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@Daeus ohhhh… Yes. That one. I actually didn’t care for that one as a sentence, but the breeze that would change the world was a nice touch.
@Kate-Flournoy Such affability…and…condescension!
*unmuffled chuckles* I know. I figured that’s what you meant. 😛 It is true. You have so thematically enriched my life, O Great Teacher.
@Daeus This one: ‘Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world.’ And then ‘A tall Shade lifted his head and sniffed the air.’
Yeah, that’s a really good one. What scent, the reader wonders?O dear, I’ve really gotta learn to notice when there’s a second page. I miss posts I should read before I make mine. Sorry dahling, didn’t know you’d already answered his post. 😛 @Kate-Flournoy
@dragon-snapper Yay, hooks! I love hooks! There are several types of them:
1.) Raising a question (as other people have mentioned, I think). I think this one pretty much explains itself.
2.) Creating a vivid character. If you start with an interesting or unusual character, people will be intrigued by them and keep going.
3.) Unexpectedness. Like the Hobbit example @perfectfifths had, something people aren’t used to makes them want to find out what it is and why the heck it lives in a hole.
4.) Undercurrents of danger. Making people suspect that the happy-go-lucky picnic isn’t as cheerful as it seems, and something bad is about to happen.
5.) Jumping into action. Starting with a bullet ricocheting off the wall above John’s head immediately sends the reader into danger and suspense, and makes them want to keep going to see if John makes it out without having his head blasted off.
These kinds of hooks often times go together, like the undercurrents of danger will also raise a question, or the unexpected beginning might introduce a vivid character. Likewise, you need to decide what kind of atmosphere your book has, because not all hooks will work with the story you’re doing. #5 would work perfectly for a spy book, but not so well for a Jane Austen.
I think really good examples of hooks are the first chapter of Eragon, which made use of 1, 3, and 5, The Hundred Cupboards, which used 2, though for a town, not a person, and The Hunger Games, which used 1 and 4.
I hope this is helpful. 🙂
INTJ ➸Your friendly neighborhood mastermind. ➸https://thesarcasticelf.wordpress.com/
@dragon-snapper I really don’t have much to say. Everybody is right on with their idea of what makes a hook good. I like to start my books with either dialogue or an action. However, my favorite first line, “It was a pleasure to burn” (from Fahrenheit 451), is a description so I guess I might try to do that too.
Mark’s favorite first line honorable mentions:
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”“When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.”
“I’ve watched through his eyes, I’ve listened through his ears, and I tell you he’s the one.”
“I’ve been locked up for 264 days.”
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
@Mark-Kamibaya Ooh yes, Fahrenheit 451‘s beginning was amazing.
@dragon-snapper I came across this interesting article whilest doing research stuff for my next article here: http://thewritepractice.com/first-line/. A handy breakdown of great first lines and why they hook readers. I think my favourite was:
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” -1984 by George Orwell
So simple, and yet surprising. Since when do clocks strike 13?
I think @kate-flournoy and the others might have already said all this, but my main thought on hooks and first lines is that it needs to present a question. It doesn’t normally ask a question outright, but the question is implied. If the story starts with dialogue, we wonder who is talking. If it says ‘once only God knew the day that you would die’ (A Time To Die…though I might have messed up a few words) it makes the readers wonder who knows when one will die now and how that works. The best lines make the readers think of these questions without realizing they are thinking of them, and draws them into the story at once because they want to find out the answer to the question.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
*realizing I forgot something in my first post*
This is the first sentence of one of the stories I’m writing.
“When Nemandir the Seeker was left dead in a puddle of his own blood, the world wept.”
INTJ ➸Your friendly neighborhood mastermind. ➸https://thesarcasticelf.wordpress.com/
@ethryndal I like that first sentence you have there. 🙂
Theater kid. Currently depressed because I can't stop listening to sad musicals.
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