Comments on: The First Page

By: MR

MR — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:59:43 +0000

I actually like the Pillars of the Earth line. It raises a lot of questions (who and why is someone being hanged) and immediately establishes a time frame (hangings with public audiences are not exactly modern things outside of 3rd world countries).

@annie: I believe you’re confusing World Without End (the sequel) with Pillars of the Earth (the original).

Not that it’s hard to do, because they are The. Exact. Same. Book. One just happens to be set 200 years after the other, but the plot, characters, themes, setting, and so much more are just rehashes of the PotE.

It’s one thing where you have a sequel that expands on the original. As an example, take Star Wars’ The Empire Strikes Back versus A New Hope. Empire takes the original characters set up in ANH and weaves all new plots for them and builds settings and arcs we haven’t seen before. It’s truly a sequel.

Imagine if Empire Strikes Back had the same plot as A New Hope, but was just populated with Han, Leia, and Luke’s great-grandkids. Han and Leia’s offspring act just like them and Luke’s act just like Luke. The villain is played by someone who looks, acts, and fights just like Vader, but has a different name. And there you have it – the Star Wars version of World Without End. So boring and so predictable.

By: daci armstrong

daci armstrong — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 07:00:15 +0000

My nose is running like Niagara Falls, my guts are flowing faster than the Mississippi so I guess this is the start of flu season 2008! I am looking forward to getting daily writing tips. I need to spend some time out of the bathroom!

By: GoingLikeSixty

GoingLikeSixty — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 02:05:37 +0000

I guess I haven’t been keeping up with how publishing houses are dying.

http://www.salon.com/books/fea.....ublishing/

- Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt – freeze on buying manuscripts.
- Simon & Schuster laid off 35 employees
- Thomas Nelson also announced 54 layoffs
- Macmillan had laid off 64 employees

Sara Nelson, editor in chief of Publishers Weekly. “I think it feels worse because it’s everywhere now. It feels like the world is coming to an end — and book publishing is just one part of that.”

So who do these agents think they are kidding?

By: Charlie

Charlie — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:41:21 +0000

Funny, when I pick up a book I open it to the middle and read a paragraph, then do it again in another section. If it interests me, then I look at the first page.

I have slogged through first chapters of tedium and blah to discover a rich story line and characters. But then, I ‘ve also read books with terrific beginnings that just fade out and never revive. There is no guarantee that the beginning fortells the middle and end.

By: annie

annie — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:17:36 +0000

There are a lot of narrow thinking agents out there and judging by the books I quit reading within the first 40 pages, perhaps they are over-estimating their ability to pick stories readers want to read.

The Pillars of the Earth? Starts out strong but it doesn’t take long to realize it is a soap opera with a medieval setting. Doesn’t live up to the first book at all.

The Da Vinci Code? A good example of a great story idea and a so-so writer.

Catherine, called Birdy has amazing voice and beats the crap out of Pillars frankly. And The Stranger is an excellent example too.

But why should I trust agents who toss out cliches at conferences? A good writer with a good story can hook you using any of those forbidden first sentences. It’s not about arbitrary do/don’ts. The writing should be able to overcome first line prejudice. So really, it’s about not having a compelling story or not being as good a writer as you think you are.