Whether you’re writing a short story or novel, you’ll need to spend time ensuring you get your opening paragraphs right. You may even agonise over them, striving for that killer hook.
After all, we’re told time and time again how important it is to grab your reader’s attention straight away. It is, but once you have their curiosity piqued, you’ve then got to keep them there – all the way to the very end.
I’ve run a few courses on short story and novel writing, and many of the attendees find that it’s the middle they struggle with the most. They’ve worked hard on their beginning and are sure it’ll entice the reader in. They also have an idea for how they’re going to bring things to a close, as well as some of the middle, but they worry the latter won’t be captivating enough to hold the reader’s interest all the way through.
In my role as an editor of novels, and also as a short story judge, I often
