You know what’s hard? Starting a new book. That first sentence, that first word, just feels so important.

I’ve been talking to a very cool blog friend about writing lately, and upon reading her latest message, I remembered how hard getting that first bit of writing down is. How exciting and nerve-wracking it could be.

For TNWSY, I stressed over that first sentence a lot. I wrote one, and then analyzed it from every angle. Was it good enough? Memorable enough? Will it bring readers in, or distract them? Will it catch their attention or bore them? I became obsessed. Crazed. That is, until I finally realized “eh, I can change it later.” So I forced myself to move on and you know what? That line didn’t feel as important after I was a few paragraphs in.

So here’s what I’ve learned – just write. That first sentence may not be perfect, but at least you’ve got something. Something concrete. Something to work with. Because in the end, you’ll probably change a lot, but you’ll never get to that moment if you don’t just write.

Oh, and my first line? It was changed twice prior to querying agents.