/scene-craft

Openings and Character Introductions

In medias res

Open the story inside instability, not before it. "In medias res" means the first page carries a situation already in motion — a decision pending, a threat present, a want unmet — not the backstory that led to it.

• Chronology-first planning: know the full chain of events, then choose to start at the latest point that still gives the reader a character to care about with a problem to follow. Everything before that point is backstory, deliverable later via exposition.md or flashbacks-time.md.
• Enter late, leave early: scenes — and the story itself — should open as close to the inciting motion as possible and cut before the aftermath settles. The reader arrives mid-argument, leaves mid-escape.

The first-page hook check

Before approving a chapter-one opening (or any chapter opening), verify the first page delivers all three, in this order of priority:

1. Voice — a narration or POV texture that is unmistakably this character's, not generic narrator prose.
2. Want — the POV character wants something concrete, right now, on this page. Not a life goal: a scene goal.
3. Instability — something is wrong, off, threatened, or about to change.

What must NOT lead the first page:

• Geography (descriptions of the landscape before a person with a problem).
• Backstory (history before stakes).
• Worldbuilding (the system before the character it will hurt).

If the opening leads with any of the three, restructure: move the voice/want/ instability forward, push context into the sequel or later scenes.

Character introduction technique

Introduce each significant character with this discipline:

1. Action-first entry. The character's first appearance shows them doing something characteristic under mild pressure — working, arguing, fixing, fleeing. Never introduce a character at rest being described.
2. Prompt naming. Name the character within their first paragraph of presence. A named-but-unseen character and a seen-but-unnamed character both confuse readers; give the name early.
3. Behavior over description. Convey appearance through action and other characters' reactions, not through a static description block. One or two concrete details land harder than a full portrait. Record the full appearance in the character file, not on the page.
4. Entry with consequence. The character's entrance should change the scene: new information, new tension, a decision forced. An entrance that changes nothing can be cut — have them already present instead.

Chapter-opening checklist

For every chapter opening (not just chapter one):

• Opens on motion, want, or instability — not on weather, waking up, or a landscape pan (unless deliberately subverting the cliché, and then the subversion must land on page one)
• Reader can answer "who, where, when" within the first page
• Connects to the previous chapter's unresolved question or raises a new one within the opening beat
• New characters follow the action-first / prompt-naming / behavior-over- description discipline