April 2019 IWSG: First or Last

Hello everyone, and welcome to another Insecure Writers Support Group day!  Spring has sprung here in Missouri of the USA, but winter is still playing tricks. I painted my toenails JUST IN CASE one day will be warm enough to wear the flip flops. I also shaved a leg or two, but enough about my hygiene. Just know that I am ready! Now let's read on about my IWSG topic.

This post was written for The Insecure Writer's Support Group and brought to you by founder Alex J Cavanaugh. This month Alex has the help of these co-hosts: J.H. Moncrieff, Natalie Aguirre, Patsy Collins, and  Chemist Ken! Please go visit them! The optional question is: If you could use a wish to help you write just one scene/chapter of your book, which one would it be?

So which chapter or scene would I like help with? I thought a long five or six minutes about this and my answer is that it would be either a first chapter or a final chapter. 

Both the first and last of anything we do is worth doing right: living young to old, beginning and quitting a job, starting and ending relationships. Life is more fulfilling that way. The same with the first and last chapters of a book. If we fall short on either first or last chapters, then our story will not satisfy the reader. 

The first chapter needs to lure, hook and pull the reader in. It should move the story forward, read like butter and after all that butter...hang onto the reader.  Yeah, think about that one.

First impressions are huge, but...

Last impressions are equally huge. Endings bring the reader front and center where they will seek meaning and where they're considering your invitation to Come back and see me sometime...okay? You want the reader to want more of what you do with a story.

First and last chapters are important and it matters how you do them. So I choose...both.  Yep, I'm no good at decision making. 

T.