Literary Hooks

You know how when you first crack open a book and read the very first sentence? Oftentimes that single sentence is what "hooks" you onto the book. It's what keeps you reading the next sentence and the next and ... It can be the deciding factor of whether to purchase and continue reading the book.

That's why it's important for a writer to start off a book with an effective hook. The old cliche made infamous by Peanuts' Snoopy, "It was a dark and stormy night," came from a real life book. It was written by English Victorian novelist, Sir Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton in his book, Paul Clifford, in 1830. It was such an effective phrase that it was borrowed from, reused, reinterpreted and quoted for the next 200 years.

As mentioned in a previous blog entry, one of the exercises I use to bust writer blocks is involves writing hooks. At very minimum, it flexes your creative brain. And sometimes a hook you've written in this exercise can spawn a new idea for another story. Challenge yourself to write 10 hooks in under 10 minutes, and then take 15-20 minutes to examine each one and ask yourself this: Is the hook effective? Does it make you want to read more? What can you do to improve it?

Check back here tomorrow for a sampling of hooks I've written.