I’m over at The Write Practice today on Three Quick Ways to Improve Beginnings and Endings. My students get frustrated sometimes in rewriting their stories, especially the beginnings and endings. They want the first draft to be the final draft, but professional writers rarely get it right the first time. Why do we expect anything different?
J.K. Rowling rewrote the opening chapter to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 15 times.
Hemingway famously rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms 39 times!
If you aren’t sure how to make your beginning or ending stronger, take a look at this article and then research the first and last pages of several books in your genre.