inducing
- Main Character Connection
Examples of some Fantastic First Pages and a discussion of why they work
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Shock opening
If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
Flash Forward
Narrator Intrusion
The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters
Curiosity Inducing
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Main Character Connection