First Impressions: Opening Paragraph Critiques with Hannah Strouth, Alexandra Lake, Richard Adams Carey, and Masheri Chappelle
Whether you’re writing a novel, a memoir, or a short story, all writers know how important it is to hook the reader in the first few paragraphs. This workshop will give you a chance to have your opening section reviewed by a panel of agents and writers who will tell you what’s working and what’s needed to compel your reader to flip to page two.
If you could benefit from this kind of feedback, sign up soon! We will offer up to two (2) classes, each of which will be limited to a maximum of seven (7) people to ensure each participant gets expert advice on making his or her story a page-turner right from the start.
Each participant will be asked to submit no more than 300 words for review. Submit your draft here by May 27, 2022, with 603 FIRST IMPRESSIONS SUBMISSION in the subject line. Specify the genre you work in at the top of your document. All submissions must be double-spaced.
Go the 603 Writers’ Videoconference registration site to sign up.
About the panel:
While earning her B.A. in English and Marketing from the College of William & Mary, Hannah Strouth completed an internship at a boutique literary agency in Virginia, where she fell in love with this side of publishing. After graduating from the Columbia Publishing Course, she joined the Jane Rotrosen Agency as Office Assistant and soon after was promoted to Contracts Associate. Today, as assistant to Andrea Cirillo, Annelise Robey, and Kathy Schneider, she helps maintain their list of clients while keeping her sights set on actively growing her own list. Hannah is looking primarily for literary fiction, upmarket/commercial fiction, historical/biographical fiction, speculative/light magical realism, high-concept women’s fiction, and select romantic comedies. Books that dig deep into a wide range of emotions, leave her thinking deeply, and have her questioning human nature are the ones that capture her heart and make her most excited. She’s primarily driven by emotion and voice in a story, so the more heart-wrenching the better. Across all genres, she’s drawn to stories that help her discover and learn new aspects about people, places, events, herself, and grand concepts that have no defined answer.
Alexandra (Ali) Lake is a young agent at Janklow & Nesbit Associates building her list in nonfiction, fiction, and YA. She loves books that show her a new corner of the world or an unexpected facet of human experience through an original, surprising voice. Her genres include YA, nonfiction, memoir, cookbook, literary, upmarket, fantasy, romantic comedy, and detective. Previous to joining J&N, she worked at ICM Partners. She has a BA in English and French Literature from Columbia University.
Richard Adams Carey is the author of four books of literary narrative nonfiction, most recently In the Evil Day, which was optioned for film by London-based Island Pictures. “Against the Tide” won the New Hampshire Literary Prize for Nonfiction, and Raven’s Children was a New York Public Library Book to Remember. He regularly reviews books for the Wall Street Journal, and his journalism, essays, and short fiction have appeared in the Alaska Quarterly Review, The Massachusetts Review, the Beloit Fiction Journal, Hunger Mountain, the Boston Globe Magazine, Yankee Magazine, Harvard Magazine, and elsewhere. He is past president of the New Hampshire Writers’ Project and was assistant director of the Mountainview MFA in Fiction and Nonfiction program at Southern New Hampshire University. You can purchase In the Evil Day (and his other works) at Gibson’s Book Store.
Masheri Chappelle is the New Hampshire Writers’ Project Chair and member. A Smith Scholar graduate of Smith College, she received her B.A. in theater and writing. She is an award-winning playwright and novelist. Her novel, The Oracle Files: Escape, received the 2019 NH Literary Award for Outstanding Work of Fiction. As a Story Guide, she utilizes her abilities as an intuitive consultant to assist authors with the development of their literary work. She is the owner of My Portalstar Publishing, which will launch in June 2022. My Portalstar Publishing develops and publishes fiction and nonfiction that feed the soul.
