By Evan Marshell

Recently, Lev Grossman, the book critic at Time magazine, made some predictions about publishing. Among his predictions about the novel was the following: "Novels will compete to hook you in the first paragraph and then hang on for dear life."

I agree, except on one point: This isn't coming. It's already here.

A novel's first paragraph, or "opening hook," has always been important, but it has never been as important as it is now.

Creative Writing Tips – By Nick Vernon

Writing is a creative process and how every writer chooses to create, is individual to them. Likewise, with plotting, every writer plots at a level they are comfortable with.

Some just plot the bare essentials. They have a firm idea of the story they want to write and have a good memory to be able to memorize everything.

Others go into more detail. These writers prefer to figure everything out before they write the story.