The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile

This book has plenty of great writing advice. Read all of it, you will find something to improve your writing.And you will get some great laughs. The examples of what not to do range from making me smile to wanting to gut-bustingly laugh out loud. I perform at open mics, and I read the examples for Melodramatic (which I read to the tune of Love is a Many Spendored Thing) (Oh, Henry! Oh, Margaret! My love, my sweetness! And the birds sang a song just for them.) and for Style (The boy ran. Into the woods. It was dark. Scary. Cold. He fell. He got up. Pain. In his arm. The pursuer. Catching up. He ran. AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!). Okay, this is just a little sample of them, and I added the scream myself at the open mic. The audience liked it.If you are a writer, this book has plenty of advice about style, tone, mood, dialog, characterization, hooks, and yes, there's still more!If you are only a reader, it will give you great laughs based in reality (the author had to read a lot of submitted manuscripts, so he has seen lots of real life bad writing). With the example of Style, the author said don't laugh, he has read much worse examples of writers trying badly to add suspense to their prose (by chopping it up into teeny weeny pieces?) that kept up for 300 pages. You will read the examples, and think between guffaws, "Hey, I can write better that that!" And you will sit down and start writing a book. And try to make it a good one, with advice from this book. Maybe you won't write a great book, but you will appreciate writing more by learning more about storytelling.Buy this book and read this book and learn from this book. It is worth your time, it will inspire you, it will teach you, and it will make you laugh.

Contains useful information for serious writers.

As a beginning writer I found The First Five Pages quite helpful.This book is organized by Lukeman in the order he feels are the reasons editors, agents and publishers reject a manuscript, which is great for new writers. Now that I've read the whole book, I plan to work through my manuscript chapter by chapter referring back to this book.I recommend reading through the entire book before going through your manuscript, because you don't want to fix one problem in your manuscript only to create a new one that's covered in a later chapter. Having the whole picture already in mind will help the writer stay on track easier.Note: Don't assume that the chapters at the end of the book aren't important for writers to pay attention to, but rather that if you must be weak -- and all new writers will be weak in some areas -- make sure you're not weak in the areas covered in the front of this book. The decision makers will never know if you're strong in pacing if your first page is poor. They'll have tossed it by the second page.The weaknesses in this book, in my humble opinion, are the examples. They're so blatantly obvious that they're not helpful. I would've loved to see two paragraphs compared: One that was fine, but exhibiting weaknesses and then that same paragraph made great. Most of Lukeman's examples were so painfully obvious that even the worst of writers would surely know not to write like that.Nevertheless, I found this a great tool for beginning to intermediate writers. Advanced writers might benefit from this book as a back to basics checklist, but they're not going to learn anything new.

Excellent advice with clear examples and a fun read , while imparting valuable information that guides and inspires in equal measure.

Readers and editors are over burdened with books, book deals, writers, publicity, and other aspects of their daily routine. They are expected to read manuscripts at home, so it is no wonder that to get through a large slush pile editors use the precedent: find reasons to reject manuscripts in order to go on to the next one.This book does not teach 'how to write,' but how to avoid the mistakes that send your manuscript to the recycle bin. That is the craft of writing.To be successful, you have to capture your audience in the first five pages. Noah Lukeman, a prestigious editor turned agent knows the secrets of successful writing. In reality, you must capture your reader in the first five words, sentences, or paragraphs with a strong hook and the good writing.Lukeman arranged the chapters in The First Five Pages to show each process in rejecting manuscripts. Follow the steps, and if you are lucky, you might get a contract. Do not follow the steps, and the only reason your manuscript will reach the one person who can make a difference is through a fluke.Each chapter concludes with write and rewrite examples and practices. The Lukeman way is included at the back of the book. The only way to become a better writer is to write. The following is only a brief synopsis of a few chapters.Presentation: The number one reason aspiring writers get rejections is that the work is inappropriate for the market. Simply put: do not send a bodice-ripper, swashbuckling tale to someone representing coffee table books. Other problems are spelling errors, sloppiness, faded text, and dirty paper; they all indicate carelessness that is generally reflected throughout the book. Research your market, and prepare your manuscript according to the instructions given by the agent, editor, or publisher. If they want Ariel font, give it to them.Adjectives and Adverbs: The next step to rejection is the overuse or misuse of modifiers. These words tell rather than show your noun. "If a day is described as 'hot, dry, bright and dusty,'" these words are tedious and the image becomes significantly unimportant. Overuse is very easy to spot by a cursory glance.Sound: If your manuscript has reached this level, it is being read. Pacing, rhythm, meter, or beat is about the way your prose reveals the story. "Prose can be technically correct, but rhythmically unpleasant." Read your work aloud; if it does not sound right to you, pay attention.Comparison: Analogy, simile, and metaphor can be overdone. I read about 1/3 of a book recommended to me as an excellent thriller. The plot, characters, dialogue, details, and descriptions were good. I could not read the book because everything is not like something else, and every paragraph or three included a simile.Style: If the writing feels forced or exaggerated, or the writer began to showcase his words rather than the story, the probability of rejection is high. Another nit for me is redundancy; this is a matter of using the same or similar word in close proximity. It is also a reason for rejection.I recommend two books to my clients or fledgling writers. This is one of them. THe other is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print, by Renni Browne.Victoria Tarrani

Very smooth transaction.

As a writer working on my first novel, this book has taught me so much!

Recomendo como um bom guia para quem quer aprender como escrever e como avaliar o seu próprio. Usei as dicas e fiz os exerce acho que melhorou meus resultados

This is a fantastic guide to writing, and while it does cover the hook and "the first five pages", it goes on to discuss the skills a writer needs not only to write a book, but to improve it, and ultimately write something worth reading.

Not bad at all.