Grabbing Attention

A while back (checks date… a decade?! Yikes!) Sarah did a Hooking the Reader series. The information in that workshop is still great stuff. And to show that the Internet is forever, the Iowa Park Library Writing Group picked that article up, and I was asked if the email address in the post is still valid. No, I’m afraid not. However, this is Mad Genius Club. We’re here to help other writers become even better writers, navigate their way to publication, and steer clear of the rocks and shoals of the industry.

Today, if you post your hooks in the comments, I’ll give you a breakdown of what works and what doesn’t. This being MGC, I won’t be the only one doing that, and it’s open to all of you Dear Readers. Let’s have some fun!

Hooks aren’t just for books. You need to be able to attract attention to your work, and that begins even before the reader starts in on the first page of your book. Hooks start with the blurb of the book, whether that is read on a sales site, or the back of a physical copy. Hooks are what catch a bored and idle browser who stumbles over your ad somewhere on the internet, hidden in the flow from the firehose of information bathing every individual who ventures online. You are competing not against other books, but all the various forms of media that exist to amuse, entertain, and offer escape. The hook to catch attention must catch fast, hard, and it can’t be obvious.

When you hook in a reader, you aren’t catching them like a fish, so you really don’t want them to see you as a shark lurking in the shadows. Instead, think of it as luring in a feral kitten. He’s curious, but he’s been bitten by terrible books. You have to provoke the curiosity, packing as much appeal in you can as your offering – and that includes the cover, too, but that’s a whole ‘other series of posts. Pick one, and start reading through them! Because once you tame a reader and show them that your books make them happy, they will come back over and over. Furthermore, they will bring other feral readers with them.

So the question was: how do I learn how to write a hook for my story? I can give some general guidelines, but the truth is that it depends. Oh, sure, you should always be writing them in active voice. Never passive! You don’t want your hook to ramble, and if you’re writing ad copy and have a character limit, it becomes akin to composing poetry, in that every word counts. As for the rest? It depend on the genre of your book. You don’t want to lead your reader astray, and try to cram them in the cat carrier right off the bat. If they come in expecting romance, and get ray guns, you’ll spook them and they will sprint off into the night, yowling.

The best way to learn how to craft hooks is to read, a lot, no, more than that! making notes of punchy lines and paragraphs that pique your interest. Then, try composing some of your own, and run them by other readers of your genre and that part’s important. If you write dark fantasy, and your test reader prefers beach reads of gentle drama, there’s a disconnect. Fortunately, we here at the MGC are voracious readers of all sorts of genres, which is the benefit of having a whole bunch of writers, plus the commentariat.

So! craft a sentence, up to a paragraph, and post it in the comments. We’ll tell you what works, and what doesn’t.