The First Five Pages
A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
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Narrated by:
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Angus Freathy
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By:
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Noah Lukeman
About this listen
Whether you are a novice writer or a veteran who has already had your work published, rejection is often a frustrating reality. Literary agents and editors receive and reject hundreds of manuscripts each month. While it's the job of these publishing professionals to be discriminating, it's the job of the writer to produce a manuscript that immediately stands out among the vast competition. And those outstanding qualities, says New York literary agent Noah Lukeman, have to be apparent from the first five pages.
The First Five Pages reveals the necessary elements of good writing, whether it be fiction, nonfiction, journalism, or poetry, and points out errors to be avoided.
©2010 Noah Lukeman (P)2017 Noah Lukeman
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Rand takes listeners step by step through the writing process, providing insightful observations and invaluable techniques along the way. She discusses the psychological aspects of writing and the roles played by the conscious and subconscious mind. She talks about articles and books, explaining how to select a subject and theme, how to identify your audience, and how to write the first draft.
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Great Content, but the narrator is annoying
- By Ms on 01-26-09
By: Ayn Rand
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Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
- The Untold History of English
- By: John McWhorter
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
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A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar. Why do we say "I am reading a catalog" instead of "I read a catalog"? Why do we say "do" at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.
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Great for casual linguists
- By Bertie on 01-11-10
By: John McWhorter
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Save the Cat!
- The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need
- By: Blake Snyder
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Here's what started the phenomenon: This book has been a best seller for over 15 years and has been used by screenwriters around the world! Blake Snyder tells all in this fast, funny, and candid look inside the movie business. Save the Cat is just one of many ironclad rules for making your ideas more marketable and your script more satisfying.
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Don't waste your time
- By Amazon Customer on 02-05-20
By: Blake Snyder
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Process
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Ernest Hemingway, Zadie Smith, Joan Didion, Franz Kafka, David Foster Wallace, and more. In Process, acclaimed journalist Sarah Stodola examines the creative methods of literature's most transformative figures. Each chapter contains a mini biography of one of the world's most lauded authors, focused solely on his or her writing process.
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Excellent!
- By Davina Rush on 04-10-15
By: Sarah Stodola
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The Memoir Project
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Whether or not one has lived an exceptional or dramatic life, we inherently understand that writing memoir—whether it’s a book, blog, or just a letter to a child - is the single greatest portal to self-examination. Stop treading water in writing exercises or hiding behind “writer’s block” and learn how to write with intent. Marion Roach Smith’s disarmingly frank but wildly fun tactics offer you simple and effective guidelines that work. Your legacy beings now.
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amazing what you can learn from brevity
- By Schwartz-Burrill on 09-15-11
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The Creative Habit
- Learn It and Use It for Life
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- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
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All it takes to make creativity a part of your life is the willingness to make it a habit. It is the product of preparation and effort, and is within reach of everyone. Whether you are a painter, musician, businessperson, or simply an individual yearning to put your creativity to use, The Creative Habit provides you with 32 practical exercises based on the lessons Twyla Tharp has learned in her remarkable 35-year career.
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A much-needed shout-out to good habits
- By cvstuart on 03-27-13
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Poetry in Person
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- By: Lucille Clifton, Alexander Neubauer - editor, Eamon Grennan, and others
- Narrated by: Alexander Neubauer
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
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This first audio edition of Poetry in Person: 25 Years of Conversation with America’s Poets (Knopf, 2010), invites listeners into an intimate classroom with eight acclaimed poets. Full of compelling, in-depth conversation about manuscripts and drafts by the poets themselves, plus readings of the finished poems, these historic recordings offer one of the most detailed portraits ever produced of how poems are actually made.
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Fascinating
- By d on 08-28-16
By: Lucille Clifton, and others
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Directing Actors
- By: Judith Weston
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In this essential guide to acting, internationally renowned directing coach Judith Weston demonstrates what constitutes a good performance, what actors want from a director, and what directors do wrong. She also goes over script analysis and preparation and how actors work, and she shares important and helpful insights into the director/actor relationship.
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Directing Humans
- By Jacob Moore on 10-15-19
By: Judith Weston
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The Art of Language Invention
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- By: David J. Peterson
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- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
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From master language creator David J. Peterson comes a creative guide to language construction for sci-fi and fantasy fans, writers, game creators, and language lovers. Peterson offers a captivating overview of language creation, covering its history from Tolkien's creations and Klingon to today's thriving global community of conlangers.
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Great resource, but not conducive to audiobook
- By Ashley T. on 04-18-16
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What listeners say about The First Five Pages
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- realme
- 01-28-21
Advanced writing advice
This is a great book that deals with how you can make the writing itself more beautiful. There are very few books that teach that. From metaphor to setting to pacing, you will learn how to be a better writer overall, and it will show in your first five pages.
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- James Jones
- 12-31-22
Helpful for this beginner
I found this book to be immensely helpful. The craft of writing can be daunting but insights given in this book uncovers many of the necessary skills I need to master to become a successful writer.
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you need
If you own only two or three books on writing in your whole life, then this should be at least one of them. It's been around a couple of years, but nothing is better. The narration is amazing. The reader even chuckles at a few parts because of the funny quotes. Honestly, one of the most well-narrated books I've ever read. You'll see once you start listening to it. You'll feel like the dude is sitting next to you in the car.
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3 people found this helpful
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- K.B.
- 01-30-22
Good for understanding common mistakes
Overall I found this book useful in understanding the common mistakes writers make. The author has a bit of a nasty attitude at times toward writers who make these mistakes. Also, the author projects some negativity into the reader that the reader may not have. But despite this negativity, the lessons are valuable and from what I can tell, can not be found anywhere else. So listen for the lessons and take the attitude with a grain of salt.
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- Rebecca J. Yockey
- 08-04-23
If you want to be published. . .
Please read this book if you want to be published. After helping accept and reject novels for a publishing house, all I can say is that a lot of heartache may be avoided if you understand the principles of this book.
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- Rebecca
- 06-02-20
Mostly grammar recommendations
There was a nugget or two in here but this is a book dedicated to the craft of writing, not the craft of developing a story. I expected guidance on what content to put in the first five pages rather than how to line edit any pages. This also seems to focus entirely on literary pursuits without comment on how things are different in genre and age categories.
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1 person found this helpful