You Get One Page to Hook a Reader. Yes, Really.

By Janice Hardy

Many readers decide before the end of the first page if they’re going to keep reading.

A lot of pressure is put on the opening page of a novel, and for good reason. It’s the first impression the reader gets, and if that reader isn’t hooked in some way, they won’t move on to the second page. 

As unfair as it seems, 250 words (roughly one page) are often all you get to convince readers to stay with your story and read your book. It might be tempting to pack the entire story into that first page, but that's absolutely the wrong approach.  

All you have to do is give readers something that promises them that your novel will be worth reading. 

Which is much easier to do than you might think.

First Look at a First Draft: How to Revise Your Manuscript

By Janice Hardy

A first draft is a wonderful thing, but it always needs more work.

There's something exciting and rewarding about a first draft. The story that's been in our heads is finally down on paper, and we can see how it developed. Sometimes it unfolded exactly how we pictured, but more often we encountered snags here and there and discovered fun twists and plots as we wrote. The draft might even be, shall we say, a little messy.

And that's okay, because first drafts are often messy and filled with holes.

It's what you do with it from there that really matters. As the adage goes...writing is rewriting. Often, a lot of rewriting (sigh).

This is why taking an objective first look at your first draft is so important. 

You're taking stock of what you have and looking for what's working, what's not working, and what could use a little more work to get it right. It's much easier to do the heavier rewrites in draft form before the story becomes mentally "set in stone." First drafts are supposed to be messed with. 

The Hidden Danger Backstory Poses for Writers (And It’s Not the One You Think)

By Janice Hardy

Uncovering backstory isn’t the same as plot, and focusing too much on the story’s past can hurt your novel’s future.

One of the very first outlines for my urban fantasy novel, Blood Ties, focused on revealing the twist and secrets of the novel. It was mostly about how readers were going to learn all the cool things I’d created and less about a character struggling with a problem. Which was an actual problem, since struggling with problems is what makes a novel a novel.

Weak as that early outline was, writing it was worth it, since it helped me figure out those backstories and secrets. It also made it obvious that I’d outlined a novel that didn’t truly have a plot. Sure, my protagonist had goals and she acted to achieve them and did all the things a good protagonist is supposed to do, but if I’d written the story to that first outline, it would have been terrible.

The Difference Between a First Page that Hooks and a Novel that Hooks

By Janice Hardy

Do you really need to hook a reader on the first page?

Common writing advice says to hook your reader from the first page. I've stopped reading many a book when that first page didn't click with me, or worse, turned me off the story.

But I've also kept reading past so-so first pages when the cover copy was intriguing enough that I was willing to see how the first chapter panned out. If it kept me reading, I stayed with the book.

So, does the first page need to hook if the novel’s premise hooks?

Which is a really loaded question.

The Difference Between Tricking Your Reader and Surprising Your Reader

By Janice Hardy

If you’re going to trick your readers, proceed with caution and a lot of skill.

During a world-building panel I once did at the Space Coast Comic Con, we had a brief discussion about tricking readers. Some authors on the panel were for it, some against it, and there were strong opinions on both sides.

It made me think about what makes a good twist vs. a bad trick. Because some novels trick readers and we love the author for it, but others trick readers and we refuse to ever read that author again.

I think it’s the Dallas vs. Newhart difference.

For those who weren’t watching a lot of TV in the 80s, both shows had huge twists that surprised viewers. One worked, one did not.

In the show Dallas, a beloved character (Bobby) died in a season finale. The next season proceeded without him, developing storylines and dealing with his death and all the normal things you’d expect to happen after killing off a favorite character. 

How to Edit (or Revise) a Novel Without Feeling Overwhelmed

By Janice Hardy

If you dread starting a revision, you're not alone. But you can do this.

Finishing a draft is a huge accomplishment, and one every writer should be proud of, no matter what stage of their career they’re at. But after the draft is done, it’s time to edit (or revise), and sometimes, that can be a bit overwhelming.

I know both new and established writers who struggle with this, so this isn’t a matter of skill or talent. There’s nothing wrong with you if you dread having to face a manuscript that needs editing.

I love the editing process, so a lot of writer friends (and readers) have come to me over the years seeking a little editing advice (so much so I even went and wrote a whole book on it). 

Here are some tips on how to make the editing and revision process a little easier to manage:

An Easy Tip to Avoid Infodumps in Your Dialogue

By Janice Hardy

Just because a character says it, doesn’t mean it isn’t an infodump.

Dialogue is one of my favorite parts of writing. It's fast-paced, grabs attention, and usually keeps the reader reading. When two characters are having a zippy conversation, readers feel like they’re hanging out with them and are part of the story.

But those conversations can also contain the dreaded infodump-as-dialogue.

Infodumping (throwing in a lot of "need-to-know" information at one time) doesn't just happen to prose. Characters can have conversations they'd never have, talking about things they'd never talk about, just so authors can explain things to readers.

