This morning I officially started the rewrite of my first novel (after a full read-through and a lot of red ink). I had already updated the outline and moved some things around, I had plenty of notes lined up, and I was ready to dive into the words. I was ready to get cranking, and I spent about two hours in that first session. After those two hours, I was able to proudly look at the two sentences I had produced.
Technically, the first note I had (besides the title being “expletive awful”) was about the first sentence feeling flat. So, I worked on that sentence, which led me to rewrite the second sentence. So, these were very important sentences, and changing them alters the first point-of-view we encounter, adds a new promise for the readers, and gives an entirely new feeling for the beginning of the book (and the rest of the words after that).
After those sweat and hours, I was able to proudly say that I had produced two good sentences. Well, the first sentence is good, and the second one will probably be good after another hour or so.
So, we’re no longer opening with this:
It was hot the night I died.
We are now opening with this:
The night the demon arrived was in the middle of one of the hottest Augusts on record in the small town of Providence, TX.