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First Five Pages Checklist

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The first five pages of your book are so important. As aspiring authors, we are well aware of their significance. And we place so much time and emphasis on getting them right. While we probably have a fair idea of what to do and not do in our first five pages, here is a quick recap of things to keep in mind when looking at the start of your novel.

Important questions to ask yourself:

Does the first line engage your reader?

Is your main character properly introduced?

Has the POV and narration style been made clear to the reader?

Does your reader get a good feel for the world – i.e. have you set the status quo?

Have you established your main character’s deepest desire?

Is there an inciting incident?

The most important thing to avoid at the beginning of your novel:

The information dump. 

Your reader is only starting to get to know your main character and within these pages, so you don’t want to overwhelm them with backstory or world building information so early on. Remember, you’ve got a minimum of 80,000 words to work with, you can take your time introducing the important background information. 

Author Interview with Emily S. Hurricane

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We had a chance to interview an author in the Love At First Sip anthology. The collection provides a drink recipe in front of the short story associated with it.

  1. What inspired you to start writing?

You know, I don’t even remember! I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I wrote a lot of fan fiction when I was a kid for various JRPGs, so a lot of my early original stories were warriors in fantasy or science fiction worlds. I also did a lot of online roleplaying back then. I’m totally aging myself, but back on proboards, I’d spend hours with other users creating characters and worlds and then RPing our characters. So as far back as I can remember, I’ve always been writing.

  1. What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

Two things: proper grammar, and engaging characters. There can be literally nothing happening in a story, but if the characters are interesting and engaging, then I am sold! I am a reader of many genres and styles, but what is most memorable to me is always certain characters and their inner workings and struggles. World building and act structure and everything else that goes into a story are important, but if I don’t care about the characters, the book falls flat for me. And of course, you know, it’s got to be readable.

  1. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing the story?

I’m a bit of a pantser, so I do most of my non-writing part of writing a story as I go. When I have a fresh plot bunny hop its way into my head, I tend to let it percolate for a while in there to take shape. It’s almost always a character, desperate to tell their story, so I let them talk to me for a bit. Sometimes I’ll make a few notes before I jump in, but often I like to get to know my character(s) before I try to plan where the story is going to take them, so I tend to just start writing.

I use Notion for all of my outlining and character sheets and planning and word count tracking, so I do set up a blank page for a fresh project. Any notes go in there, and then as I start writing, I create tables as I need them to track characters, potential plot points, outlining, etc.

  1. Who is your favorite author and why?

I know this is totally cliché, but Stephen King is my very favorite. Aside from the fact that he’s incredibly versatile, he’s got this subtle style that I adore. Even some of his novels that aren’t outwardly HEY I’M SCARY just have this underlying sense of dread (for example, Duma Key) throughout and I don’t even realize I’m creeped out until I finish reading. He also has such talent for so many different facets of genre, with more boundary-pushing work like the Dark Tower series. He just does whatever TF he wants, and I admire that so much.

(Close runner-ups for favorite, though: Chuck Palahniuk and Margaret Atwood. Gotta shout them out too!)

  1. What is the most difficult part about writing for you?

Time! There is just never enough time. I work from home as a freelance writer and editor, while also taking care of two small children and my husband who works outside of the home full time. Juggling all of this and also trying to do basic things like sleep is very challenging. I love a challenge, but some days it’s harder than others to fit everything in, so it can be stressful. But I love writing too much to ever do anything else with my life. It’s 100% worth the blood, sweat, and tears I put into it!

  1. What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

I don’t think I have any interesting writing quirks! I’m kinda basic when it comes to writing. I like to have coffee and munchies and relish the silence—when I can work without Peppa Pig or My Little Pony in the background, it’s so nice!

  1. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

Too many! My muse has no focus for genre, and because I enjoy reading in so many, I enjoy writing in them all too. I’ve got a ton of erotica shorts in various niches, a historical western romance trilogy, a dystopian werewolf series, horror anthologies, a fantasy/sci-fi series, some contemporary serials, dark romance serials, and most recently, I curated and participated in two anthologies, one erotica and one clean romance.

It’s so hard to say which is my favorite…I loved writing them all for different reasons. I think I’m most proud of Joy, which is a literary novella that currently lives on Wattpad. I originally wrote it for the Open Novella Contest, where it won a few accolades. Eventually I plan to let it breathe and flesh it out some, outside of the constraints of the contest. But I don’t think I can properly choose a favorite out of my books.

  1. Are you working on anything at present you would like to share with your readers?

I’m currently serializing a dark paranormal romance on Radish Fiction called Her Tyrant Alpha, and I’m having a blast with it! It’s a spin-off companion book to my Bloodlines series (which is dystopian werewolf with a bit of steam, but not romance), and the main character, Ashelin, has pretty much zero boundaries. It’s been a super fun ride exploring all of her inner workings, and also building more werewolf lore into the Bloodlines universe.

