The Best Writing Advice I Ever Received

Thoughts on prologues, criticism, and when it's time to change your story

Dec 09, 2025

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I’ve been in publishing for a decade now, but I began writing years before I stepped into the world of contracts, deadlines, editorial passes, and advance reader copies. It goes without saying that I’ve received countless pieces of writing advice over the years.

Advice on improving my craft.

Advice on how to structure a good story.

Advice on how to work with a literary agent.

Advice on how to make the most out of my time at a writers’ conference.

But amidst all of that, in the years I’ve had the privilege of learning from some of the most experienced folks in the industry, the best piece of writing advice I ever received remains the same.

The Feedback that Changed My Story

Travel back in time with me to 2013. I was a baby writer who’d just discovered ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). I had a couple of critique partners (still love those ladies), and I’d just begun entering writing contests for unpublished (but hopeful) authors such as myself.

When ACFW’s First Impressions contest opened for submissions that autumn, I was ready—or so I thought. I submitted the prologue for my debut novel, Unblemished, and I eagerly awaited contest feedback as I continued to develop my story. After months of waiting, I learned I was a finalist! I was over-the-moon excited. It was a feeling like no other I had experienced at that point in my writing career. Being a finalist was a small step toward my goal of finishing my novel and one day seeing it published. It was a confidence boost, to say the least. A little nudge that whispered, “You can do this. Keep going.”

I ended up winning first place in the Young Adult category that year. I had plenty of valuable and even encouraging feedback from the judges, but with any positive feedback, there is usually a critique sandwiched in somewhere. Across the board, the judges felt my prologue was, though well-written and intriguing, well . . . it was a prologue. And, as you may know if you’re also a writer, readers and writers alike have strong opinions about prologues.

“The prologue contained too much backstory,” one judge said. “Prologues are never necessary. Just start with Chapter 1.”

While I don’t agree that prologues are never necessary, the comments from the judges gave me some food for thought. I was new to the novel-writing business, and I desired to be someone receptive to constructive feedback. My prologue had won a contest, but was it necessary? I wanted to grow and learn, and perhaps the way to do that was to nix my prologue all together.

Or perhaps there was another option.

As a lover of prologues (see my strong opinion coming through there?), I wasn’t quite ready to take the ax to my opening pages, so I paused and sought advice from a trusted mentor, author, and friend. She graciously looked over my novel’s beginning, through Chapter 1, and she agreed with the judges’ feedback, but she took it one step further—she gave me a word of advice I still hold close to this day.

“Story begins when change happens for your protagonist,” she explained. “The change in your prologue is from a side character’s perspective. The real change for your protagonist begins in Chapter 1, in the present day, at her mom’s funeral.”

“Story begins when change happens.”

As difficult as it was to hear, she was right. And because she explained her reasoning in a gentle and kind way, her feedback was easier to digest. I knew she wanted to see me suceed.

I always tell young writers who come to me for advice to take criticism with a grain of salt. Your story is your story and, in the end, no one knows it better than you do. But when the same feedback comes from several people who deliver it with the intention of helping you grow as a writer, rather than to tear you down? Now that’s criticism to consider.

Making the Change Official

I wish I could say I immediately wisened up and implemented that sage advice. But it took me a full year and several more contest entries to see the light. I won the ACFW Genesis Contest the following autumn in 2014, and new judges sang the same tune after reading through Chapter 1—the prologue from a side character’s perspective was intriguing, but the real start of the story was Chapter 1.

“I have to be honest, I had trouble sticking with it through the prologue,” one judge noted. “I wish the story started with the first chapter. It was stronger, in my opinion.”

“Heavy on narrative in the beginning,” another judge wrote. “First 3 1/2 pages have no dialogue. After that, it’s fine.”

Genesis Contest 2014, First Place, Young Adult Category, *Unblemished*

If you’re a writer, you are familiar with the phrase “kill your darlings.” But I didn’t want to kill my prologue. I loved it. The backstory was pertinent to the plot. And since my protagonist was a baby when the original prologue took place, there was no possible way to tell it from her perspective. Or was there? What was a prologue-loving author to do?

After a bit of brainstorming, the answer finally came. I could have the best of both worlds. There was a way to keep that scene. I could place it later on in the story, as a flashback. You can find a revised and rewritten version of it from the protagonist’s perspective in Chapter 36 of Unblemished. (You can also read the original, unpublished version of the prologue below the paywall at the end of this post.)

As for the prologue, I decided on a compromise. I would keep it as a short foreshadow, a teaser of what was to come from my main character’s perspective. No longer than a single page.

“This is all my fault.
She’ll lose her soul because of me.
I stare at Verity’s vessel and search his stony eyes for some sign he’ll do what he must, some sense he’s finally decided to let go.
Do it, my soul pleads. Save her, my eyes implore.
One, two, three breaths before he nods.
Sigh. This is it. The steady adagio of my beating heart plays the coda in my final act.
His face is drawn, pale. The sight pulls at my heartstrings, overtuning them to the point of snapping.
My eyes want to close. I will them to remain open. I won’t abandon him in this. The burden is ours to bear. Together. No turning back.
The enemy raises his sword as the Verity’s vessel creeps toward him. The extended note of hesitation ushers in the last cadence of my life. There will be no encore for me. No reprise or standing ovation. This is my final performance. The curtain is closing, and the audience is taking its leave.
His sword comes flying down.”
— PRELUDE, Unblemished by Sara Ella

When the time came to submit my manuscript to agents and eventually publishers, the new beginning was complete. I can’t say whether or not I would have gained attention for Unblemished if I had kept the original prologue. All I know is that I’m grateful for the many people who took time to pour into me and offer feedback that helped me grow as a writer. I learned that I could implement feedback in a way that worked best for my story. I didn’t remove the prologue completely, but I didn’t keep it as it was either.

Unblemished was contracted with Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins the following year, just three days before my 30th birthday in 2015. A year and a half (and many revisions) later, it was published on October 11, 2016.

First Book Signing, King’s English Bookshop, SLC, Utah – October 11, 2016

I have seven published novels now, and with each one my writing process has adjusted a bit. Every story is different and has different needs, but the one thing that’s remained the same with each new novel I write is the reminder that story begins when change happens. Before I sit down to write that first line, I ask myself, “What’s about to change for my protagonist?”

Sometimes it’s the loss of someone or something. Other times it’s a journey to a new place or even something as simple as a milestone birthday. Whatever it is, think about what’s going to change for your characters. How will that change propel them forward into the action that drives the story?

I know the simple change of revising my prologue all those years ago was just the beginning of my own author story. At the time, the change was difficult, but looking back, I know it was a milestone that propelled me forward. And I’m so glad to be where I am now.