Last post, I wrote about plots and the basic structure of fiction. I mentioned that hooks are important, and I figured... might as well tell everyone about them now.
Hooks are meant to grab the reader by the collar cuff (or mind) and glue them to a story. A good one really gets under a reader's skin, communicating tone, voice, etc. It should hint at the plot, and Randy Ingermanson- who runs the largest fiction writing e-zine (you should sign up), authored seven or so award winning books, and wrote Writing Fiction for Dummies- says that it should tell the reader who the main character is, but heck- another rule we can ignore.
Anyway, there should be three hooks in a first chapter- the first line, the end of the first page, and the last line of the first chapter. It should ensure the reader keeps doing their job- reading. (Read the Hunger Games- I don't have it on me, so just read it. Read and learn.)
What do you think of this hook?
"It had been months since Kyle Craig had killed a man." (James Patterson, Cross Fire)
Wow. It puts you straight in the action, hinting at the plot, and intoduced the main character.
"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of Number 4, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."
I can't read that one (does anyone NOT know what that's from?) without smiling. :)
"Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.
If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
My name is Percy Jackson." (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan)
I know, I know- its more than one sentence, but oh well. The first page is simply so brilliant- I love that series. It doesn't matter to me that it was written for 10 year old boys- its brilliant all the same. Harry Potter was geared towards 11 year old boys, and everyone loves that. :)
"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table." (The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
This shows a disturbance- something's up. Holmes is actually awake at a decent hour. :)
"On the rocky islands, gulls woke. Time to be about their business." (Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes.)
Not the greatest hook. At all. The rest of the page is talking about Boston waking up- we don't even hear about Johnny, the main character, until the second page. Put the reader straight into the action rather than showing their whole day.
"Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy." (Homer, the Odyssey)
Even Homer got it right, two thousand years ago! For that matter, he probably started the whole thing... hmm... that's something to think about.
"Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world." (Eragon, Christopher Paolini)
The argument I have against this hook is that C.P. used a very cliche phrase, and that just takes away from it. And then he doesn't introduce Eragon until the second chapter! That just annoys me. But he's still one of my most encouraging models, since he started writing fiction at fifteen and was a bestselling author at seventeen.
"Christianity, and indeed all religion, has been declared intolerant, hate filled, and the root of all war." (The Tattoed Rats, Jerry B. Jenkins and John Perrodin)
Snaps you to attention, doesn't it? It tells the premise, and slaps the reader across the face. It's a good book.
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit... it was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort." (The Hobbit, Tolkien)
Nothing needs to be said. It's pure beauty, bringing tears to my eyes. :)
"This is a story about something that happened a long time ago when your grandfather was a child. It is a very important story because it shows how all the comings and goings between our own world and the land of Narnia first began." (C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew)
Good, right?
That's probably enough- what's your favorite hook?
(Oh- not writing related- everyone who likes action movies should watch The Green Hornet- I love Kato! It's a great action movie, just a lot of cussing.)
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