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If you are looking for advice on what NOT to do in writing your great masterpiece, this post I'm about to direct you to might help. It focuses on the seven reasons agents will stop reading your first chapter.
- Generic Beginnings
- Slow Beginnings
- Trying Too Hard
- Too Much Info
- Clichés
- Loss of Focus
- Unrealistic Internal Narrative
The information for this post was gathered at a writers' conference where several agents listened to openings -- first 250 words -- of manuscripts and gave feedback. For more details, check out: WHY AGENTS STOP READING