Lesson 7 of 9 Free account 4 min read
Openings and Endings
How to write first pages that hook a reader, avoid the most common opening mistakes, and build endings that satisfy through setups and payoffs.
Key takeaways
- A strong opening gives the reader a person, a voice and a question within the first page.
- Most first drafts start too early, so look for the real beginning a few pages in.
- A satisfying ending answers the central question and completes the protagonist's arc.
- Every important payoff needs a setup, and every prominent setup needs a payoff.
- Write the opening last, once you know what the ending needs it to promise.
Openings and endings carry more weight than any other pages in your book. The opening decides whether someone keeps reading. The ending decides whether they recommend the book, buy the next one, or feel cheated. They are also linked: a good ending fulfills the promise the opening made.
What Makes a Strong First Page?
A strong first page does three things quickly. It introduces a specific person, not a crowd or a landscape. It establishes a voice the reader wants to keep listening to. And it raises a question: something is wrong, strange, about to change, or not what it seems. You don't need an explosion. You need the reader to want the next sentence.
The village of Harrow's End sat at the foot of the hills, surrounded by green fields and old stone walls. It had been there for hundreds of years, and not much had changed. The people were friendly and the summers were warm.
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