About Great Starts and Editors

My debut novel “It Can’t Be You” started with “The man was dead.” I then went on to develop the opening scene where a body is found. At that stage those who find the body do not know whether the man was killed or killed himself. Many who read the book have commented that it set the tone for what became an absorbing psychological thriller.I was happy to see that my thoughts on the opening for a book were not very different from those expressed  in Jacob M. Appell’s “10 Ways To Start Your Story Better” in Writer’s Digest. This is an excellent resource for any writer.

I also liked Juliet Marillier’s blog post, “The Role of Editors: A Writer’s Viewpoint”. I have learnt that editing is such a crucial process in getting out your book. Your plot may be great, the ideas may be super but your writing tends to fall by the wayside if your book isn’t edited properly. I wish more authors would recognize that editing is perhaps the most difficult part of the publication process. I, for one, have found writing to be far easier.