Young Writers Society

I have noticed a pattern in the reviews of my stories both on here as well as reviews from friends families and even my editor. The pattern is something like this:

I liked this, more than I expected to when I first started reading but you really captured something toward the end. Review of A Heroin Laced Love Story

I really didn't think I would like this when I started it but I really enjoyed it towards the end.Review of The Last Good Man

Theres more but you get the idea. How should I take this? Is it good? bad? irrelevant? Do I need to make major changes to my writing? Is a strong finish capable of redeeming a weak start?

I dont really know what I'm asking, just wondering what everyone's thought are.

Ideally you should have a strong start and finish, but personally I think the ending is more important than the start. The ending can make or break a book or film.

I'm thinking of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid--the first half is really kind of boring, but the second half and ending are much much better, which is why I think of the film as good and not rubbish. If there hadn't been that strong second half, I wouldn't have liked it at all. I read Frenchman's Creek not that long ago, and heartily disliked it. I didn't like the start or the middle, but all the way through I kept on thinking, "Hey, maybe it'll have an awegreat ending". If it had had a good ending, I probably wouldn't dislike the book as much as I do, but it had a lousy ending, so I wouldn't recommend that book to anyone.

If you have a weak start but a strong finish, then you've got joyful surprise from the reader. If you start off strong and end weakly, you've got disappointment as well as a bad ending.

However, you do need a good opening, otherwise people won't soldier on to get to that good ending.

Sounds like you may need to work on your hook. You should surprise the reader with the first few lines, interested them, and make sure that interest lingers so that you can really wow them with the ending. I've had a similar problem, and it just needs a little revision to fix. Keep trying!

Personally, I'm not quite sure; It could mean a lot of different things depending on the person.
My best guess is that it was a bit predictable. Or that there were too many action lulls in the middle. Try and make a few more unexpected twists in the storyline to keep the reader hooked.
Keep writing!

w&w

Okay MVP, what you need is a snazzy starter . Remember that the first sentence in the first paragraph of the first chapter is the first one the reader reads. And if you start it with a plain, wordy or tell-y passage, readers would be pestered and stop reading. Write with impact and lure the readers into your story's enigma!

Now, how to make THE BEGINNING of your story snazzy! It doesn't have to be chapter one; just the beginning part. The job of that section of the story is to indulge reader into the story. It's there to introduce. But not because it introduces it should be over-flooded with gazillions of information! A good beginning must at least contain the following:
1.) A standing on the main character
2.) A hint of introduction to the conflict leading to plot or the main conflict
3.) A standing on the setting

Now that you know what are the important ingredients to mix in, let's make that beginning rock! What can you do? Experiment. Not all good stories start with 'Once upon a time'. Some writers experiment by starting at different points in the story, to provide more action, then go back to the past by flashbacks or the like. That's quite common nowadays, but at least it's different from the others!

My last tip: Every beginning is as good as the beginning! Actually, ALL PARTS of the story matters! Just do and give your best to all of them to get the BEST outcome

Your pal,
Al

You should look at it this way, the beginning, though not impressive was still convincing enough to get them to read all of the way through to the end. I mean, I still haven't been able to read past page 12 of To Kill A Mockingbird because I just don't find the ending all that great.

But as what you should do, don't try and change your entire style of writing just llike that. You obviously already have something in their that is good after all. It's just a matter of finding the weak points and then improving them.

Thanks for the advice friends. I will keep it all in mind.