The Writer's Guide to Beginnings: How to Craft Story Openings That Sell

by Paula Munier

Give your story its best start!

The best beginnings possess a magical quality that grabs readers from the first word and never lets them go. But beginnings aren't just the door into a fictional world. They are the gateway to the realm of publishing--one that could shut as quickly as it opens.

In The Writer's Guide to Beginnings , author and literary agent Paula Munier shows you how to craft flawless beginnings that impress agents, engage editors, and captivate readers. You'll learn how to develop the big idea of your story and introduce it on page one, structure opening scenes that encompass their own story arc, kickstart your writing with effective brainstorming techniques, and introduce a compelling cast of characters that drive the plot. You'll also examine the best-selling novels from different genres to learn the secrets that experienced writers use to dive straight into a story.

With thorough examinations of voice, point of view, setting, dialogue and conflict, The Writer's Guide to Beginnings is a must-have tool for luring your readers in with your opening pages--and convincing them to stick around for the ride.

"Writing a book? Hard. Writing the beginning of a book? Rocket science! Strap on your spacesuit, because thanks to Munier's nuanced, actionable breakdown of every possible aspect of a gripping opening, authors everywhere can now take their books to the stars." -- K.M. Weiland

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Crafts

256 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2016

About the author

PAULA MUNIER is the author of the bestselling Plot Perfect, The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings, Writing with Quiet Hands, and the acclaimed memoir Fixing Freddie. The first novel in her mystery series, A BORROWING OF BONES (Minotaur, 2018) was inspired by the hero working dogs she met through Mission K9 Rescue, her own Newfoundland-retriever-mix rescue Bear, and her lifelong passion for crime fiction. In her fabulous day job as Senior Literary Agent and Content Strategist for Talcott Notch Literary, she represents many great writers. Her specialties include crime fiction, women’s fiction, upmarket fiction, MG/YA, high-concept SFF, and nonfiction. She lives in New England with her family, Bear, Freddie, and a torbie tabby named Ursula.

Reviews

[K.M. Weiland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing a book? Hard. Writing the beginning of a book? Rocket science! Strap on your spacesuit, because thanks to Munier’s nuanced, actionable breakdown of every possible aspect of a gripping opening, authors everywhere can now take their books to the stars.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. A must-read for every aspiring and already-published novelist. A resource to return to with each new novel, remembering what it is that keeps agents, editors and, most importantly, readers who trust you with their time and money, reading past page one.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

All writers know the importance of those first few pages (first few lines even) in attracting a literary agent's attention. This book gives specifics on how to write them and offers plenty of examples as illustration. I've read other books with a similar theme, but I found this one to be the most specific and useful. I can now look at my opening scene and see if all the elements are there. But though the book is focused on beginnings, there's valuable advice that pertains to the entire manuscript, from story structure to theme, from POV choice to dialogue. I recommend this book whether a writer plans to seek a traditional path or an independent one. Readers have lots of choices out there. This books help ensure they'll pick yours. (Review based on a paperback I won through a writers conference auction.)

[Wendy Bunnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sticking with my new year's resolution to read more books on the craft of writing, I'm ahead of schedule, as my resolution was 24 books, so 2 per month, and this is book number 2 so far.

The author, Paula Munier, is a literary agent with quite a following on the internet with her Query Shark column of ripping apart queries to tell hopeful writers what that poor sap did wrong. She likes telling people they messed up, and I think is genuinely trying to help people learn. Let's just say her approach, as a New York City agent, is a little more direct than you'd talk to people in the Midwest. She put the "aggressive" in our "passive aggressive." My mom would meet her and then mention how they're making an appointment for someone to come help them change the lightbulb, rather than ask me to help. Paula would smash your broken lamp with a hammer and tell you it was no good to start with. Just a style difference.

There is a lot of good information in this book. Right now, I'm doing one of the exercises in trying to brainstorm my "true writer self" by filling out "top ten" lists in a large number of categories. It's interesting, and will help my writing. Whether I could ever write a book and hone the first pages to earn a request for more from Paula, I'm not sure, but she knows what she's talking about and she isn't mincing words.

I'd recommend this to any of my writer friends, but especially for anyone who wants to start their book with a prologue *GASP* not a prologue or a character alone thinking thoughts about their past. This will pull you out of that slow opening and have you just start your book at page 50. Toss the rest of that out. Why did you even write it? Yup, that's the type of recommendations you are getting in this book, so come prepared, but open to learn.

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Writer's Guide to Beginnings is packed with tips and exercises that will help you sharpen that pivotal first scene in your novel. Unfortunately, it's also packed with so many quotes it becomes bogged down by them. It starts out innocently enough with solid beginning examples from popular novels. Terms like "narrative thrust", and "organizing principle" are words to keep in mind when you're working out that opening. Chapter 7 is the high point in which she details how to structure your beginning and ways to organize it.

Then the quotes! Paula also tells us to edit, but she needed to edit a bit more before sending this in for publication. We get quotes everywhere; at the start of chapters, at the end of chapters, beginning of a topic, end of a topic, a topic entirely devoted to quotes. AHHH! The quotes should have been sprinkled in rather than starting and beginning almost every section. I can hardly even remember any of them! It would have been a much smoother read with fewer voices from other authors and greater voice from the book's own author.

One thing I really liked is how she equates opening a story to juggling -- to be a master at your craft, you don't just juggle one item, you juggle knives, torches, all kinds of things that are dangerous. That's how you become a great writer. And if you can juggle the many quotes in this book, you'll find a great read underneath.

[Jonathan Peto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interestingly, this book was very useful to me. While reading it I revised one manuscript that is “finished”. (I’ll also use it to revise another one that I know isn’t ready.) Although a lot of the content isn’t necessarily new to me, something about how it was presented gave me ideas about how to attack that “finished” manuscript. For example, my antagonist probably appeared one dimensional and I probably had not connected the first chapter enough to the story’s big idea. Unfortunately, that manuscript may be a goner, as Paula writes on page 43: “In truth, it doesn’t matter how good your opening scene is if the idea on which your story is based is flawed, either in storytelling terms or marketing terms.” If it isn’t a goner, this revision of the beginning may be the one to free the story from its rusty cage...

[Susanne Leist · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice guide for writers. She discusses point of view, characters arcs, plot and so on. Her recommendations are geared toward finding an agent or a publisher: the best techniques an author can use to get his or her book noticed in the crowded market place. She uses many examples for each topic he covers. I would have been happier with fewer excerpts throughout the book since I didn't even read most of the books.
Did this book help me? No. It reinforced principles I already knew. But I'm never going to write solely for an agent or publisher. I write for myself and the reader.

[Audra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took my time reading this one and did the exercises it suggested with the novel I wrote. I am still incorporating the advice, but it takes time. I am now on my fourth draft of my novel and I am the better for it.

If you are writing your first book like myself, I highly recommend getting this book. This is a library copy, but I made so many photocopies of pages throughout the book that I will definitely buy my own copy to refer back to over and again.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and also wanted to throw it across the room a few times because now I have so many things to change in my novels! :D It was very insightful and helped me a LOT as I continue to navigate my way through two separate novels of differing genres. Almost all of it is underlined! A wonderful resource for any novelist who needs a gentle shove in the right direction.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful... and a good reminder that it’s really the first 250 words that will get someone to keep reading - you have one shot so make it count!

[Josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has good advice. It shows you how to create a riveting story opening and talks about how to get good ideas, how to get the attention of readers, specifically agents/editors/publishers/etc., and how to write good opening lines, chapters, and pages. I got a lot of epic writing quotes in this book too, both from the context and from quotes that were shared.

However, it doesn't always talk about beginnings. It goes over things like dialogue, prose, and the three-act structure beyond the specificities of the beginning, which is good for newer writers who need to know, but for those who have already heard it can be repetitious. The examples were also filled with swears causing me to skip over them, which hindered Munier's way of trying to get concepts across.

[Martin Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paula Munier shows authors how to set up their stories to captivate agents, publishers, and readers, and she does so with deft clarity and invaluable insights. This is her third book on writing and she once again shares her vast knowledge as a top literary agent about narrative structure, craft, and the current state of publishing. I will keep this with her other two guidebooks within arm's reach of my desk. Five stars!

[John Lord · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for more. I loved the references to other works; those parts were great, and there was a lot of good information on what to-do and what not-to-do, but the book had the feel of being written as part of an unwanted assignment - like the heart of the writer wasn't really in it. I believe Paula knows her business, but the fluff and fill in the book to get it to length was distracting to me. Too many quotes, and most weren't very helpful.

I'm glad I read it, I would not recommend it.

[Debra Clewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas and strategies for stroy openings. A lot of imformation to digest, and may need some parts re-read. The only criticism I have is that the author mentioned writers having boring pages that turn readers off. She did this with pages of her own novel, used for comparison and structure, and I couldn't get into it. Perhaps it's just me.

[Elizabeth Chatsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific advice for writers covering not just how to create a great opening chapter, but also idea generation, self-care, professionalism etc. An inspiring addition to any writer's book shelf.

[Julie]

I was really interested to read this book, especially knowing that the author is a a literary agent with years of experience reading the openings of manuscripts. But found it less than helpful. It is almost entirely telling you "what" to do, but nothing about how. There were a few new insights, but in almost all cases, the "what" is already painfully obvious to writers. It's the details of exactly how to accomplish these things that writers actually need. And the quotes - I've never read a book with so many random quotes from random people shoved in between sections of the book. Literally at least one on nearly every page, for almost 250 pages. The reason I DNF is because the end of the book has a very lengthy example text with poorly formatted bracketed questions within the text, that was such a struggle and slog to get through that I finally gave up.