  1. What advice would you give a new writer, someone just starting out?

I get asked this a lot, and my answer is always to just write! Write as much as you can. Even if you think it sucks. Hell, even if other people think it sucks. Don’t stop! Write every day. Even if you can only manage a sentence because you have no time, don’t go a single day without writing. Tapping that creative keg takes working the writing muscle, and you have to work it out every single day. It might be hard for a bit, but all good things are, and if you stick with it, it will get easier, and you will get better at it!

Sub-advice: don’t be afraid of criticism! Don’t let it get you down, and don’t let it stop you. If the criticism is useful, take what you need out of it to learn, and discard the rest, and keep writing. Always be writing!

Sub-sub-advice: track your word count. Even if you only write three words in one day. Use a notebook or a spreadsheet or a calendar, but record your daily word counts somewhere. This gives you accountability to make sure that word count isn’t at zero, but also you can watch yourself improve over time. And I promise you will improve!

  1. What do you like to do when you are not writing?

When I’m not writing or playing with my kiddos, I am either reading, baking, or crocheting. And usually two out of three at the same time, haha! If I’m going to be busy with my hands then I’ll queue up an audiobook so I can still read even if I’m puttering in the kitchen or playing with yarn.

I’ve been known to enjoy video games too, but with work and small children it’s harder to carve out time to really get lost in a game. I do enjoy building stuff in Minecraft with my daughter, though. Anything creative!

  1. Where can readers learn more about you?

The easiest way to find me is at www.emilyshurricane.com! I keep it up to date with all of my book listings, and if you click the Social Media tab you can find all of my socials everywhere across the internet (including my Discord server!).

Author Interview with Lincoln Reed

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Dragon Soul Press took the opportunity to interview Author Lincoln Reed. Thus far, he is a featured author in DSP’s Mistletoes and Mayhem, Imperial Devices, and Valiance.

  1. What was your dream job when you were younger?

Ever since I could walk, I was passionate about baseball, playing every summer and practicing all winter. It was my dream to become a professional baseball player. The closest I came to accomplishing that goal was participating in a professional tryout with the Atlanta Braves organization. I didn’t play professionally, but I did have a fun college baseball career at Taylor University.

  1. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I’ve wanted to be a writer since the age of six. I have a strong memory of loving books at a young age and wanting to write one of my own.

3. How long have you been writing?

I wrote my first series of short stories at the age of nine, but didn’t develop a serious interest in a writing career until my undergraduate years. I had my first short story acceptance after completing my MFA at Miami University (Ohio). Since then, I’ve completed two full novel manuscripts and have had more than 15 short stories published in various print anthologies and online magazines. I love writing and plan to craft stories for as long as I’m able.

  1. How many plot ideas are just waiting to be written? Can you tell us about one?

I’m always working on new plots. As a writer, I hold the perspective that nothing in life is wasted. Every experience, heartbreak, and adversity can be a source for material or inspiration. I’m currently working on an outline for a novel about one of my characters in the story “Why the Ship Burns” featured in Dragon Soul Press’s Valiance anthology. I love westerns and would love to add my voice to the genre.

  1. Who is your favorite character?

Of all the great characters in literature, it is difficult to choose a favorite. I love J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The books and films are fantastic. Aragorn and Gandalf are two of my favorite protagonists. I also enjoy any book featuring characters Jack Reacher and Walt Longmire.

6. How do you handle writer’s block?

I adhere to Jack London’s advice on writer’s block. According to London, “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” I may not always know what to write, but I push myself to meet deadlines. Often inspiration comes when I am disciplined in my writing schedule.

  1. How much ‘world building’ takes place before you start writing?

I need to know the main character’s backstory and their motivation before I start writing. I believe it is important for a writer to have an understanding of their character’s journey. When writing about an unfamiliar topic, I do my best to research or speak with people who are informed. As my high school English teacher once told me, “Writer’s write what they know, and then they know more.”

  1. What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

I am a vigilant self-editor. During my MFA years, I had a mentor who helped me realize the importance of creating fresh writing. As a result, I often proofread my work aloud, especially the dialogue. I have a strong dislike for echoes and redundancies. As an editor and a professor, I often find writers (myself included) repeating the same word several times in a sentence or paragraph. I’m always encouraging my students to strive for crisp writing and word choice. I believe strong self-editing is crucial for literary success.

9. What is the best part of your day?

The best part of my day is spending time with my wife, Gabby. She’s my best friend. I’m thankful for each day we get to share together.

10. Where can readers learn more about you?

Readers can find more information about me at my website. I can also be found on Twitter.

Write Like It Matters

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As writers we all have our moments of doubt. When starting out with a new idea, there is always a moment of hesitation where we question if our idea is “good enough.” It’s a reoccurring fear that we have throughout the whole writing process. It’s why we downplay our work, refuse to show it to certain people, try to skirt questions, and generally act secretive about our writing. We fear ridicule and rejection – having someone confirm our worst fear that the story we care so deeply about, is actually not “good enough.”

