The First 10 Pages: Preparing your Novel for Submission – a Masterclass

When submitting to agents, you may be asked for the first three chapters or 50 pages – but it's the opening 5-10 pages that will determine whether an agent reads on.

This intensive and practical 3-hour masterclass is designed for writers who have completed a novel or are well into a draft. We will concentrate on the first 10 pages – while keeping them firmly in the context of your full manuscript – with time for exercises, discussion and supportive feedback.

This session will be particularly useful if:

• you feel your opening isn’t yet strong or clear enough.
• you want to reshape or refine your opening.
• you are preparing, or beginning to think about, submission.
• you have submitted your work but received no helpful feedback.
  

During the session we will:

• examine what those crucial early pages must establish.
• identify common structural and narrative problems with novel openings.
• work through guided exercises using your own draft.
• consider when and how an opening may need reframing.
• give supportive feedback on a section of your work (if you are happy to read aloud).
• help you devise a clear revision plan or checklist to help you with the next stages.
  

Please bring the first 10–15 pages (or first chapter) of your novel, printed or on a laptop. It would be helpful to have the rest of your manuscript/draft accessible for reference.

The group is limited to 8–10 participants to allow depth of discussion and individual attention.

About the tutor:

The masterclass is led by Susanna Jones, award-winning author of The Earthquake Bird, When Nights Were Cold and other novels. She has many years’ experience teaching and mentoring novelists, from complete beginners to writers at MA and PhD level. For many years she was the main fiction tutor on the MA in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. She runs Pebble Beach Writing in Brighton.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Pebble Beach Writing