Tuesday Tidbit: Spotting major flaws in your memoir’s opening

Here’s your 15 seconds of inspiration,

this week’s Tuesday Tidbit:

Prolific author Cecil Murphey said, “I once read more than one hundred of the entries for Christmas Miracles, a compilation book. The major flaw in at least a third of them was that they told us the ending before they told us the story.”

How are you doing on your memoir’s beginning?

Matilda Butler offers brief but oh-so-practical tips on making your memoir’s opening sparkle. Check out her writing prompts at Now It’s Your Turn.

Related posts :

Excellent resources for your memoir’s opening

Tips for writing a top-notch opening

First lines

Openings: the hardest part

Sharon Lippincott’s tips on writing your opening paragraph

A writing contest over at Women’s Memoirs

First Paragraph contest winners

Silver Award winners

Tuesday Tidbit: First Paragraph contest winners

Here’s today’s Tuesday Tidbit,

your 15 seconds of inspiration:

Do you remember the First Paragraph contest over at Women’s Memoirs? Pamela Jane Bell, Kendra Bonnett, and Matilda Butler invited us to submit one paragraph—an opening paragraph—for their contest.

Did you enter the contest? I hope so! I did.

This morning I was pleased to see my entry listed as one of the Silver Winners. (Click on Silver Winners to read it.)

At that link you’ll find a list of the other Silver Winners and their paragraphs, and you’ll see what worked and what didn’t. Studying those entries, and reading Pamela’s feedback, helped me grow as a writer, and you’ll find the reading of them informative, too.

Related posts:

Tips for writing a top-notch opening

First lines

Openings: the hardest part

Sharon Lippincott’s tips on writing your opening paragraph

Tuesday Tidbit: A writing contest over at Women’s Memoirs

This week’s 15 seconds of inspiration might take you 30 seconds,

but it’ll be worth your time: Here’s a fun opportunity!

At Women’s Memoirs, Pamela Jane Bell, Kendra Bonnett, and Matilda Butler have announced a contest for both women and men. (If you’re a man and you doubt whether you can enter, read the comments at that link.)

They invite you to submit one paragraph—your opening paragraph—for their current contest. Entries, due September 3, should be around 150 words. Click here to learn more, and be sure to check out those prizes! 

If the thought of entering a contest makes you want to run the opposite direction, click here for a pep talk.

A book’s opening is the most important part to write well: From sentence one, your job is catch your readers’ attention, draw them in, and entice them to keep reading. 

Thursday I’ll share tips on editing, rewriting, and making that paragraph sparkle. For now, look over your manuscripts (you have a number of them in rough draft, right?) and select one to polish for the contest.

Be sure to come back Thursday!