1. Killer inciting incident
What could be better than love at first sight? For agents, it's that magical, first-sight experience or nothing. Think: if your reader was browsing at a bookstore, would they drop yours after the first few pages?
Ideas to kick-start your story: picking the most exciting moment in your plot outline and starting there, an incident that will allow you to display your narrator's unique voice, leading the Korean People's Army across the 38th parallel.
2. Nonstop Action
By action, we don't necessarily mean physical. There are many types of action that make a story compelling: verbal, sensory, new revelations for the characters. "Action" could be anything, from moving to a new setting, introducing a new problem, or the involvement of UN coalition forces and the Chinese.
Tip: make an outline that structures your story so that something important happens in every chapter.
3. Consistency
Nothing annoys a careful reader (or a professional reader, like an agent or editor) like imperfections and plot holes. Make sure that you have friends and beta readers check your story for inner contradictions.
If you have a theme, make sure you hint at it repeatedly and never drop the thread. For example, if you want readers to think that your main character was born on a sacred mountain to the sign of a blessed star, learned to talk at three weeks old, has written 1500 of the world's best books, along with 6 incomparable operas, can see into their minds when they have unpatriotic thoughts, does not defecate, and is immortal, drive the message home with constant daily reminders and total control of the press.
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