: Tell me why I should keep reading. Don't waste your reader's time. This is my mantra. The first sentence should foreshadow a conflict. That is at least what I find the greatest novels always

Tell me why I should keep reading.

Don't waste your reader's time. This is my mantra. The first sentence should foreshadow a conflict. That is at least what I find the greatest novels always stick with.

Example:

"We should start back," Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark
around them.

Why do you think George R.R. Martin began with this very sentence? That is what, I feel, you should be wondering at all times with every book you have in your hands. And when you re-read your first chapter, you should be able to find an answer for it.

Martin shows us that there is a conflict in such short time. It's beautiful and attentive.

It's the lack of Royce's judgement creating that conflict. He hints you a "minor issue", foreshadowing the main one: The Others are coming.
Why won't they be able to escape when they come? Because they didn't head back. Because Royce's order was an insurmountable obstacle where no compromise could be made.

Further immersion= Martin also suggests that Gared and Will were not missing common sense. Royce's character is there to make us witness The Others. This scene wouldn't have happened without him.
Furthermore, we know we can trust Will's point of view. Hence we feel bad for the injustice he is condemned to in the next chapter.
Martin brought everything together. And that is why you keep reading.

As a rule of thumb, the first sentence should tell us why the writer decided to start the story at that specific point of the timeline.
It was not randomly picked out of the bunch. It was there cause it guides us into a climax that provides the reason behind the "I don't know what this book has but I can't put it down!"

I probably added many points that people are aware when reading Martin. I hope I wasn't too verbose; I felt like I should have included my whole picture about a good first chapter.

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: Tell me why I should keep reading. Don't waste your reader's time. This is my mantra. The first sentence should foreshadow a conflict. That is at least what I find the greatest novels always

More posts by @Samaraweera193

: I am not a writer so please don't expect a great answer, but think of characters Kristen Wiig played on Saturday Night Live (SNL). Some of the most annoying characters she played were adored

: Publish the same book under two names I have self-published books under a name that I used before moving to another country, where I partially changed my name. I'd like to know if I could

: In third-person limited POV, what can be described? In 3rd person limited, when the protagonist is present in a scene, can the narrator describe something in a scene that the protagonist cannot

: Is it considered plagiarism if i take an item from another story and use it in my own? I am writing an essay for school about "The Neighborhood of the Future" And I want to include the

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