Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

Let’s start a story. In order to get the most out of this, I’m going to assume you already have an outline, or at least an idea of what you hope to accomplish. I’m also going to assume you’ve gone to the fictional character draft and picked a character or two with some upside. Finally, I’m going to assume you’ve decided what tense you’re going to present this story in.

How do you start this locomotive moving down the tracks? I’m going to offer some suggestions and a few pitfalls you might want to avoid.

Many experts insist your first sentence has to have hook in it. Something like this, “All children, except one, grow up.” I’m not that strict, and look at all writing rules more like guidelines. I’ll grant this about hooks: couldn’t hurt. What you really need is a reason for a reader to turn the page…