But what we have to remember is that our stories are important too. It’s so easy to look to those already published and successful authors and think, “there is no way I’d ever measure up.” Someone once said, “write like it matters and it will.” And that is all we need to keep in mind. So long as what we’re writing is something that we love and care about, it will translate to an audience. Every single one of us has at least one story to tell. And we shouldn’t let any fears or doubts get in our way. So, if you’re currently grappling with self-doubt, let me be the first to remind you that you’re not alone. And your work is most definitely good enough, which is why you need to keep going.

Keep on writing.

Author Interview with Benjamin Chandler

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Dragon Soul Press had an opportunity to sit down and interview Author Benjamin Chandler. He is featured in DSP’s Imperial Devices anthology.

  1. What inspired you to begin writing?

I enjoyed making up stories as a kid, either playing with toys or drawing comics, but I never considered becoming a writer. It wasn’t until I was an adult in grad school, getting my MFA in book and paper arts, that I took a couple creative writing classes and realized I how much I enjoyed playing with words.

2. What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

As a reader, I like good prose—unique word choices, novel metaphors and similes, style, that pretty, creative stuff. I like sentences so delicious I want to reread and then eat them.

3. How do you come up with the titles to your books?

I struggle with that. I wish “Untitled” was as acceptable a title in the writing world as it is in the visual arts world. I often try to make my stories’ titles as simple and brief as possible—just the barest bridge to lead the reader into the text—though that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes my titles sprawl like jetsam across a beach.

4. What is the most difficult part about writing for you?

Aside from thinking of a title? Probably daring to share it with the world. There certainly is pleasure in crafting a good story, but after writing “The End” an internal voice speaks up, wanting connection, validation. It’s heartening to learn someone else in the world appreciates and connects with my work, but it’s scary to put the work out there and hope for that connection to happen. The Specter of Possible Rejection is a hard shadow for me to peek from and wave my work around for others to see.

5. How much ‘world building’ takes place before you start writing?

Little. For me, it happens as I write. Histories or the rules of the world develop in my head as the story moves along. Eventually, though, a passage needs a certain detail and I start drawing maps or making lists to fill out the world beyond those big ideas. I have a big, fat notebook full of fictional month titles, mountain names, monster doodles, character sketches, vocabularies, diagrams, sub-plots, and maps that I end up referencing to as the story’s world expands chapter by chapter. I can’t keep it all in my head; I forget.

6. How many plot ideas are just waiting to be written? Can you tell us about one?

I have about a half-dozen ideas currently knocking around my head, though I’d be surprised if even half of those reach the “start typing” phase. I’d love to flesh out one idea I have, but it might be too ambitious (which is a polite way of saying, “It’s a mess”). It’s about Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, the man who constructed prehistoric animal sculptures for the Crystal Place exposition in the 1850s. The sculptures are hollow, so the story’s hook is that one morning Hawkins goes to his studio and finds a dead body inside one of his unfinished dinosaurs. The Body In The Iguanodon (working title). Then Hawkins helps solve the murder. I thought up other ideas that could play in the book—contemporary paleontologist Richard Owen haunted by the ghosts of extinct animals; a man who is able to pull images of the past with some kind of spiritualist camera; Hawkins trying to balance his two families (he was a bigamist); the fact that Hawkins and I share the same first name adds a nice meta layer—but it all just sits in my head, a murder mystery/weird tales/meta/paleofiction octopus of ideas. It’ll probably never see the light of day.

7. Who is your favorite author and why?

The answer to this question changes with my mood. Some days it’s Thomas Pynchon, some days Ursula Le Guin, other days Salman Rushdie or Umberto Eco. Today I’ll say it’s Marilynne Robinson. Her characters are so real, their emotions so true, her prose so careful—I read her novels in wonder.

8. What are you reading now?

I am reading an older novel about a centurion in love with Pontius Pilate’s wife called Hear Me, Pilate! I downloaded it from gutenberg.org on a total whim and am enjoying it way more than I thought I would. I’m only a handful of chapters in, but I find the book veers close to pulp in its tone at times. It’s a lot saucier than I anticipated—lots of feisty women in clinging, sheer robes and the oily, muscular men who love them against the backdrop of ancient, dusty cities. When the occasional theological elements arrive, they seem out of place next to sultry ancients. I’m curious how the novel plays out, (I mean, I have a good idea about where it’s going…. “What is truth?”, &c.) but I’m not deep enough into it to be able to recommend it or not.

9. What do you like to do when you are not writing?

I love to cook and eat almost any cuisine. Living in a small city in Slovakia, I can’t find the Thai, Mexican, and Indian restaurants I used to frequent in Chicago, so I’ve had to learn to make curries and the like from scratch, improvising with available ingredients. (There is a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant in town, though.) I also like to draw with my oldest son, play Godzilla with my youngest son, watch cooking shows and comedies with my wife, and make cocktails for myself. During non-pandemic times I enjoy bowling and playing disk golf.

10. Where can readers learn more about you?

I tweet: @blchandler9000 and I have a semi-retired tumblr of paleofiction at antediluvianechoes.tumblr.com