First Impressions:
Opening Your Novel​
with award-winning author,
Jessamyn Hope

Testimonials from July 27

'Jessamyn, thank you so much for the outstanding workshop on starting a novel. I learned a lot from it, and enjoyed it greatly. I have been to many workshops and, for me, this was one of the best.' - J.C.

'Very pleased to have attended today's session. Jess is an experienced and inspiring "artist" to learn from. Would love to attend other sessions given by her.' - Z.G.

Thank you Jessamyn for a great workshop, very practical and with content that was applied so internalized- I  enjoyed it a lot and learnt a lot! - E.H.
.The beginning of a novel makes a promise—it lets readers know what kind of book they’ve picked up and assures them it will be worth their while to keep reading. The first few pages are your chance to hook the reader, whether it’s a person browsing Steimatzky or a potential literary agent or publisher.

But what makes a good beginning? How do you make your book gripping from the first line? How do you immediately ground a reader in a time and location? Are you sure you’re starting your story in the right place? How do you slip in everything the reader needs to know about the characters and their surroundings to understand the story ahead? What if you’re promising the reader one kind of story, but then delivering another?

​In this seminar, we will explore what makes a great beginning by reading the openings of critically acclaimed novels, as well as the first ten pages of each other’s novel-in-progress.

Details

Minimum/Maximum Participation: 6/12
Cost: 450 NIS if paid in full by June 20, 500 NIS subsequently. 
Location: Talbiya, Jerusalem (more details upon registration).
Registration: Sign up and we will be in touch. Payment can be made via bank transfer, cheque/check or cash (by special arrangement)..
Cancellation policy: If you cancel within one week of the class and your place cannot be filled, you will be asked to cover the total cost of the seminar.
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Jessamyn Hope is the New-York-City-based author of the novel Safekeeping, which was a recommended read by The Boston Globe; acclaimed by The Globe and Mail and Tablet Magazine; winner of the 2016 J.I. Segal Award; and a finalist for the Paterson Fiction Prize and the Ribalow Prize. Her short fiction and memoirs have appeared in Ploughshares, Five Points, PRISM International, and other literary magazines. Recent accolades for them include two Pushcart Prize honorable mentions and selection for Best Canadian Essays 2015. She was the Susannah McCorkle Scholar in Fiction at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and has an MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College.