Great first pages

[Robinne Weiss]

Ran across this fabulous line-by-line analysis of why the opening pages of The Martian are so awesome. Worth reading, no matter what genre you write.

 

[Barbara]

This is really interesting. Thank you for sharing it.

 

[Hannah F]

And there you have matters of opinion. I don't like the opening to The Martian. IMO too much exposition, too much explaining. I find it disengaging, but then again I don't read sci fi.

 

[RK Capps]

And there you have matters of opinion. I don't like the opening to The Martian. IMO too much exposition, too much explaining. I find it disengaging, but then again I don't read sci fi.

You're too right, Hannah, we do all have different tastes Respect! For me, I adored The Martian. It started with conflict and just pushed the envelope until the end. No fat And I'm not a Sci fi reader.

And that website looks fab @Robinne Weiss. Thx! I'm bookmarking that

 

[Ancora Imparo]

Yeah, I just bookmarked it too. Great site, Thanks @Robinne Weiss!

 

[Robinne Weiss]

And there you have matters of opinion. I don't like the opening to The Martian. IMO too much exposition, too much explaining. I find it disengaging, but then again I don't read sci fi.

Yep. And we can all take heart from this--no matter what our writing style, there's an audience out there for us. I absolutely loved The Martian from the first sentence. We read it aloud as our family storytime book (when the kids were 14 and 16 years old--wouldn't have been able to do it earlier, for all the swearing). A bunch of science geeks, we ate it up!

 

[Jonny]

Great read and oddly after coming back to the colony I too had already bookmarked the site. I see others have done the same.

There's a link I spotted to the dissection of a prologue - Pete's favourite writing device - of what apparently is, and please forgive my ignorance of the genre as I've never heard of it, some well known book called Eragon?

Ouch!

I will check out some of the podcasts which sound interesting. Irrespective of our own writing genres there seems to be a heck of a lot of good general information and knowledge there.

Thanks @Robinne Weiss for the heads up.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Ugh! Eragon! We read that series aloud to the kids, too. Kudos to Paolini for cranking out four billion words at the age of 16, but the kid needed a proper editor! I saw a recent book by him in the bookshop the other day, and it was a huge tome like each of the Eragon books was. He must still have the same editor... As much as I disliked Eragon and its sequels, my teenage son loved them, so I bought the new one for him. I'll be curious to see what he says about it. I have to say I will not be reading it (except maybe the first few pages, to see how Paolini's developed as a writer--he's significantly older now).

 

[Hannah F]

Ugh! Eragon! We read that series aloud to the kids, too. Kudos to Paolini for cranking out four billion words at the age of 16, but the kid needed a proper editor! I saw a recent book by him in the bookshop the other day, and it was a huge tome like each of the Eragon books was. He must still have the same editor... As much as I disliked Eragon and its sequels, my teenage son loved them, so I bought the new one for him. I'll be curious to see what he says about it. I have to say I will not be reading it (except maybe the first few pages, to see how Paolini's developed as a writer--he's significantly older now).

I admire him. Syntax, grammatical errors, tropes etc, yes, but I would never have been able to publish books like that at 16!

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I admire him. Syntax, grammatical errors, tropes etc, yes, but I would never have been able to publish books like that at 16!

Indeed! A great accomplishment for a teenager! Just not books I want to read. But clearly they hit their target market squarely.

 

[WAHamilton]

I came across the article as well! It was a great break-down of those opening pages in The Martian.

As for Eragon, I've heard that one/both of Paolini's parents were professional editors, which is why he was able to publish as young as he did. I feel like they must've really worked on it with him and still... Probably could've been better. That said, my younger brother really enjoyed it when it came out. I think I was too old at the time and the story felt too derivative, but it was certainly popular.

The site also has a really great critique of Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind (another popular epic fantasy and a favourite of mine). They absolutely tear the opening chapters to pieces, which I found strangely heartening. It goes to show that a book can have massive flaws, yet still go on to be a bestseller that is beloved by many. A reminder to write what you love and not obsess too much over the flaws of your writing? Who knows.

 

[RK Capps]

The site also has a really great critique of Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind (another popular epic fantasy and a favourite of mine). They absolutely tear the opening chapters to pieces, which I found strangely heartening. It goes to show that a book can have massive flaws, yet still go on to be a bestseller that is beloved by many

I struggled with the beginning of that, loved the middle, and was really disappointed with the end. He just gave me something really different from what he promised. But gorgeous writing