Hands up if the title to this article
made you think that you'd strayed into
a fishing feature?
Perhaps you didn't quite go that far,
but hopefully you were puzzled or curious
enough to wonder what on earth those three
angling associated words have to do with
writing. The answer of course is nothing
at all if you are thinking of metal barbs,
yards of tangled nylon and blobs of lead
weights.
Think, however, of the good opening lines
used to begin most successful short stories,
novels and articles then the "hook" in
our title takes on a whole new range of
meanings and equates very well with the
world of creative writing.
What most beginners fail to understand
when they first begin writing, and this
applies as much to articles as it does
to short stories and novels, is that when
they submit their work to an editor, competition
judge or publisher there is only a brief
moment to impress which is why a lot of
attention needs to be paid to that first
opening sentence.
Hooking your reader with a good beginning
isn't a guarantee to success, but it will
serve to focus attention and make the
judge, publisher or editor take more notice
of the rest of the article, story etc.
If nothing else, it presses an subconscious
alert button in the reader's mind that
marks up the writer as a professional
who knows his or her craft.
This in turn builds expectation and again
focuses attention. As long as the rest
of the piece lives up to its early promise,
you can be sure that your effort will
at the very least receive close inspection
and hopefully much more!
So, just how do you come up with a good
hook? It would be nice if I could say
that there was some magic formula available
but unfortunately I haven't found it even
if it does exist! Still there are several
things that you can do to get things moving.
First of all don't sit staring at your
screen trying to think of a good opening
line when you have a mind boiling with
ideas struggling to spread themselves
over the page! All this will do is make
you tense up with frustration and dam
your creativity.
Instead, start hitting the keys and slap
those ideas across the screen! Once you
have the basic outline down then you can
start the editing process, including the
opening sentence. If at this stage you
are still stuck, try leaving the work
for a few days, there's a good chance
you'll come up with something when you're
mind is focused on something else and
the first flush of enthusiasm has cleared
from your brain.
Analogy, such as I've used to the fishing
world, often provides a good hook. In
the case of this article I used it in
the title but hooks are used just as often
or more so in the opening sentence. My
actual opening "hook" made use of a question,
which again is a very good way to start,
as questions by their very nature demand
a response from the reader, even if it
is only to read to the end of the sentence!
I took this a step further by demanding
physical action, "hands up", which of
course is a ridiculous thing to expect
a reader to do when there is no way of
knowing whether they have complied or
not! It is this stupidity that hopefully
grabs attention and carries on from where
the title left off. PR writers are well
aware of this process and often mis-spell
words to create a similar effect .
Quotations and deliberate mis-quotations
also make good hooks either from songs,
proverbs or other literary works, but
also try putting together unusual combinations
of words.
For instance, you wouldn't think that
brussel sprouts could possibly have any
effect on good or evil and I'm sure they
haven't! One of my son's however has different
ideas and his annual grumble during our
recent Christmas meal gave me a marvellous
opening line, or hook, for what will be
a festive article taking a close look
at this, in my opinion, much maligned
vegetable!
What was it? Oh yes, when faced with
a heap of those shiny green gems he muttered
murderously, "If it wasn't for brussel
sprouts there'd be no evil in the world
..." now is that a hook or what?
Which brings me on to another point.
Hooks, I've found seem to have a power
in their own right and often serve as
a catalyst to the story or article itself
which is why you should be on the alert
for when they occur.
The brussel sprout incident is a prime
example. Writing in any shape or form
was the furthest thing from my mind, but
the startled looks and laughter from the
rest of the family were enough to confirm
what I'd immediately thought, here was
a hook begging for exploitation and with
a enough power of its own to begin generating
several lines of thought.
Being aware of hooks and the power they
have on the reader is something every
writer has to get to grips with if they
want to achieve success so it is a good
idea to train yourself to both generate
hooks and be on the alert for them by
listening to what other people say.
Having a small notebook handy makes a
lot of sense, but reading what other people
have done before you will also pay dividends.
Try this quiz of opening lines to famous
novels. It's not easy, but don't worry
about your score, the real benefit of
the quiz is seeing what worked for the
author.
- The scent of slaughter, some believe,
can linger in a place for years.
- When Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced
that he would shortly be celebrating
his eleventy-first birthday ...
- In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth ...
- Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful,
but men seldom realized it when caught
by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.
- The stranger came early in February
one wintry day, through a biting wind
and a driving snow ...
- "The marvellous thing is that it's
painless," he said. "That's how you
know when it starts."
- Last night I dreamed of Mandalay ...
- A wide plain, where the broadening
Floss hurries on between its green banks
to the sea, and the loving tide rushing
to meet it ...
- Mr Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked
the hen-house for the night, but was
too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.
- "Tom!"
Well, what did you think? Some were definitely
intriguing but others in my opinion left
a lot to be desired which just goes to
show that the proof of the pudding is
in the eat... er reading so don't fall
into the trap of thinking that the beginning
is the be all and end all!
Oh and before you ask, I haven't forgotten
the lines and sinkers either, call those
plots and twist endings and to find out
more sign up for the WriteLink Short Story
Writing Workshop, it's free! www.writebytes.co.uk
ANSWERS:
- The Loop by Nicholas Evans
- The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein
- The Bible
- Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
- The Invisible Man by H G Wells
- The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest
Hemingway
- Rebecca by Daphne De Maurier
- The Mill on the Floss by George Elliot
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark
Twain
| About The Author
Sue Kendrick is a freelance writer
and graphic designer living in the
English Midlands. She writes regularl
news items for her regional newspaper,
has had many articles published
in special interest magazines and
won prizes in several short story
contests. She is now the editor
and publisher of www.writelink.co.uk
one of the UK's premier writing
websites and monthly newsletter.
She has written several ebooks including
READ ALL ABOUT IT! The WriteLink
to Newspaper Writing www.writelink.dabsolco.uk/Newspaper_Book/newspaper_book.html
and Poetry For Profit, four reports
on how to make money from writing
poetry. www.writelink.dabsol.co.uk/Poetry_for_profit/poetry_for_profit.html
Sue's personal website can be seen
here:
- Sue@writelink.co.uk
|
This article was posted on May 11,
2002
