In today’s competitive book market, a writer needs to capture their reader in the first paragraph, if not the first line. A good hook sets the tone for a book, it gives voice to the character and immediately draws the reader into the story. This class will reveal how to use Stakes, Sympathy, 5 Ws, Action, and Story Question to teach participants how to create a hook that will catch your reader and won’t let go.
I have a quote by Gabriel Garcia Marquez over my computer (He won the 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature for (100 years of solitude). BTW, it sold over 10million copies. “One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph.. in the first paragraph, you solve most of the problems with your book. The theme is defined, the style, the tone. At least in my case, the paragraph is a kind of sample of what the rest of the book is going to be.”
Why is a hook important? —
What do you do when you pick up a book? Probably read the back cover blurb, and then open to the first page. Then, you have approximately 10 seconds, one-two sentences to capture your reader. A reader is looking for creative writing, a question that piques their interest, someone they can relate to, a setting that interests them, and a story that can match the value of their time. That’s a lot to put into the first sentence, or even the first paragraph!
But it can be done.
Let’s take a look at some examples of good hooks from modern literature:
Call me Ishmael. — Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851)
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. — Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. — George Orwell, 1984 (1949)
There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. — C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
What do these hooks have in common with each other that makes them compelling?
They’re all: SHARP:
What do I mean by that? They all contain the 5 elements that will hook your reader into continuing the story:
Stakes
Hero/Heroine identification
Anchoring –
on the Run
Problem (Story Question)
Starting this week in Prescriptions, and continuing for the next 6 weeks, we’ll be learning about HOOKS – developing your hook, setting it, and using it to bait your reader. Join us next week when we teach about STAKES!
*********************
Sign up now for our Book Therapy blog feed and get:
5 Secrets to a Best-Selling Novel
Frustrated? Confused? …Dreaming of the day when an editor calls and says, “I MUST publish your book?” Don’t laugh – it could happen! It does happen – all the time – and you could be next! What’s holding you back? Flat characters? A Saggy plot? Lackluster writing? Let the Book Therapists help. We believe that deep inside every troubled story lies a deep-seated problem. But it’s not beyond hope… Your book simply needs therapy. Stop by MY BOOK THERAPY and…get published!
Comments 1
Hooks: Are you looking at samples this week? If so, here’s my opening.
Ian MacLean nearly escaped.
He made it to the edge of the lamp-lit street with only four more hard strides bridging the gap between him and his freedom: Maggie’s rickety farm truck. Even in the pallid light, his grannie’s old rattletrap never looked so good.
“That’s far enough!”
Ian groaned, but he didn’t stop until he reached the truck. Some things never changed. He had to be the only man in Scotland whose older sister still trailed him like a bullet if she thought he had the audacity to keep anything to himself, no matter how personal. Aye; she was small and swift—but far deadlier than any bullet.