Breakout 5: Ally Blake – How to hook your reader

How critical is your first page, really? If it doesn’t grab the reader / editor / agent on the first page, you are done. Step 1:  Opening line Memorable Poetic Gets a laugh It out to connect, entice, tickle reader’s curiosity Make it impossible for a reader t put your book down Your opening line […]

Mary-Jo Putney: the noble art of storytelling

The internet has allowed anyone who wants to to be published, but doesn’t mean they have readers. Plenty of workshops on how to write, but not many on how to tell stories. Yet stories have power and is what attracts readers – which is why newspaper articles often lead in with a recap or a […]