Here’s what to look for in a first pass revision

And I would know. That was my catchphrase for years. And you know what? We are who we practice. Who we declare ourselves to be. Me, the writer of shitty beginnings. Since I didn’t want to be that writer, I had to learn how to not be that writer. First stop on that train was to cut out telling myself, and everyone who would listen, how terrible I am at starting stories. Second stop, get better at starting stories.

The moment you finish your manuscript, the next pressing question buzzes in your ear. How are you going polish the next draft? And what about those first ten pages? They all say the magic is in those first ten pages. If you lose your agent in the first ten pages, you’ll never make it to print, and then you’ll never be read and your life will be over and you’ll die of embarrassment. Before you know it, you’re sitting on the toilet and breathing into a paper sack.

Now, now. One thing at a time.

Yes, we’ve got to hone those first ten pages, but getting them right isn’t just for everyone else. It’s good for you and the story if you do. You won’t be writing a hundred drafts of the same book in order to figure it out. More like 50, but still!

Your first ten pages need the following

These pages are doing the heaviest lifting in the genre contract. Your reader should be able to tell what kind of book you’ve written, whose story it is, and what the emotional register will be. The stakes and the initial desire must also be present. And think about it. If you’re also a short story writer, you’re doing that in the first three paragraphs. You’ve got it in you.

Now if you break that contract, and cram those pages chock full of stuff that we don’t need to know right now (even though it sure is interesting), you’ll lose that reader before chapter two.

Which means, the first ten pages must answer the question: Should I keep reading? Oh, that sounds like such capitalist nonsense, until you start to think about the process of getting a story published or distributed beyond your writing group. Breathe into the bag and let’s keep going.

Not be a total buzzkill, but when you’re reading stories, you’re asking the same question. You might not know it consciously, but your brain is looking for reasons to stay. It takes a ton of brain energy to read, and our brains are lazy. They want the same ol predictable, boring, and safe stuff. You might not be scanning for a reason to ditch the story, but your brain is. Your job as a writer is to not give your readers’ brains a reason to whine to their person and check out.

Fix these common issues first

The order of information will hurt you more than terrible writing. Now, don’t get me wrong. Terrible writing should still be addressed, but shoving flashbacks and backstory into the first ten pages, cramming it to the seams with world building, and stuffing every sentence with character history will grind the machine to a halt.

Sometimes it’s hard to see that you’re doing that in your own work. After all, you can see it all so clearly in your own head. While I love that I can vividly imagine my scenes, it’s also proven to be my biggest blind spot. One way to combat this is to ask yourself:

  • Does this information need to be here, or does it just need to exist somewhere in this book?
  • Does it need to exist at all? ✂️ if it doesn’t even if you really love it and it’s your favorite bit.

Once you’ve determined the order of information, and moved backstory and character history to more intuitive places in your book, it’s time to do my favorite English teacher hack.

Read your first ten pages aloud. You’re not doing it to catch typos, although you may catch some. You’re doing it to hear the voice of the narrator.

  • Where does it actually come onto the page? Sentence one is best.
  • Does it flag anywhere? Where?
  • Is it congruent with the genre?

Of course, there are plot considerations and character motivation to reexamine, but if you’re taking a first pass at the first ten pages, these are things you can do to any manuscript to make it better.