Welcome to the show everyone! Hope you are doing well. This is All Things Writing and I am your host, American author, Bryan Nowak.

let’s get hooking? 

Have you ever read a book that was so woefully lacking in any kind of hook that you put it down and never picked it up again? I most certainly have and if you have too, you are not in the minority. If you are not hooked, then why should you continue reading?

In an article written by Sharon Short in Writer’s Digest there were five characteristics of a great beginning. I will make sure and post the link to writer’s digest in the show notes so you can check them out yourself. Well worth checking out.

She focuses, in the article, on five characteristics of a great beginning. 

The first is an overall sense of immediacy. She says that readers must have a reason to read, even if that reason is visceral or lies in the subconscious.

It was like I was saying, you need to present your audience with some reason to continue reading or they will just put the book down and walk away. And no one wants that.

She suggests that it is perfectly fine to start with dialogue or action, but you need to still pique your reader’s curiosity.

The second characteristic is the tone you set. She also uses the word tone in the article. 

You must ensure that word choice and overall tone in the beginning of your work will tell the reader what to expect. Are they going to laugh? Are they going to cry? Will they be terrified? You need to make sure and build that into the beginning.

Third is suspense. I am a fan of saying that all books are mysteries since you are starting with something you have never read so you have no idea how it is going to end. It is a mystery in that sense.

Sharon says, “just hint at what’s to come.”

A great example is in the first paragraph of the book Watchers by Dean Koontz. It is stated that the main character is taking only “…a package of Oreo cookies, a large canteen full of orange-flavored Kool-aid, and a fully loaded Smith and Wesson .38 Chief’s Special.”

To me, that is a great hook. You know this guy is planning for something and not something good.

Next Sharon’s article mentions something that drives me crazy. She specifically calls out specificity as an important characteristic of the writing. 

What she is getting at is the importance of getting to the point when you are still hooking the reader. 

And lastly fair play. In my own words, don’t offer them a steak dinner and then serve them linguini. Or maybe I am just hungry?

You want it to work, so there has to be foreshadowing of something fixin’ to go wrong. You cannot just let it lay on the page there if your reader expects horror, mystery, scifi, etc. Let your reader know that there is enough in store to keep them moving through the pages.

Remember the idea that your first chapter is essentially a contract with your readers. Don’t mislead them.

Want to know more? Check out Writer's Digest here! 

 

 

 

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