What makes a hook a hook? A red trench coat, just the right amount of
brass, and a crocodile craving your other hand.
Oh, you thought I meant a
book hook. Well, you’re right. What makes an agent take a look at your
manuscript and immediately know they have a winner? What does it take to make
that perfect first line that makes everyone want to read more? That’s what I am
going to try and find out, with you along for the ride.
Different sources say different things. Some say a great hook is the first line
while others say the hook can reside anywhere in the first paragraph. To start
off, let’s take a look at a few “hooks” from well known books and authors.
I’m
sure you know who J.K Rowling is, as well as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger,
and Ronald Weasley. What was the line that started it all for J.K Rowling,
allowing her world to take off, take form, and take over?
“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of
Number Four, Privet Drive were proud to say that they were perfectly normal,
thank you very much.”
While not entirely hooking, you still have to wonder. Why do they feel the need
to claim they are normal? Why do they feel the need to express this fact? Is it
because they are, in fact, of the not normal crowd? Questions
coming from the opening line of a book will make the reader want to read more,
explore until they find the answers to these questions. All in all, such a
simple sentence proved to be an amazing hook, as most kids and young adults
have read the miraculous story that is Harry Potter.
How about a lesser known author, someone
not many people have read. The next book hook I am about to feature happens to
be my all time favorite book. Coming from someone who has read about 700 books,
maybe more, in her lifetime, that is truly saying something. Anyone know who
Tamora Pierce is? Have you read her Alana series? The first book in said series
is the hook I am about to lay into.
“That is my decision.”
See? Again, the hook is not all that descriptive, nor does it give you any
helpful information as to what the book is about. But it DOES raise questions.
What decision? Who is making them? Who are they deciding against? What are they
deciding? This is without a doubt my all time favorite book, as I said before,
even though it doesn’t have the strongest hook. Sometimes, you have to read
further in to find the real hook, the real piece of the story that makes you
want to continue reading. Once I started Alana, I never put it down, and I have
reread it dozens of times. It never ceases to amaze me.
Hmm,.. let’s go into someone else not so well know who is heading the way into
the new Dystopian trend. Lauren Oliver!
“It had been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified
love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists had perfected a cure.”
That is the opening line of Lauren Oliver’s newest book, Delirium, the first
book of a new, Dystopian trilogy. I was instantly drawn into this book, and it
was another that I could not stop reading once I had started.
Okay, how about another pretty well known woman? Well, she’s well known where I
live. I am sure she is known by a lot of ya’ll as well. If she isn’t, you are
living a sad, sad existence. P.C. Cast anyone? Her House of Night novels have
taken over, and I can only hope they will soon trump the Twilight phase. Bye bye,
Edward and Bella. HELLO Stark and Zoey!
“Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse I saw the dead guy standing
at my locker.”
Okay.. now who doesn’t want to read more, right!! I mean, a dead guy standing
at this poor person’s locker? And how did a dead guy manage to get into the
school, anyway?
I
think that’s enough example. How about some helpful tips for building YOUR
perfect hook, taken from answers.com:
1)
Do not try to write your hook sentence first. If you already have an idea for
one, awesome. Go ahead and write some of your novel before coming back to make
sure that hook is perfect and eye catching, as well as attention grabbing.
2) Make certain you start your story at the right place. Many sources
will tell you to start as close to the action as possible. If your character is
going to be kidnapped, don’t start your book a year in advance. Start maybe a
day ahead, at the most. That way, you aren’t bogging your book down with
annoying, useless, time consuming details.
3) Try not to infodump! A lot of infodumping after a
great hook can immediately turn a reader off to your book. SHOW us what you
want us to know through your characters’ actions, your scenery, your dialogue.
Don’t TELL us what we need to know. We WILL tune out and throw the book across
the room..
4) Think of a question the reader will want to find
the answer to, like I said in my above hook posts. If the hook makes your
reader ask questions, they will most likely continue to read. As they read,
make more questions rise so that they have to read until the end to have all of
their questions answered. If you are writing a series, end the first book with
more questions that will make them anxious to read the next and answer those as
well.
I
hope this has been helpful. I suppose I will end this essay length blog with
one more awesome hook, as well as take a look at my own hook and let you see
what you think of it. How about the hook
from Amanda Ashley’s Captive, by far my favorite book by this particular
author, which is saying something since I have read every single one of her
books. :)
“The first time Lady Ashlynne Myrafloures saw the prisoner who would be known
as Number Four, he was nearly naked, lying in an ever-widening pool of his own
blood.”
See! Catching! Makes questions such as who is this Lady Ashlynne? Why is she
watching a prisoner? In fact, why is there a prisoner at all? Is there a war?
Is he a captured man? Is he a disobedient servant? Ect…
Okay, now the hook to my newest NIP, Knight’s End. Tell me what you think. Does
it make you question what is happening? Does it make you want to read more? I
will post my prologue hook and my chapter one hook, simply because I skipped
the hooks from prologues of the above books.
Prologue Hook:
“Adrenaline had gotten him this far.”
Chapter One Hook:
“He’d
never been summoned without reason before.”
Tell me
what you think of my hooks. Could they be better? Do they make you think?
Thanks for reading my obnoxiously long but hopefully helpful blog! I really
enjoyed writing it and I hope it helps you in your own writing. The next time you read a book, stop after the
first sentence, grab a piece of paper and a pen, and write down all the
questions that come to mind. When you finish reading the book, go back to that
list (use it as a book mark so you don’t lose it) and see how many of your
questions were answered. It’ll be a fun exercise. In fact, I am about to start
reading The Hunger Games, and I think I’m going to do this.. Should be fun :D Til
next time!
PHOTOS COPYRIGHT THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS
Knight's End cover COPYRIGHT Jami Montgomery
2) I am in the process of rewriting Knight's End. "But Jami! You already published that one!" Yes, yes, I know. But with all of the LotR I've been watching lately and the fantasy novels I've been reading, I started to notice something wrong with Knight's End. It's supposed to be a historical fantasy, but the fantasy elements are just barely there. Not only that, but I have an elaborate world of corrupt monarchs and knights and forests and mind readers and I don't really show any of that in the first book, aside from the Rogue murdering people. I just sort of realized that it could have been so much better, and now I am working on making it that better book (I am 12,000 words into the rewrite, so it'll be a bit before you see it.)
