How Not to start a book
Opening with a Dream
How NOT to start a book, Never under any circumstances, open the story with an action than reveal that the character was dreaming. Do not end your story that everything that happened was a dream either. Agents or editors won’t be happy with that.
Waking up
Same as dreaming, do not open your story with your MC waking up and doing the usual boring stuff. Like brushing his/her teeth, making coffee, eating breakfast etc. The story should start with an action or at least, before the action. However, some say you can start the story with your character waking up with a gun pointing in his/her head because that starts with the immediate action.
The Tour
The tour is when your character is sitting in her room i.e living room and starts to talk what’s in it and describing his/her stuff.
The Mirror
Another tip in How Not to start a book is, do not example write your MC goes to the bathroom and starts to describe herself/himself by looking in the mirror. Big no.no. It is considered one of the biggest cliches in writing.
Family Showcase.
This is where your MC is visiting her family and starts to describe her mother, father, and siblings. Keep in mind that the reader is starting to get to know your MC so, give your reader the chance to get acquainted with the MC first, then start to introduce your reader to other characters.
Happy Writing xxx
These are good and I am happy to say I have never done any of them. Yay! Do you have a post on how to stay motivated and actually finish a book? Lol that’s my problem.
I will post that in later future!
Completely agree with these tips, especially the waking up from a dream! I think that one of the best ways to start a novel is to read, read and read lots of different books – you’ll learn about all the different ways you can open!
I definitely agree! So many of these things have been overdone over the years by writers, and some originality is always good!
Agree! These are rookie mistakes. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks!