Entice Inspiration week! Top Three Tips – Caroline Kirkpatrick, Assistant Editor

Welcome to Entice Inspiration week! We’re getting geared up to really fill you with the writing spirit with Entice webposts and tweets (@piatkusentice)! Assistant Editor Caroline has kindly agreed to start us off . . .

It’s Monday morning, the sun is shining and it looks as if summer’s not officially over yet! Hooray! We’re really excited to be receiving your submissions for our Piatkus Entice competition so please do keep sending them in. And if you’re feeling a little bit of writer’s block this morning, don’t fear, as I’d love to give you my top three tips to help get you started!

Stand out from the Crowd

As we are only asking for the first two chapters of your novel, it’s super important that they stand out and grab the attention of the reader straight away. We want to be hooked into your characters’ worlds immediately and immersed in the story from the get go. Think of all your favourite romance writers and you’ll know that by the end of chapter one, you just can’t put their books down.

A heroine/hero you can identify with

All humans have flaws, and the heroine (or hero!) of your story will be no different. Remember though, it’s really important that they are someone that we, as the reader, can relate to and imagine being our friend. You might not like everything about him/her but you should be able to identify and want to be a part of their world.

Create a mini-drama every five pages

Ever thought what’s the secret to that really page-turning, unputdownable book? Most likely it will be pacy and there will be unexpected twists and turns that you really weren’t expecting. One of the elements of a book that I find makes it so readable is the mini-drama every five or so pages. Now this doesn’t have to be super dramatic but something should happen that keeps your interest firmly there. It could be the first time the heroine meets the hero, the first kiss, a moment of internal realisation when the heroine realises how she really feels. These mini-dramas can be really subtle but fundamentally it’s crucial that they move the plot forwards at all times!

And that’s it! We’d love to know what you think makes a great opening chapter or two.

Happy writing and keep sending your submissions in!

Caroline

x

Don’t forget to tweet any articles, photos, tips, songs (the possibilities are endless)! to @Piatkusentice, #enticeinspiration!!