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Fiction Writing Made Easy

#181. First Chapter Analysis: House Of Earth And Blood by Sarah J. Maas

Fiction Writing Made Easy

Savannah Gilbo

Education, Fiction, Writing Tips, Arts, Bestseller, Writing, How To, Author, Writing Community, Books, Novel, How To Write Fiction, Writing Fiction, Writer, How To Write A Book

4.91.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Romantasy and Fantasy authors! Tune in to learn how the opening pages of House of Earth and Blood hooks readers and pulls them into the rest of the story. Join me and Abigail K. Perry for a deep dive into the opening chapter of the first Crescent City book, House of Earth and Blood, to find out how and why it works. We analyze this first chapter from both a macro and micro perspective to see what kind of promise it makes to the reader, how the author introduces us to the story world, an...

Transcript

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0:00.0

What we have to remember that's different about House of Earth and Blood is that Danica and Bryce are natives.

0:06.4

So they are natives to this world.

0:08.0

They've lived in this world for a long time, like since birth, right?

0:11.4

So nothing is unfamiliar to them where something like Harry Potter, everything is unfamiliar to him in the magical world.

0:17.7

He's helping us get up to speed where Bryce, she has no responsibility to get us

0:22.4

up to speed because we're dropping in on her life.

0:27.4

Welcome to the fiction writing made easy podcast. My name is Savannah Gilbo and I'm here to

0:32.5

help you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have

0:36.9

to be overwhelming. So each week I'll bring you a brand new episode with Simple. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be overwhelming. So each

0:38.7

week, I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable, and step-by-step strategies

0:43.4

that you can implement in your writing right away. So whether you're brand new to writing or more

0:48.1

of a seasoned author looking to improve your craft, this podcast is for you. So pick up a pen

0:53.0

and let's get started.

1:01.7

In today's episode, Abigail K. Perry and I are breaking down the first chapter of House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Mass. And I'm very excited to dig into this book's

1:06.8

opening pages because not only is Sarah J. Mass one of my favorite authors, but also because this

1:12.4

opening chapter provides a really great example of what it means to have a book with a steep

1:17.1

learning curve. If you're not familiar with this term, it basically describes how long it takes

1:21.6

readers to get up to speed on the nuances of your story world. And in something like the Harry Potter

1:26.8

books, those have more of

1:28.1

a shallow learning curve, meaning we learn about the world as Harry does. But in House of Earth and

1:33.6

Blood, there is more of a steep learning curve where we're kind of thrown off the deep end and

1:37.8

need to catch up to what Bryce knows and understands. So I love this book as an example of a steep learning

...

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