The First Five Pages by Lukeman Noah, 068485743X, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

Superb - the most useful advice so far.

I've read a few books on the craft of writing; most recently "Crafting Scenes" by Raymond Someone or another, Nancy Kress's "Beginnings Middles & Ends", of course, and the excellent Stephen King's "On Writing", .. but this is the most useful (sorry Mr King).

The premise is that Agents and Publishers have so many manuscripts sent to them, the only way to get through them is to sift through the first five pages looking for reasons to reject. This book tells you what those reasons are, and how to avoid them. Follow the advice given, and theoretically at least, your manuscript should stand a much better chance at publication.

The book is carefully laid out. It deals with the most heinous of crimes first and covers more subtle problems in later chapters. Most chapters are fairly short, and each has a handful of examples to illustrate the point being made followed by a few short exercises.

I buy a lot of books from Amazon - always second hand - and then I sell them again once read. To me Amazon is the world's largest lending library. But "the first five pages" is a one to keep hold of. I can see myself coming back to it again and again.

If you write, you need this book.

Readers and editors are over burdened with books, book deals, writers, publicity, and other aspects of their daily routine. They are expected to read manuscripts at home, so it is no wonder that to get through a large slush pile editors use the precedent: find reasons to reject manuscripts in order to go on to the next one.

This book does not teach 'how to write,' but how to avoid the mistakes that send your manuscript to the recycle bin. That is the craft of writing.

To be successful, you have to capture your audience in the first five pages. Noah Lukeman, a prestigious editor turned agent knows the secrets of successful writing. In reality, you must capture your reader in the first five words, sentences, or paragraphs with a strong hook and the good writing.

Lukeman arranged the chapters in The First Five Pages to show each process in rejecting manuscripts. Follow the steps, and if you are lucky, you might get a contract. Do not follow the steps, and the only reason your manuscript will reach the one person who can make a difference is through a fluke.

Each chapter concludes with write and rewrite examples and practices. The Lukeman way is included at the back of the book. The only way to become a better writer is to write. The following is only a brief synopsis of a few chapters.

Presentation: The number one reason aspiring writers get rejections is that the work is inappropriate for the market. Simply put: do not send a bodice-ripper, swashbuckling tale to someone representing coffee table books. Other problems are spelling errors, sloppiness, faded text, and dirty paper; they all indicate carelessness that is generally reflected throughout the book. Research your market, and prepare your manuscript according to the instructions given by the agent, editor, or publisher. If they want Ariel font, give it to them.

Adjectives and Adverbs: The next step to rejection is the overuse or misuse of modifiers. These words tell rather than show your noun. "If a day is described as 'hot, dry, bright and dusty,'" these words are tedious and the image becomes significantly unimportant. Overuse is very easy to spot by a cursory glance.

Sound: If your manuscript has reached this level, it is being read. Pacing, rhythm, meter, or beat is about the way your prose reveals the story. "Prose can be technically correct, but rhythmically unpleasant." Read your work aloud; if it does not sound right to you, pay attention.

Comparison: Analogy, simile, and metaphor can be overdone. I read about 1/3 of a book recommended to me as an excellent thriller. The plot, characters, dialogue, details, and descriptions were good. I could not read the book because everything is not like something else, every paragraph or three included a simile.

Style: If the writing feels forced or exaggerated, or the writer began to showcase his words rather than the story, the probability of rejection is high. Another nit for me is redundancy; this is a matter of using the same or similar word in close proximity. It is also a reason for rejection.

I recommend two books to my clients or fledgling writers. This is one of them.

Victoria Tarrani

Advice that might make abysmal writers slightly less so.

This is a book about how not to write. It shows you how to avoid bad dialogue, weak characterisation, poor pacing, and various other forms of amateurishness. As such it will help awful writers become slightly less awful. But if you can write and want to find out how to get published, there are more appropriate books out there.

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