Which is bad, because...

Infodumps remind readers they’re reading, and can knock them right out of the story.

The Overwritten Novel: How to Identify & Fix Purple Prose in Your Novel

By Janice Hardy

Be wary of going too far and turning a good sentence (or scene) into an overwritten mess. 

The term "purple prose" has been around as long as I've been writing, and chances are you've heard it too. 

If you're unfamiliar with the term, purple or flowery prose is so filled with adjectives and adverbs, similes and metaphors, that it screams "Hey look! I'm fancy writing" and distracts readers from the actual story. You often need a thesaurus just to read it.

Overwritten text is trying too hard to sound "written" or trying to explain too much. For example, a sentence that uses fifteen words when three is enough, and half of them are adjectives. Or a sentence that explains every single step in a task that doesn't need it. 

If you ever thought to yourself, "Yeah, I get it, he was angry, move on" then you probably read an overwritten passage.

Overwriting bloats a novel and usually kills the pacing and narrative drive, because the focus is on the description, not the action. Even when what you're describing is action.

Message for M. Reader: Are You Telegraphing Your Plot?

By Janice Hardy

Hints are great, but be wary of making it too obvious what's going to happen in your novel.

If you've ever watched a TV show or movie and heard a random stranger say something like, "Well now, we haven't use that road since a big old sinkhole opened up ten years ago," you've stumbled upon a telegraphed clue. You know that sinkhole is totally where the hero is going to lead the horrible monster or bad guy chasing him at the climax—and he does.

Kinda takes all the fun out of it, right?

While foreshadowing is a wonderful tool that can heighten tension and make the reader eager to know what will happen, telegraphing steals all the tension and takes the mystery out of those hints. 

Shhh! 3 Things Silent Movies Can Teach us About Storytelling

By Janice Hardy

You can learn a lot from the classics. 

My husband and I are big silent movie fans (well, fans of movies in general, really). But it's especially interesting to watch movies that are 90 to 100 years old, and even more interesting to see how storytelling hasn't changed all that much in all those years. What worked back in 1920 still works today.

What's even more fun, is that the first time many of the classic sight gags were done were in silent movies. These folks created them. 

Filmed in 1926, the Buster Keaton film, The General, is an excellent example of tight plotting and storyboarding. Nothing is wasted in this film. If you see a detail on screen, you can be sure it'll come into play at some point. And the best part? It still surprises you. I can't tell you how often we laughed over something we should have seen coming.

That’s the secret of great storytelling. 

The Question You Should Ask for Every Scene

By Janice Hardy

If you can’t explain why a scene exists, you probably shouldn’t write it

Writers ask a lot of questions while drafting a novel—who are the characters, how does the worldbuilding work, what are the goals, motivations, and plot twists? And readers have their own questions driving them forward. Will the hero win? Will the lovebirds fall in love? Will the hockey team survive?

But we don’t always ask the question that can save us a ton of time and frustration.

What’s the point of this scene?

This question isn’t about the story's theme or the protagonist's goals—it’s about why you decided to put this scene into your story in the first place.

If you can’t answer why a scene is in your novel, it's a huge red flag that the scene might not be serving the story.

Why "Start With the Action" Messes Up So Many Writers

By Janice Hardy

Sometimes really great advice is anything but helpful.

If I took a poll for the most common writing advice, “start with the action” would make the list. 

Which it should, as it’s great advice. But it’s also like saying, “show, don’t tell.” You know you ought to do it, but you don’t always know how, and those four words don’t really help you write the beginning of your novel.

This can be especially hard on new writers, because they might think they’re doing everything right, but still get negative feedback or even rejections on their manuscripts. “I do start with action,” they cry. “Can’t you see that car barreling off that cliff there? What do I have to do, blow up a planet?”

Well, no. And that's where the problem lies.

If you don’t know what “action” means in fiction, you can easily misunderstand how to use it.

Do You Suffer From NWS? Living With Nice Writer Syndrome

By Janice Hardy

Are you too nice to your characters? 

Do you love your characters?

Do you wish nothing bad would ever happen to them?

Then you might suffer from Nice Writer Syndrome.

This is a common malady. We spend hours and hours creating our characters, interviewing them, filling out complicated character sheets, determining which personality they are on the Myers-Briggs Scale. They become like family, and we can't bear the thought of doing anything bad to them.

We don't throw them into conflict. We don't let them get hurt. We don't make them work for their rewards at the end of the novel (those slackers).

It can get so bad, we stop letting them leave the house, so nothing ever happens to them.

The Recipe for Writing a Great Scene

By Janice Hardy

A great scene is a lot like a great meal. 

Maybe it's because I'm married to a guy who loves to cook, but I think of scenes like I think of food. Meals with one item on the plate might be tasty while you eat it, but once it's done, you kinda forget about it. And it's rarely as satisfying. 

But the meals with multiple items and layers of flavors going on? I still talk about some of those meals.  

