Thank you all for helping this writer celebrate my milestone. Please return tomorrow for a new question-and-answer with a Guest Editor, and do plan on entering the daily giveaways during DearEditor.com’s annual Revision Week at the end of April. In meantime, some words that may help you think about your story’s opening a little differently, from one of my favorite editors, Arthur Levine of Arthur A. Levine Books:

“I think of first pages as a first date. We’re at the stage of a relationship when it’s all promise. Establish a spark for the beginning, and a trust. The foundation for a good relationship.”