Journal / For writers
What we look for in a first page
An editor on the first three hundred words: why they matter so much, and what makes us turn to page two.
29 October 2026 · 6 minute read · From the editorial desk
Three hundred words
Most submissions are decided, at least provisionally, on the first page. That sounds harsh. It is also the way readers in a bookshop choose: they open the book, read a paragraph and either keep reading or put it back.
A voice, not a warm-up
The most common first page we see is a warm-up: weather, a waking character, a long description of a compound. We would rather meet someone doing something, or thinking something only they would think.
Trust the reader
Explaining everything at once tells us you do not trust us. A first page can leave questions open. The best ones leave exactly one question, and make it urgent.
A page that makes the room go quiet is the only test we really trust.
Specific beats general
Not a market but the Monday market at Kawo, not a car but a Peugeot with one working headlight. Specific details are how a writer proves they have been somewhere.
Then, page two
A first page earns a second. After that, the work is to keep the promise. That is what the next forty nine pages are for.
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