Due to nature of writing and storytelling, it's easy for writers to think of scenes as "one item meals." We even describe them that way sometimes, such as, "This is the scene where Bob finds the body in the trunk.” "This is the scene where they finally kiss." "This scene is where it all goes wrong."

There's nothing wrong with this, as scenes do tend to have a main point to them. But the best scenes typically have multiple things going on, too. Plot things, character things, backstory things. A common rule of thumb here...

Give every scene at least three reasons for being in your novel. 

5 Ways Repetition Hurts Your Novel

By Janice Hardy

How to spot and fix those sneaky repetitions that weaken your prose.

Aside from a great one liner, a declaration of love, or a juicy piece of gossip, most people don’t like to hear the same thing over and over. This is doubly true for readers, and repeating yourself in a novel can make your story feel redundant, stale, or even poorly edited.

When you consider a typical novel runs between 80,000 and 100,000 words, it’s no wonder words (and even ideas) get repeated. Some of those words readers don’t notice (such as said) and others stand out even if you only used them once or twice (like antidisestablishmentarianism). 

Repetition drags down your pacing and makes even strong prose feel clunky.

Is That You? Developing Voices for Different Point of View Characters

By Janice Hardy

Unique, stand-out characters have unique, stand-out voices, so it's important to consider how every character in your book sounds. 

I'm the kind of writer who doesn't do a lot of character work before I start a novel, but one of the first things I figure out is voice. For me, what a character sounds like is how I learn who they are and what their backstory is. I usually know a few details going in, but the bulk of my characters get revealed as I write them.

The more distinct your character voices are, the easier it is for readers (and you, honestly) to keep track of who’s who. If your witty rogue, your brooding warrior, and your quiet scholar all speak and think in identical ways, readers won’t just get confused—they’ll stop believing in the characters as people. 

4 Signs You Might Be Confusing, Not Intriguing, in Your Opening Scene

By Janice Hardy

The opening scene of a novel walks a fine line between piquing curiosity and confusing the reader. 

Opening scenes are under a lot of pressure. They need to pique reader interest, set the scene, introduce characters, and give just enough information to intrigue, but not overload or confuse the reader. 

That’s a lot to ask of 250 words.

While trying to hook readers and not give everything away, it’s common for an opening scene to be less than forthcoming with information. We hold back details to sound mysterious, we hide clues we think will reveal too much, and sometimes, we even bend over backward not to provide the exact details readers need to get sucked into the story.

The fastest way to lose a reader isn’t boredom—it’s confusion.

Whoa, That’s Tense. 3 Ways to Raise the Tension in Your Scenes

By Janice Hardy

Tension isn’t about what’s happening—it’s about what might happen next.

Great stories keep us on the edge of our seats, but they aren’t always packed with nonstop explosions or fight scenes. Sometimes, it’s a drip-drip-drip of water that plays on your nerves, a heavy silence before someone drops a secret that will change everything, or a glance that lingers too long and means so much. What makes us tense is the anticipation—that nagging sense that something bad could happen any second.

The movie Sanctum is a fantastic example of how to take advantage of tension. Set in a labyrinth of underwater caves where one wrong move means death, it layers danger, dread, and impossible choices until viewers are holding their breath right alongside the characters. Even though I’ve never been cave diving, I have dived wrecks with tight, confined spaces, and I know how quickly “this is fine” can shift into “this can kill me.” One wrong turn, one bad decision, and you’re in real trouble.

Where Does Your Novel's Conflict Come From?

By Janice Hardy

One of the more common reasons why a story isn't working is the lack of a strong conflict.

Without conflict there is no story. No matter what the story is, you can boil it down to “The protagonist wants something and someone or something is standing in the way.” The novel is about getting past that person or thing to resolve the conflict and earn the protagonist their goal.

As simple as that sounds, it’s not always so clear when you’re looking at your idea. Ideas are often more concept than plot, a great premise without a solid story yet, and the conflict at the core of that idea is fuzzy. Your instinct tells you it’s there, but critique partners or even agents just aren’t seeing it.

In most cases, the conflict isn’t strong enough yet, or it’s not clear what the actual conflict (and problem) is.

How to Describe Your Setting Without Infodumping

By Janice Hardy

Bring your world to life without burying readers in the details.

Crafting a setting is about more than telling readers where your story takes place—it’s about inviting them to step inside your story world and making them feel like they belong. When your setting feels real, your characters also feel real, and readers are more likely to care about what happens to them. A well-drawn world can ground your narrative and create an immediate emotional connection.

It’s tempting to describe every brick, breeze, and blade of grass in a setting you love, but too much description all at once can drown your story (and reader) in information. Instead of pulling readers in, you risk making them feel like they’re slogging through a travel brochure.

The strongest settings come alive organically. They’re woven into the action, filtered through the character’s perspective, and delivered in easy-to-digest spoonfuls that keep the story moving while showing readers all they need to know about the world.