From First Word to Last

This is Part 2 in this series.  Part 1 addressed how to write beginnings. If beginnings are important, endings are doubly so. From the first line of a story each word, each scene is driving the reader toward an eventual specific point. Predetermined, concrete, the ending is in place before the reader even knows the … Read more

Opening lines are touted as some of the most important of a story. How-To books and author blogs tell us to engage, captivate, immerse, excite—and to stop at nothing less. But what is the secret to an amazing story opening? Why do stories seem to succeed or fail on page one? In the Beginning Let’s … Read more