The First Five Pages: A Writer'S Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile [Paperback]

However, once beyond his excellent treatments on modifiers, sound, comparison, and style, one becomes acutely aware that like writing, editing is a highly subjective field. Many of the techniques that he advocates for sentence construction and dialogue directly contradicts the advice of other well-credentialed editors. This is where a strong sense of the strengths of your own writing, the conventions of your genre, and the preferences of your agent or editor is going to help you, and where "The First Five Pages" will fall short.

Rather than strictly being a "how not to get rejected off the bat" guide as the cover blurb claims, "The First Five Pages" also endeavors to show you how to write the best novel you can. That's fine. But if you take Lukeman too seriously, you might come to the conclusion that he would rather you not write at all than have a single word out of place. It comes as no surprise, them, that towards the end of the book (and prominent on his literary agency's webpage), we find Lukeman's particular bias: "Ovid, the Roman poet, said one should wait nine years after finishing one's work before seeking publication. Here lies the difference between someone writing for money and a writer."

If it's your goal to win a Pulitzer Prize, that's an admirable sentiment. For the rest of us making our livings as writers, who want to write great stories that make people think or feel, you are well advised to pick and choose from Lukeman's advice.

If you can only buy one book on writing, I instead recommend Donald Maass's excellent book "How to Write the Breakout Novel" which not only focuses on good writing, but the themes and techniques which can make a novel a best-seller. Additionally, "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" by Renni Browne and Dave King gives some excellent tips, though they disagree with Lukeman on some key points.

My best advice is to read as many of these books as you can: take to heart those points on which everyone agrees, internalize the rest, and just write.

The book does a great job of explaining the problems most manuscripts contain, then tells you how to fix them, THEN offers exercises to help you overcome the problem. After working through just one exercise, I felt like my writing took a major leap forward. I think the book will do the same for all serious writers willing to devote a little time to this valuable book.

206 pages

This book does not teach 'how to write,' but how to avoid the mistakes that send your manuscript to the recycle bin. That is the craft of writing.

To be successful, you have to capture your audience in the first five pages. Noah Lukeman, a prestigious editor turned agent knows the secrets of successful writing. In reality, you must capture your reader in the first five words, sentences, or paragraphs with a strong hook and the good writing.

Lukeman arranged the chapters in The First Five Pages to show each process in rejecting manuscripts. Follow the steps, and if you are lucky, you might get a contract. Do not follow the steps, and the only reason your manuscript will reach the one person who can make a difference is through a fluke.

Each chapter concludes with write and rewrite examples and practices. The Lukeman way is included at the back of the book. The only way to become a better writer is to write. The following is only a brief synopsis of a few chapters.

Presentation: The number one reason aspiring writers get rejections is that the work is inappropriate for the market. Simply put: do not send a bodice-ripper, swashbuckling tale to someone representing coffee table books. Other problems are spelling errors, sloppiness, faded text, and dirty paper; they all indicate carelessness that is generally reflected throughout the book. Research your market, and prepare your manuscript according to the instructions given by the agent, editor, or publisher. If they want Ariel font, give it to them.

Adjectives and Adverbs: The next step to rejection is the overuse or misuse of modifiers. These words tell rather than show your noun. "If a day is described as 'hot, dry, bright and dusty,'" these words are tedious and the image becomes significantly unimportant. Overuse is very easy to spot by a cursory glance.

Sound: If your manuscript has reached this level, it is being read. Pacing, rhythm, meter, or beat is about the way your prose reveals the story. "Prose can be technically correct, but rhythmically unpleasant." Read your work aloud; if it does not sound right to you, pay attention.

Comparison: Analogy, simile, and metaphor can be overdone. I read about 1/3 of a book recommended to me as an excellent thriller. The plot, characters, dialogue, details, and descriptions were good. I could not read the book because everything is not like something else, and every paragraph or three included a simile.

Style: If the writing feels forced or exaggerated, or the writer began to showcase his words rather than the story, the probability of rejection is high. Another nit for me is redundancy; this is a matter of using the same or similar word in close proximity. It is also a reason for rejection.

I recommend two books to my clients or fledgling writers. This is one of them.

Victoria Tarrani