The First Sentence

I am embarking on the most creative part of the MA - an original novel outline and 40,000 words of a different novel. I had a rather intimidating experience yesterday when Fay Weldon told us to start the first paragraph of our novel and then left the room. Half an hour later she returned and we each had to read out our scribblings. I had not expected this. Fay then discussed each one. No pressure there then. It was a very valuable session. I knew that I had to start in the middle of the action but I was not setting up the entire novel in the first 250 words. That is what I now aim to do. There are a few elements to include: the 'cosmic sentence', the middle of the action, setting up the problem to be solved, dialogue etc. It sounds impossible but I think a balance can be achieved. Mmmmm...