This is K.M. Wyland and you are listening to the Helping Writers' Podcast.

I hope you enjoyed this week's episode,

clearing up some misconceptions about Immediates race.

One of the most significant challenges for writers is crafting a beginning chapter that immediately grabs readers. Most commonly, writers are advised to accomplish this via two different methods, the hook, and the technique of beginning in medias race, or in the middle of things.

But are these really two different techniques? And if not, how exactly do they work either in tandem or separately?

Most readers have limited time and are not interested in reading just anything.

These days, many readers make their purchasing decisions based as much on the first chapter previews as on the book descriptions.

This means your first chapter needs to convince potential readers of two things.

Number one, this is exactly the type of story they're personally looking for, and number two,

your writing is solid enough to promise a good tale throughout.

Quality of writing has much to do with both these factors.

If I'm browsing books and I feel the writing style in the first chapter is solid and evocative. I will very likely give it a try even if

it hasn't given me a grouping hook in the first few pages. My first consideration is always whether or not I will enjoy the writer's style.

Because if I don't, I won't enjoy putting in the time to appreciate whether the plotting is aces.

But good style and a solid hook in the first chapter, that's gold.

Now one commonly touted technique for accomplishing this is the use of in Mediase race, which I am hopefully

pronouncing correctly this time. This is a Latin phrase roughly translating in the middle, which is generally

meant to suggest one of two things to writers.

Number one, don't begin before the story's events, i.e. skip the setup.

And two, do begin with some sort of action i.e. y. yah ha now both

bits of advice are solid but taken by themselves they can also be misleading.

In Medias Race means beginning in the middle of the opening scene,

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