How to Nail Your Novel Opening and Hook Your Reader - Advice from a Book Editor

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The opening pages of your novel need to intrigue the reader or you risk them putting your book down. So, learning how to start a novel effectively is key to the success of your project. Here, I offer my take on the three key elements you need to incorporate in your opening pages to hook your reader. I also walk through a great example of a strong opening hook from the first chapter of my favorite book and explain why it is so successful.

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GREAT BOOKS ABOUT WRITING/PUBLISHING:

SOME OF MY FAVORITE NOVELS:

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RELATED LINKS:

HOW TO START YOUR NOVEL EFFECTIVELY WITH 3 KEY ELEMENTS:
01:13 - 1. A point of conflict
02:41 - 2. Intriguing characters
05:19 - 3. Strong momentum
07:22 - Example of a strong opening chapter from my favorite book

ABOUT ME:
My name is Alyssa Matesic, and I’m a professional book editor with 7+ years of book publishing and editorial experience. Throughout my career, I’ve held editorial roles across both sides of the publishing industry: Big Five publishing houses and literary agencies. The goal of this channel is to help writers throughout the book writing journey—whether you're working on your manuscript or you're looking for publishing advice.

Feel free to get in touch!

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[iivin]

Snow Crash opens with a pizza delivery that has geopolitical consequences. It revels in dialect. Even the narrator's voice drips with it. The main character is named Hiro Protagonist.

It does everything wrong exactly right, and so I love it.

[kardsufur]

would love if you had a segment where you ask people to submit opening pages for you to critique their 1st page or first few paragraphs ! Those are my favorite segments from other agent-tubes but sadly it's still rare to see

[StatmanRN]

Loved the Things They Carried as well. As a Vet of another era, I was blown away.
Got to talk with Tim Obrien at length after a reading at U of Tampa years ago..I was shocked to learn his characters were entirely made up and not composites of men from his time in The Nam. He is an amazing Writer.

[carlosfernandez]

Alyssa, you are the most professional commentator of all the ones that post videos on different channels related to fiction writing ( and I have seen many) You are thorough, clear, and right to the point. I am just finishing up my first nove, l and your videos have been very helpful. Thank you! Carlos.

[AdenThinksNonsense]

My book I'm writing personally, I started it with one the main characters as a kid and why he led to the capital of the kingdom. Just for a backstory

[masonengel]

I’m about to revise a WIP so this was perfect timing for me 😊 I do start with a non-main character ... but he gets hit by a bus after a few pages 😮 Hopefully I can make it clear the story isn’t about him.

[danielmartin]

New writers are erroneously told to always start with an explosion, and many have taken the advice literally. "Conflict or the promise of" is a better, though more nuanced, way of putting it. The audience needs to see that something is happening.

Thanks again!

[jordendarrett]

Something a lot of new writers don't think about...including myself! When I flip through books and see how each chapter starts with interesting opening lines, I realize just how important this is.

[sanamir]

Very helpful video. Thanks

1. Conflict
2. Intriguing characters (Protagonist)
3. Strong momentum. (Suspence)

Example:

“The things they carry” technically a collection of short stories by Tim O Brian.

[jaydean]

Some of the things you say seems so obvious after I hear them.
Now I believe I know why most agents look for the first ten pages
Thank you

[WriteHollyDavis]

Great advice and I love that you gave us an example. Thanks!!

[gorainy]

Excellent, thank you for these clear and followable tips, Alyssa.

[rowan]

Beta readers are indeed helpful as everyone has a different perspective. My editor made/suggested some changes as well that I can describe some parts about the character and the world without being too detailed. Working now on my fourth book, I hope that this time I didn't overload the reader with infos. But it's still in early stages, so lots can change.

[elaynegriffith]

Great advice and example. Although it’s obviously well written, it doesn’t make me want to read that book because it’s not a genre that interests me. So remember, writers, it’s also a very subjective industry. Find your audience and write to them, not everyone on the planet.

[comsy]

For the characters over worldbuilding, I usually forget about worldbuilding!

[INTJ]

This was great. To the point and insightful 🖤

[momo_genX]

I agree with you about character building in the first chapter is important, but also plot setting is important, if not more so, explaining the seeting better to get a general feel for mood. Like an opening describing how things were in a certain city at a certain time, while developing and introducing characters?

[thisisdmc]

Extremely helpful tips, nice quality videos, and flawless speeches! You certainly deserve more subscribers ^^

[martinsvaneborg]

Your videos are absolutely delightful. Informative. I love how style-neutral they are. Most author tubers are quite biased in their personal taste for genre or style. I like that you are so clean, so to speak.

[Doucette]

Thank you! Your speaking voice and style is the best I have ever heard. I have hearing problems. Have you considered the broadcasting industry? You would be the greatest thing since Walter Cronkite.