Topic: Strongest Start

Anyone have an entry/entries in the Strongest Start Competition?

Mine is The Soothsayer

Quote Post 1

Re: Strongest Start

Aiming to get Fire in the Blood there if I can. I have found a semi-derelict cottage that just fits for 'her' house so am re-writing some of the descriptions to suit, it makes it all feel so much more real, though I had done sketchs and plans of my first imagined one.  A bigger challenge has been designing The Plas mansion as there is no plans or records of its size or appearance. But I am basing it around an extant medieval welsh hall. I shall read soothsayer soon, as it is I shouldn't be here... Ooops get back to WRITING BOY...

Quote Post 2

Re: Strongest Start

Thanks Dunecan! 

Definitely enter Fire in the Blood in the contest!

Quote Post 3

Re: Strongest Start

Hi! The Strongest Start tends to draw really dramatic entries. They're excellent, but not my cup of tea so I don't enter.

Quote Post 4

Re: Strongest Start

I put Fire Head in last year or the year before but didn't get anywhere.  I did wonder if it being a teen-age western, (I don't like the term western because it seems to be seen as a rather low form of historical fiction) made any difference as it had got to the last hundred or so from 3500 entries in a Waterstones competition.  Still I'll give it a go with Fire in the Blood.  Only thing is deciding whether to go back to the longer chapters which for a book as opposed to on-line reviewing I think better.

Quote Post 5

Re: Strongest Start

With my first novel (YA historical fantasy) I settled on chapters of 3,000 for no apparent reason. lol  I honestly don't think chapter length matters if the content holds the reader's interest.

Quote Post 6

Re: Strongest Start

Thanks for your thoughts on it. Because it starts with three consecutive days it felt right originally for the first three chapters to cover a day each as they are pretty intense. They were then about 4-5,000 each.  Currently I found reasonable places to split the first two into four but I don't think the hooks are quite as good.

Quote Post 7

Re: Strongest Start

I would forget about how long the chapter is and go with your instinct.

Quote Post 8