tips for writing a strong novel opening (in 3 steps) 🌟

⚡️ related videos:
⟡ opening lines | • 🗯 what makes an effect...
⟡ first scenes w/ ‪@lynndjung‬ | • what makes a good FIRS...
happy nanowrimo :) hope everyone's having a good writing month so far. these are three main elements I use as a foundation for developing compelling first scenes / chapters in a novel.
0:00 intro and disclaimers
1:56 establishing shot
6:24 characterization
10:24 tension and conflict
_____
/ about /
i'm kris (she/her), a speculative fiction writer documenting my writing process, ongoing projects and chatting about craft ☀️
/ published work /
SWAY WITH ME UNTIL WE BLEED (sci-fi, cyberpunk):
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[@laurenct]

your craft videos are always top-notch!! totally agree with what you said about writers withholding info. feels like you're discovering the character when those bits about them are slowly revealed :) hope your projects are going well

[@kelleyiswriting]

I can hear you talk about writing ALL DAY!!!! I used to dump thoughts on my readers without setting up any context and looking back, WTF was I thinking!!! Lmao. GREAT VIDEO ❤

[@lynndjung]

I could listen to you talk about writing all day!! You approach each topic so thoughtfully. Great video!!

[@reezers101]

Really loved the "open ajar door" analogy. Think I'm going to try that out and see what happens.

[@bttmofthebrrlstudios]

Great vid! Watched this twice now to really try and think about it. I especially like the point about hinting at character flaws very early on, that's insightful!

[@Lara_Ameen]

This is absolutely wonderful! Thank you so much! It’s so insightful and useful. I always try to put cliffhangers at the end of scenes and chapters.

[@arzabael]

Beeest kind of vid right here. Thanks Kris 😊😊

[@ceclar_b012]

Doing a modified version of Nano this year - couldn’t have come at a better time. In that Nano-sphere, do you have any tips for building out atmosphere/tension through scene description? I.E. dialogue and flow while keeping that conversation moving and grounded in setting. Curious about your thoughts on balancing the three.

[@KrisMF]

great question! mostly i think this comes down to treating setting as its own character in that it should play an active role in contributing to the scene. specifically for those dialogue heavy scenes, i like to make sure that my characters have something interesting to "interact" with while they're talking and/or put something in the setting that mirrors the emotion of the conversation. it's why romance films often have love confessions outside in a thunderstorm (lol). you can apply the same logic to other emotions too. for example: if two roommates are arguing, is it more interesting to have them arguing just sitting at a table? or arguing while struggling to build IKEA furniture in their new apartment? in the latter, the scene now has a "prop" - a mirroring of the characters' frustration w/ each other. tl;dr - while your characters are talking: 1) give your characters something *to do* and/or 2) give them something interesting *to observe* that's just my general thoughts but maybe i'll expand this out into another video or a newsletter!!

[@ceclar_b012]

@@KrisMF That would be absolutely wonderful. Thank you kindly!

[@t-helen-price]

Great video! Thanks for sharing your insights and happy #NaNoWriMo to you too! Looking forward to your next video!

[@DreamingTruth.author]

Great info. Thank you for sharing ❤

[@Ebony.B]

I completely agree with your advise! I love your character driven approach to writing too. 🤍