8 Steps for Developing the First 50 Pages of Your Nonfiction Manuscript
Write the most compelling opening pages possible with these 8 tips from author and editor Aileen Weintraub for developing the first 50 pages of your nonfiction manuscript.
The first 50 pages of your nonfiction manuscript need to be rock solid to grab an agent and editor’s attention. Many nonfiction books are sold on proposal, and your opening chapters will likely be included as part of your sample material. Making sure these pages are super polished and compelling can help you land that hard-to-get book deal.
As a developmental editor, The First Fifty Pages service I offer is the most popular. This is because writers know they only get one shot at making a first impression. Editors and agents are busy, and if they aren’t immediately hooked, they will quickly move on to the next manuscript or book proposal in their huge slush pile.
Here’s how to get those first 50 ready for submission.
Step 1: Start With a Great Opening
Carefully consider the opening scene of your manuscript. Think about a pivotal moment in your story and then grab the reader’s attention with the very first line.
One mistake I often see writers make is beginning with too much exposition. Perhaps this is because writers want to say all the important things at once, or explain why they are writing the book, but this information should unfold seamlessly throughout the story. First, you have to invest the reader in the outcome and then you can gradually include pertinent information.
I rewrote the opening chapter of my book, Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir, more times than I’d like to admit. Eventually I realized that if I start with a powerful moment, I could hook the reader and then unpack my story from there.
Step 2: Set the Scene and Develop the Characters
Ground the reader in the story by setting the scene and developing the characters. Think about where your story takes place and how it relates to the narrative. Next, focus on fleshing out your characters by including quirky and original traits.
Knocked Down is about how I spent five months on pregnancy related bedrest in a haunted old farmhouse in New York’s Hudson Valley. I immediately set the scene and begin introducing characters—both dead and alive—from the very first paragraph:
The house was haunted.
I had my suspicions when I moved in. In the middle of the night, the lights flickered, the phone chimed when nobody called, and most disturbing, I witnessed tears sliding down the rough, misshapen stone fireplace. Maybe it was because my father-in-law’s ashes were kept in a German beer stein on the mantel. Or because one day my husband’s grandmother put her head down on the dining room table as though she were about to take a nap and died instead.
This immediately provides the reader with both a sense of place and characters, drawing them into the scene.
Step 3: Choose the Tone and Voice of Your Manuscript and Stick With It
Decide on the tone of your manuscript and be consistent. If you are writing a light-hearted story with quirky characters, that needs to come through immediately. If your work is of a more serious nature, make that apparent. Editors and agents don’t want to find out the narrator has a sense of humor a hundred pages into the book, nor do they want the tone to completely shift from humorous to serious. If the tone of your manuscript is inconsistent, it can pull readers out of the story.
Along with the tone of your nonfiction book, make sure your voice as the narrator comes through, this way readers will have a clear understanding of who you are as a writer. Just be yourself because that will feel the most genuine to your audience.
Step 4: Keep the Pace Consistent
Good pacing is important to the narrative flow. Make sure your sentences are smooth, readable, and vary in length. Include snappy and meaningful dialogue, and balance the action with quieter, descriptive scenes. Too much exposition slows the pace and nonstop action doesn’t give the reader a chance to breathe. Finding the balance is key.
Step 5: Focus On the Narrative Arc
The narrative arc includes the inciting incident, the rising, the peak, and the resolution of a story. Think of this as an actual line or arc from beginning to end. Setting the stakes in the opening chapters allows the reader to see the progression and transformation of the characters. Many writers don’t focus enough on the narrative arc in their first 50 pages, thinking that they will get to it later. I tell my clients to map out where their story is going and what has to happen to get there.
Here’s an example of how I set the stakes during a doctor’s appointment in the opening pages of Knocked Down:
In an instant, my eyes had fixed on my husband’s darkened demeanor. In place of the reassurance I had seen moments earlier, there was fear. No, no, I thought, shaking my head. The doctor’s shiny red lips moved, but I absorbed just bits: “. . . cervix . . . situation . . . dangerous.”
These three sentences are the inciting incident that shows the reader my life is about to dramatically change.
Step 6: Workshop Your Writing
No matter how great you think your first 50 pages are, it’s always a good idea to workshop your writing with others before sending it out on submission. Forming a writing group, signing up for a workshop, or hiring an editor to read your work, can help you focus on issues you might have overlooked. We can be too close to our own story, or look at it so many times we miss inconsistencies and errors. Always have beta readers read your work and provide feedback before sending it out.
Step 7: Take a Break
This may sound counterintuitive, but once you have written, rewritten, edited, and shared your work with others, take a break and put it aside. Giving yourself space from your manuscript and coming back to it a few weeks later with fresh eyes can provide you with insight you may have never expected. It’s a great way to catch tighten your story.
Step 8: Don’t Rush the Process
The single most important piece of advice I give my clients is: Do not rush the process. Make this your mantra. Writing and submitting to editors and agents can feel like a never-ending race to the finish line. It’s overwhelming for almost everybody! Instead of rushing to submit your work, trust the process, take it slow, and make sure those first 50 pages are polished. You will not be sorry you took the extra time.
To get your first 50 pages in top shape, include a great opening, set the scene, build the characters, and create a strong narrative arc. This will help you spark the interest of an agent or editor. Not only that, but it will also make the rest of the book much easier to write because you will have created a solid foundation. Most important, take your time and rework until you are confident that your pages are the best they can be.
Aileen Weintraub is the author of Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir about marriage, motherhood and the risks we take. She is also a Pitch Witch working with writers to develop their query letters, pitches, book proposals, articles, and essays at witchesofpitches.com
