Hi Reader,
Last Friday, I went to a writer’s conference. Outside of participating as an agent and accepting pitches or giving talks, I haven’t had much experience attending as a writer, believe it or not. Overall, it was a good event, centered around the concept of How to Get Published.
The most valuable part of the conference was the agents panel, which was an “America’s Got Talent” type event. The agents were given a stack of anonymous first pages with nothing but the genre listed. The speaker would start reading the page aloud, and the agents would raise their hands at the moment they would stop reading if they received the submission.
It was interesting to see their hands shoot up at the same time in some cases, when a writer made a common “mistake” that was an instant dealbreaker. After at least two agents raised their hands to indicate they were done with the first page, they explained their thinking and gave feedback on the page.
For the last few weeks I’ve been talking about how to make your opening catch an agent’s or editor’s attention—the "to dos", so to speak. This week I want to pivot to the What Not to Dos. The openings that will make an agent instantly stop reading.
So what are the most common reasons the agents stopped reading? Let’s get into it.
Not anchored in character:
The number one reason the agents stopped reading was because they didn’t feel like they were anchored to a character. As the saying goes, “We have to care about who the story is happening to before we care about what is happening.” In so many of these opening pages, there was more description or jargon or genre (which we will get into shortly) than there was character front-and-center. Even if you begin with an action-packed beginning, the action won’t feel engaging or high-stakes unless we understand what kind of person is at the wheel and who we can root for and why.
Disoriented/confused
Last week I talked about intrigue, and how getting your reader to feel curious about what happened or will happen is your aim. However, too often, writers try to prompt those questions but instead make the reader feel confused and unmoored. They aren’t sure what is happening, why, or to whom it’s happening. In short, there isn’t enough context for that intrigue to even pop up. It could be because of the reason above (not grounded in character) or sometimes it’s because of the writing itself—tense, or timeline issues, or lack of clarity. Whatever the reason, this feeling of confusion was a leader in making those agents stop reading. If they don’t understand what is happening, they can’t find it in themselves to care.
Tense/POV inconsistencies
As I mentioned above, this is one of the biggest mistakes that leads to confusion. As an example, in a few memoir first pages, the writer began with a story in one tense. Then they switched tenses and it made the reader uncertain whether what they’d just read was a memory or whether it was happening in the present. Or, if it’s unclear who the POV character is, that can frustrate and confuse. The simple rule of thumb to follow here is: be consistent with your POV and tense.
Too much description/telling
Another tendency of many writers is to want to set the scene. While there is some truth that you want to make sure your readers do feel grounded in the scene (context), some writers go overboard. Their openings are overwritten, with long-winded descriptions and/or info dumps about the world. Readers want character and intrigue, and unfortunately, often times, description or flat-out exposition gets real boring real quick. On the other end of the negative reasons why readers stop reading, confusion being the first, is boredom. There’s nothing happening because the beginning is too cluttered with description or exposition. Save your info dumps and instead find ways of weaving in description, world-building, and backstory organically—peppering it in as you go.
The other piece I want to mention here is too much description of the character, which came up a couple of times. A few writers fell into the trap of either physically describing their character right off the bat (e.g. “Hi, my name is X and I have curly hair that never stays in one place) or telling the reader something about themselves in an inorganic/telling way. (e.g. “The first thing you need to know about me is I was born into a big family.”) Your job as a writer telling a story isn’t to tell us who your character is, but to show us. Show us their world, their thoughts, their actions.
Not enough interiority
We can connect so much quicker with a character when we understand what is happening in their head. If your first page has none of your character’s thoughts or feelings or motivations, your reader might not care so much about them. Lack of interiority leads to confusion and apathy, which is absolutely the opposite of what you want when you’re hoping an agent will take your book on.
Heavy triggers
Some writers have been told (understandably) that they want to hook their reader with something exciting or shocking or action-packed. But in one case, there was a deceased toddler on the first page of a writer’s manuscript. Remember that agents, editors, and readers are humans and they all have triggers. If you have something triggering in your manuscript, the first page may not be the best place to put it. Why? Because it might be too off-putting to the reader because you haven’t given them enough time to invest in your character. And that lack of investment will make it harder for a reader to push through the discomfort of a triggering event or subject matter.
Cliché beginnings
One page grabbed all the agents’ attention. Until the moment the author revealed they’d been reading a dream sequence. All four of their hands raised at the same time to indicate they’d stop reading. Opening with things like someone waking up, or having a dream is, generally considered, a big no-no. Why? Because cliché openings are boring. They are either overdone, boring, or in the case of dreams, gimmicky and a huge letdown. When crafting your beginning, a good piece of advice I heard is “get the character out the door as fast as possible.” Or better yet, don’t even start them at home where they are nice and comfortable. Kick them into trouble as fast as you can.
Those were the main, repeated, reasons the agents stopped reading. They’re super common mistakes that are easy to avoid. So what’s the main takeaway here?
Ground your story in character. Your character is the reader’s way into your story. Go deep into them, know them intimately, and find a way to gradually show your reader who they are and what makes them interesting. (Conflict? Flaw? Situation?)
Everything hinges on your character, especially an agent’s willingness to keep reading.
Upcoming Free Workshop
Join me for my next live, free workshop. This time, we are covering openings. From your first line, to your first page, to your first chapter.
Agents get hundreds of queries a week—and your opening pages are your one shot to stand out. In this workshop, we’ll dive into what makes a novel’s beginning irresistible to agents and editors, and why many openings fall flat. You’ll learn how to craft a compelling hook, establish voice and stakes right away, and avoid the most common pitfalls that land manuscripts in the rejection pile. Whether you're querying for the first time or revising after rounds of rejection, this session will help you turn your novel’s beginning into a page-turner that demands attention.
As a special bonus, I'll be giving away 10 first-page critiques. Sign up and be entered to win.
When: Tuesday, May 6th, 9:30 PT
Where: Zoom
Happy writing!
Karyn
P.S. Loving these emails? Buy me a cup of tea to say thanks. Or you can book a free 30-min story strategy chat here if you're interested in getting specific help with your book.
Granite Bay, CA
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