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The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile

Average customer rating:

A great book on the craft of writing
Just get it already!!!
Straightforward guide to what not to write if you want to be published
Sound advice for novelists and others.
Far better than its title

The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
Noah Lukeman
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 068485743X

Amazon.com

The difference between The First Five Pages and most books on writing is that the others are written by teachers and writers. This one comes from a literary agent--one whose clients include Pulitzer Prize nominees, New York Times bestselling authors, Pushcart Prize recipients, and American Book Award winners. Noah Lukeman is not trying to impart the finer points of writing well. He wants to teach you "how to identify and avoid bad writing," so that your manuscript doesn't come boomeranging back to you in that self-addressed, stamped envelope. Surprise: Agents and editors don't read manuscripts for fun; they are looking for reasons to reject them. Lukeman has arranged his book "in the order of what I look for when trying to dismiss a manuscript," starting with presentation and concluding with pacing and progression. Each chapter addresses a pitfall of poor writing--overabundance of adjectives and adverbs, tedious or unrealistic dialogue, and lack of subtlety to name just a few--by identifying the problem, presenting solutions, giving examples (one wishes these weren't quite so obvious), and offering writing exercises. It's a little bizarre to think about approaching your work as would an agent, but if you are serious about getting published, you may as well get used to it. Plus, Lukeman has plenty of solid advice worth listening to. Particularly fine are his exercises for removing and spicing up modifiers and his remedies for all kinds of faulty dialogue. --Jane Steinberg

Book Description

IF YOU'RE TIRED OF REJECTION, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.

Whether you are a novice writer or a veteran who has already had your work published, rejection is often a frustrating reality. Literary agents and editors receive and reject hundreds of manuscripts each month. While it's the job of these publishing professionals to be discriminating, it's the job of the writer to produce a manuscript that immediately stands out among the vast competition. And those outstanding qualities, says New York literary agent Noah Lukeman, have to be apparent from the first five pages.

The First Five Pages reveals the necessary elements of good writing, whether it be fiction, nonfiction, journalism, or poetry, and points out errors to be avoided, such as

* A weak opening hook
* Overuse of adjectives and adverbs
* Flat or forced metaphors or similes
* Melodramatic, commonplace or confusing dialogue
* Undeveloped characterizations and lifeless settings
* Uneven pacing and lack of progression

With exercises at the end of each chapter, this invaluable reference will allow novelists, journalists, poets and screenwriters alike to improve their technique as they learn to eliminate even the most subtle mistakes that are cause for rejection. The First Five Pages will help writers at every stage take their art to a higher -- and more successful -- level.

Customer Reviews:

A great book on the craft of writing.......2007-06-19

If you thought about being a novelist, are trying to be a novelist, or are a novelist, Noah Lukeman's THE FIRST FIVE PAGES is a book you should read. Many books on writing exist. Lukeman's approach is to tackle the mistakes that editors find in the first five pages that will immediately cause a book to be rejected. Editors are cramped for time and read tons of manuscripts. Regardless of your writing skills, editors will reject your manuscript if can't master the basics.

There are 19 chapters in the book, each devoted to a specific area of writing. It opens with presentation. If your proposal is sloppy, you don't stand a chance. Next are things like adjectives and adverbs (try to use a more powerful verb instead), avoid cliched comparisons, and write in a style that fits your story. There are five chapters on dialogue. If you tend to write the way peopel talk, you'll be rejected. Too boring. For example, readers don't want to read the "Hi, Hello, How are you" that begin most conversations. Also, dialogue shouldn't be used to explain plot points. The last part of the book covers other topices such as showing vs. telling, viewpoint, characterization and hooks. On hooks, most writers know you must hook your reader at the beginning. But that hook must not be out of place. It must fit within the rest of the novel.

If you're new to writing, this book will teach you a lot, but it won't make you a good writer at all. You become a good writer by immersion. You must constantly write and read in order to recognize the issues that Lukeman covers in his novel. This is a great book because it covers writing topics that MUST be learned. To be a good writer, you must continually study the craft, continue to write, continue to seek out feedback. This is great book to add to your library of writing references. If you can master what Lukeman covers, you just might get past the rejection pile.

Just get it already!!!.......2007-06-13

No doubt the up and coming authors who invest in this book will help make this guy rich, but there's a reason it has been added to numerous university and school booklists. There's help to be gained on every single page, and nothing that can't be put to good use.

Reading it is like uncommon common sense. Duuuhh!!! Why didn't I think of that???

