#3rdturn

elaborating on my previous posts, do not stress over what the first thing you're going to say about a character is. as long as it's something that you don't anticipate contradicting, then you're set. i'm just worried i set up a bit too much of a "first impressions are EVERYTHING" frame of mind when that's not necessarily true. here's an example:

this is the first paragraph of a story i'm writing and this is the first we see of my main character. other than a.) kanna likes the water, and b.) kanna is a lighthouse operator, we know nothing else about him. his actions following this will set up a picture for the readers, but the first thing doesn't have to.

don't worry about hooks too much. my general philosophy is that hooks- although important- are way too hyped up in the world of writing. that being said, a good way to do hooks is "WHAM SENTENCE -> sentence that in part explains the previous directly following". here's an example from maggie stiefvater's the raven boys.

the first sentence pulls us in and confuses us, and the second sentence (and its full paragraph) provides some context to what we're being told. there's still some questions that we can ask (will she actually? is this prediction wrong? how long has she known? how concrete is this prediction? etc) but we're given a frame of reference for what is a very shocking and compelling hook. it's great.

my last thing is pretty small but put less characters in a room at any given time. get in the habit of writing with smaller groups, because it's a little jarring to read a scene knowing that like seven people are in this room and only two or three are actually doing anything.