Will readers read the first words of your novel and want to keep going? In this single session 2.5-hour class, we’ll look at openings that work and others that don’t, and we’ll develop a list of questions to ask about our own beginnings. Bring the first 100 words of what you’re currently working on, and we’ll review. Our goal will be to leave with an understanding of creative, unique ways to invite readers into our worlds.

CYNTHIA NEWBERRY MARTIN is on the board of the literary nonprofit Writing by Writers, whose mission is “To create a rigorous, compassionate and inclusive environment to learn the art of reading and writing from accomplished authors,” and she assists at each of their major writing workshops. She taught at Story Studio Chicago in 2020 and will be teaching this summer at Sea Wolf Books & Community Writing Center in Port Orford, Oregon. Cynthia is the author of “Not Every Sentence Can Be Great, But Every Sentence Must Be Good” in Brevity. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and served as the Review Editor for Contrary Magazine and the Writing Life Editor for Hunger Mountain. She studied with Pam Houston, a well-respected teacher, for nine years, and is aware of the need to be sensitive and inclusive and to manage discussions. Before her legal career, she taught English to French students. Her goal for each class is for every person to leave the room excited to get back to writing.