Because I don't have the years of textual and literary experience Lukeman does, that's why! Don't waste time reading reviews when what you need to be doing is sending for this book that is easy to read and reminds you why you wanted to write in the first place - because you love telling stories and holding peoples' attention. This little winner will tell you how to improve and help keep it right! It will expand your thinking and only serve to create a more viable MSS. At the end of the day, you want the dollars while you're ALIVE, don't you?

Pick a winner. Pick THIS one.

Straightforward guide to what not to write if you want to be published.......2007-06-03

What a refreshing book. One of the only books that actually tries to improve your manuscripts by telling you how to fix the problems editors don't like. And it all makes sense. It won't tell you how to write. That's not the purpose of this book. But it will tell you what NOT to write. A honest, straighforward book that does not sugarcoat everything. Publishing your book is very hard and this book does its best to make sure you put all chances on your side.

Sound advice for novelists and others........2007-05-17

This book has a very simple premise: Your MS must grab the editor up front or it won't be published. This theme is expanded with much cogent advice on how to make that grab.

Although aimed primarily at fiction authors other writers will find sound advice on style and approach as well. If this book were submitted to me for publication I would jump at it.

John Culleton
Publisher, Wexford Press

Far better than its title.......2007-05-14

I have my complaints about this book. Foremost, the title is misleading, making it sound like the aspiring novelist only has to hammer out five really great pages to find instant success -- Lukeman makes very clear that you're wrestling with an editor who desperately wants to stop reading & the first five is only an early hurdle... though one not achieved by perhaps 99% of proposals submitted. The book itself is quite clear on presenting what Lukeman sees as the major hurdles, & showing you how to get past them.

(I also got tired of Lukeman trotting out his credentials, & of some serious overuse of punctuation. These both are far worse in the early chapters, & I blame the editor.)

I'm surprised Lukeman is so popular, because he's not a hand-holder, making it clear that writing is a craft that requires work & discipline. This is not necessarily a book for beginners, though many aspiring writers ought to read it early to save themselves a lot of wasted effort. But if you've got a book-length manuscript in your hand (or almost), take a few days & read this.

Each chapter ends with a handful of exercises -- you should probably give them a try, though at least slow down & ruminate, because they're quite good. And Lukeman peppers the book with swatches of imaginary fiction to illustrate the lessons he's trying to get across -- some of these are hilariously ghastly, & likely based on his sad experience.

I feel bad for knocking one point off my rating, but I stand by my complaints.

Aside from those, if you are even thinking of writing book-length fiction, you need to read this book, repeatedly, if you're going to have a significant chance of getting published.

Average customer rating:

The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
Noah Lukeman
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0743290933

Average customer rating:

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Hilary Page
Manufacturer: Surrey, Watson & Crossland, limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

1645-1656 Portsmouth Records - A Transcript of the First Thirty Five Pages of the Earliest Town Book, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

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1645-1656 Portsmouth Records - A Transcript of the First Thirty Five Pages of the Earliest Town Book, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Frank W. Hackett
Manufacturer: Portsmouth
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I4QBG0

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The lost colony: A series of five historical "flashback" pages covering England's first settlement in the New World, 1585-1590
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Manufacturer: Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007HO26O

Lang genealogy: Continuation from John Lang (1809-1880) as shown on page 85 of Howard Parker Moore's Genealogy of the first five generations in America ... 1935, the Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont

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Lang genealogy: Continuation from John Lang (1809-1880) as shown on page 85 of Howard Parker Moore's Genealogy of the first five generations in America ... 1935, the Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont
Norman A Lang
Manufacturer: N. A. Lang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006DZEPW

Average customer rating:

The First Five Pages
Noah Lukeman
Manufacturer: Robert Hale Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0709064845

Joanna Southcott's answer to five charges in the "Leeds Mercury,": Four of which are absolutely false; but as in the first charge, her accuser might have ... which will be seen in the following pages

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Joanna Southcott's answer to five charges in the "Leeds Mercury,": Four of which are absolutely false; but as in the first charge, her accuser might have ... which will be seen in the following pages
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Manufacturer: Printed and published by A. Seymour, The Clock House Press, sold by all booksellers and Carpenter's Book Store, San Diego, Cal., U.S.A
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00088OW0I

1645-1656, Portsmouth records: A transcript of the first thirty five pages of the earliest town book, Portsmouth, New Hampshire with notes

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1645-1656, Portsmouth records: A transcript of the first thirty five pages of the earliest town book, Portsmouth, New Hampshire with notes
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Manufacturer: s.n
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Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006QCVS2

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