If you are a new writer, who hasn't read widely on the craft yet, you may find value.

[Eileen O'Finlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Competition is fierce in the publishing world. Anything that gives a writer an edge is welcome. This book does just that. It is an excellent, well though out and presented primer for creating a beginning to a book that will grip readers and keep them reading. More importantly, it describes what literary agents and publishers want to see in the beginning of a book that will make them request to see the rest of the story. Getting an agent or publisher to that point is one of the most daunting hurtles writers must overcome. This book spells out how to do it. Loaded with examples and practice exercises, it is a must read for any aspiring writer.

[S.Acosta S.Acosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite. I recommend writers study this book as if you were back in high school learning, because if there were a class on how to write a book, this would be one of the textbooks and we would all be so lucky to have Paula as one of our teachers. I highlighted, bent pages, took notes, and re-read over and over, committing her wisdom to memory. I have this on my writing desk as reference now.

Where is the hidden sixth star on Goodreads. I wish I could award the content of this book an additional star!

[Mark Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this book all the time as I approached each edit of my debut contemporary domestic suspense manuscript. Paul lays it out clearly and concisely. She's no nonsense and I like that. The tools she offers here gave me new perspectives each time I considered next steps for editing. It particularly focuses on beginnings, and I applied it to the very beginning, new scenes and new chapters. Every writer--especially new writers--need this next to them while clacking away on their story.

[Rick Graf · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author delivers a tour de force guide on creating a work that grabs the attention of agents, publishers, and readers. I recommend this book to authors who aspire to publish their prose because I obtained affirmation from "The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings…" and new insights into improving my unpublished manuscripts.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

[Rae Chalmers · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a few helpful tips in the first third of this book and a lot of repetition in the rest. It's ironic that in a book that repeatedly advises writers to delete, cut, edit, get rid of huge chunks of their manuscripts, the book appears to have a superfluous, redundant 30% that adds nothing other than meeting an arbitrary page limit for mass market sales.

[Cole LeCody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never put so many sticky tabs in a book before. The advice and insight in this guide made an impact on me and already I feel as though my writing has improved because of it. I will be keeping this book off the shelf, beside me, so I can reference it as often as I need.

[Alyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is hands down one of the best writing books I’ve ever read. Wanting to write? Read this. Wanting to query? Read this. Wanting to revise? Read this. It’s so helpful and full of great advice from an actual published writer and agent.

[Mart Oosterveld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book, and a definite must read for every aspiring author. It goes way beyond the beginning of a story, discussing plot, dialog, theme, setting and so much more. Munier shows us the difference between the good and bad stories, with clear examples from bestsellers.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was seriously amazing and so helpful for my WIP!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great guide to craft

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of examples. Well written and helpful to writers struggling with the beginning of their story.

[Kate Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find opening scenes give me the most trouble in my novels, but I haven’t been able to find concrete information to help me write better beginnings. I bought this book because of Munier’s experience as a literary agent and writer.

What I liked best is the specific examples she provides to help show us exactly what works in a novel. As a visual learner, I found this information to be invaluable. Now I’m able to compare and contrast and gain a stronger sense of not only what I’m doing wrong, but how to revise.

Munier reminds us that a beginning is comprised of many elements, and that it’s important to think carefully about our choices regarding POV, conflict, backstory, and setting—to name a few. She spends time explaining the choices we have and ways we can handle them to write the strongest story we can. What’s more, Munier offers “Jump-starts,” brainstorming activities to help you find the most effective story openers.

I still have a lot of work to do, especially if I want to attract the attention of a literary agent, but this book has already helped me find solid footing on the path to publication.

[Cindy Fazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The competition for a reader’s attention begins on page one. “If the beginning doesn’t work, the rest of the story doesn’t really matter,” writes Paula Munier, a literary agent, writer, editor, and writing teacher. There are many writing books out there, but this book stands out because Munier’s teaching skills shine through. Also, she offers first-hand observations about the publishing industry, and weaves them into the writing lessons she imparts. It’s “insider information” that won’t get you in hot water.

Are you wondering why agents or editors rejected your first chapter? You’ll find an eye-opening answer on page 27. Can’t decide whether to start your book with a prologue? Check out page 192. If you finished writing the first 100 pages of your novel—congratulations! Now you need the checklist on page 240 to bulletproof your work. Get a copy of the book now!

Read my full review on my blog: https://cindyfazzi.com/2016/11/18/pau...

[Alice Fleury · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read more How To books that I want to count. Many I haven't listed on Goodreads.

This one by MS Munier is a winner. Not only does she school you on first sentences, first paragraphs, and first scenes, she also speaks of structure, subplots and POV. Wait she's not finished! Now the writer must revise.

And now. I'm going back and rereading and doing the exercises she has added along the way.

There is so much more to this guide I haven't listed. I highly recommend reading it yourself. (and doing the work)