JRWC12 Tidbit #2 - That Crucial First Page

All writers are taught that the first page is crucial to hooking the agent, the editor, and the reader. Getting that opening scene right takes serious crafting.

It is a much loved and equally terrifying tradition at the James River Writers Writing Conferences to offer intrepid writers the opportunity to have their first page randomly selected, read aloud, and critiqued in a Plenary Session.

Preparing for First Pages

The 2012 First Pages session this year featured a panel of Liz Bicknell (editorial director, Candlewick Press), Ayesha Pande (Ayesha Pende Literary agency), and Alec Shane (agent, Writers House), moderated by JRW's own David L. Robbins. This year's first pages were gleaned from a wide range of genres - general fiction to YA and everything in between.

The JRW First Pages panels have been known to be instructive and sometimes, brutally honest, so submitting is not for the faint-hearted. Nothing less than the writer's absolute BEST EFFORT should be  offered. Anything less will be spotted right off the bat and the experience about as pleasant as being struck by that bat. However, the advice is given to help improve the work and not to "make friends," so be warned.

This year's panel was no less instructive than prior years and perhaps a little harsher than some, but far from the harshest to grace the stage.

Here are some of my notes in the hopes that you'll find some of them as insightful and helpful as I did:

• First page has to set place, person or plot - as many as possible if not all
• "Disputation is key"
• Grammatical errors are unacceptable - these pages are your key to the kingdom and lack of attention to detail here speak poorly of your skill
• Pacing should be immediately evident and appropriate to your genre
• The much lauded "hook" MUST be presented immediately or the agent/editor will become the one that got away
• Voice - give the agent/editor the full impact of your character's unique voice as well as your own
• Don't introduce too many characters in that first scene overwhelming the agent/editor/reader

While none of these points are news to a serious writer of any level, seeing them actively illustrated is priceless. Rules handed out in a vacuum are sometimes poorly implemented, however, being offered concrete examples never fails to nail them down.

This is the purpose of the First Pages session - to educate, to illustrate, and to assist. For the fortunate souls whose pages were read and critiqued, the lesson may not have been painless, but there's no way they could be discounted as anything less than golden.

My thanks to the panel who offered their best advice and comments.

My congratulations to the folks whose pages were read - go forth, revise, and conquer!

JRWC12 Tidbit #1 - The Power & The Glory of The Pitch

First, friends, don't faint, I'll be posting quite a bit this week because I've got a lot of good stuff to share from the James River Writers 2012 Writers Conference. Today - The Pitch

For writers, there is nothing so exciting and terrifying as the pitch session. For non-writers, the term will generate a "huh?" so a moment to describe.

"The Pitch" - Writers need to approach agents and/or editors with their writing and any good writing conference offers short little interview-type sessions for authors. These can range from five to fifteen minutes (times vary from conference to conference) however, the level of terror does not.

At conference Pitch Sessions, authors select the agent/editor that they hope will be most interested in their current brainchild. Then, at the appointed time, heart in throat, notes in hand, they sit down across the table and offer their most concise and eloquent summary of their story.

Think Job Interview distilled down to its most intense moments.

The James River Writers 2012 Writers Conference provided not only Pitch Sessions of seven precious minutes, but also hosted their Second Pitchapalooza with The Book Doctors and this year's guest agent, Alec Shane of Writers House.

Writers signed up and names were drawn randomly. The fortunate stepped up to the mikes and were given ONE MINUTE to pitch their book. In front of a full auditorium, no less. Afterwards, The Book Doctors, David Henry Sterry and Arielle Eckstut, and Alec Shane would offer critiques on the pitch.

Every year, I sit in awe and breathless support of the brave pitchers and gobble up all the helpful advice offered in a kind & generous manner by the panel. Here are a few things that I gleaned and need to apply to my own pitch:

• Lead with action
• Your Protagonist must be named and their stakes explained.
• Your Antagonist should be uniquely identified
• Tease us with the worst thing that could happen/what's at stake
• Give a solid example of your "fabulous voice and particular story"
• Offer comparative titles to help identify your genre/audience

There were far more nuggets of gold scattered at our feet by the panel, but these were the ones I managed to scoop up.

If you're interested in learning more about The Book Doctors follow the links I've embedded and consider their book - The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published


Thank you, James River Writers, for producing yet another spectacular event and I look forward to sharing more tidbits over the course of this week.