Miriam Greystone
As an urban fantasy author, I found approaching the first few pages of my book, Truthsight, especially challenging. I needed to introduce readers to my characters, and make those characters vivid, empathetic, and compelling. I also needed to orient readers in the plot, so that they could follow the action that was unfolding. On top of that, I also had a lot of world building that needed to be explained pretty quickly in order for readers to follow and get caught up in the events that were about to take place. I needed them to know that my book’s main character, Amy, is running a secret clinic for supernatural creatures, that she is in danger and hiding from something, and that she is in constant, secret pain.
Thanks for contributing this post, Miriam! You do a great job of discussing a dilemma many writers face–when to follow advice from others, and when to follow our own instincts. (And by the way, I think you made the right decision–I love that first sentence.)
It was super fun to be here, Bk! Thanks for having me. 🙂