The Opening Chapter: A Workshop For Writers with Dr James Miller

What makes an opening chapter work? How do you grab and hold a reader’s attention? What is the balance between show and tell, between action and reflection, exposition and omission? Should a novel start ‘at the beginning’ or in the ‘middle’ or even at ‘the end’? What are the pros and cons of different points of view and different tenses?

This is a workshop for aspiring and more established writers who are struggling to start their novel. Your burning idea is there – but how to get it on the page? Participants should come with a paragraph or a page of their opening and be willing to share and get expert feedback. Or, if you haven’t got that far, come with a keen mind and open ears. We will also look at a couple of examples of openings in published and unpublished work to ask what makes them work or how could they be better. Book now