Those first words set the tone, voice, place, language, and objective of the novel. Like the set of instructions that comes with a game, they teach the reader how to “play the game” of this world.

I’d never met my annual writing goals before because I’d never made any.

Every story or novel I’ve written is at one point or another a big, lumpy mess. Too much in some places, not enough in others. A mass not even resembling what I want it too look like in the end.