Good to see you back fellow Grinders. It is time to talk about story hooks and how to use them to keep the tension up and your readers flipping to the next page. This will be especially important for you as the writer and your potential readers as you begin to write your NaNo project in less than a month from now. Hooks can not only keep the reader going, but a lot of times they can keep the writer going in a project because there is a primal urge to figure out the answer to a question or the resolution to a conflict. Ultimately story hooks are just as much for the writer as they can be for the reader.
So what is a story hook? Everyone has read them, but they can be difficult to pull off as a writer. A hook is when a question is given to the reader and depending on the strength of that question will many times virtually force the reader to read on to figure out the answer. So how do you make a hook and when is it best to drop one for your reader to bite on?
Hooks should be used through out the story, you simply cannot get by having one hook at the beginning of the story and hope that it will be enough to get the reader to finish your book. You have to continue to drop hooks in each chapter and in each scene to keep them turning pages. You will of course have to resolve some of them along the way to give your reader some satisfaction for having read on through your story. I think it best to look at a couple of examples and see what works well and what doesn't. I will let you decide which one is best. I will share a couple of excerpts from current projects. They are both first or second draft efforts with obvious need for polishing but they will serve the purpose. Now lets break them down.
He woke in total darkness. There was no sound outside of his own heavy, labored breathing echoing in the small bathroom. The cold tile clung to the bare skin of his back. He sat there in the cold, dark silence for several minutes.Eventually, he lifted his hand up and grasp the edge of the vanity top. He used the counter to hoist himself from the floor and into a standing position. He didn't bother with the light, instead, he climbed into the shower and turned the cold water knob.The cold water slapped him in the face and he let out a sharp heave as he tried to take a breath in. The water ran down the length of his naked figure and as the water rinsed the night's sweat and bathroom floor from his body, it began to help loosen the fog inside his head. He leaned forward, pressing both hands against the wall, allowing the water to cascade down his muscular back, over his legs and down the drain. (Excerpt from "Letters to my Son" Chapter One)
That morning Alistair broke his habit. He still wore the same clothes, followed the same path as he always did, all except for a turn six blocks sooner than he would have on any other day of the week. He wore the same jacket to fight the same cold damp air, but most importantly he carried the same distressed leather bag, the same kind a doctor would have carried for a house call carrying an oil lamp, but today his bag was different, it was heavier, a lot heavier. He thought it was good that he was making a left six blocks before he was used to turning, he wasn’t sure he could have carried the bag much further. He was tall, trim and fit, fit in that kind of way people get from a hard life, the same people who never really put on weight, because people like Alistair rarely lived long enough to get fat or old. (Excerpt from "Bradbury Burns" Chapter One)
The first paragraph contains not a single solid hook outside of leaving out the name of the only character in the scene, a man who just woke up in a bathroom. I could argue that the potential hook here is why did this man wake up alone in a dark bathroom. But I know that my readers really wouldn't care to find out, why would they? It isn't very interesting. The truth is you can only care so much about a person taking a shower, especially opening up a novel with the scene. I would expect my readers to put this story down with utter disappointment.
The second paragraph contains a few hooks and even resolves some of them along the way. The first sentence is a hook right off the bat. What is Alistair's habit? We all have them and by definition they are often important to our daily existence. You learn with in a couple of lines that his habit is going to the same place each day, but I hold off saying what it is, which there lies the next hook. We are also told he is carrying a bag, the same bag he always carries, but this time it is different because it is heavier, and we often equate heavier packages with being more significant and important, just think about Christmas morning, everyone wants a heavy gift. We aren't told what is in the bag, at least not yet, and it is suggested that Alistair has an interesting life, one where people are often killed, but we aren't told what, which is another hook.
In just one paragraph where are given multiple hooks to pull the reader along in the first chapter because a reader will want answers to the following questions. What's Alistair's habit and why is it significant? What's in the bag and what is usually in it? Where is he going and where does he usually go each day? What does Alistair do for a living and what kind of life is so dangerous? This kind of opening will allow me a lot of room in which to maneuver. I can take the opening scene and do a lot with it. I won't share the entire first chapter but you do find out what is in the bag, but you don't figure out his usual destinations and why it is significant and you don't learn what he does for a living and you don't learn his habit, at least not yet.
Here comes the challenge. Look back at the start of some of your previous or current projects. Can you count the hooks in the opening sentence and first paragraph? How many are there? Are there enough? How soon do your answer them? What could you do differently to add more hooks to tempt the reader into moving forward?
Here is the challenge: In the comments I want to see some of your one line hooks. Something similar to, "That morning Alistair broke his habit." Who will have the best hook? Can you make two in one sentence. Show me what you've got.
Remember to keep grinding those words until next time.
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