Hook ‘Em Fast and Don’t Let Go

written by Lois Winston

Here’s a dirty little secret: Most editors and agents will toss a manuscript aside after a page or two if the voice/style/story hasn’t hooked them by that point. One agent has even published a book on the importance of the first five pages.

I would like to distill this down further and suggest that an author needs to hook the reader with an opening sentence. As someone who has judged many writing contests and read countless first chapters, I’ve come across hundreds of openings with what I can only describe as BLAH first sentences. The author goes on to compound the problem by then giving the reader several paragraphs, if not pages, of either backstory or boring description. The author may have a fantastic story, but if she put her readers to sleep before they get to that story, she’s got problems. A good opening doesn’t give a reader an excuse to put down a book. It makes the reader want to read more to find out what happens next.

One of the best opening sentences I’ve ever read was from KISS AN ANGEL by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. That book’s first sentence is: Daisy Devreaux had forgotten her bridegroom’s name. Now how can you not go on reading after that? What a killer sentence! It grabs the reader and drags her into the story.

The first sentence should make the reader want to read the second sentence. The hook doesn’t have to be defined in the first sentence, but that first sentence should lead you into the next. And that one to the next. Until you have a paragraph that becomes a hook that grabs you as a reader and won’t let go. That first paragraph should do for the first page what the first sentence did for the first paragraph, and the first page should do for the subsequent pages what the first paragraph did for the first page.

The opening of a book should be filled with interesting action and/or dialogue that intrigues the reader and makes her want to continue reading. One of the worst mistakes an author can make is to fill the opening of her book with paragraph after paragraph of backstory or description. The opening of a book is meant to suck the reader into the world the author has created. Backstory can come later, trickling in to tease the reader to continue reading more, not as information dumps that pull the reader from the story. A good opening will include only the barest minimum of backstory that is essential for that moment.

As for description, it should be woven into the narrative and dialogue. Nothing bores a reader more than long paragraphs describing everything from the length of the heroine’s hair to the color of her toenail polish. It pulls the reader from the story. And pulling the reader from the story is a BAD thing. It adversely affects the pacing of the book, and good pacing is something that is important to a well-written manuscript.

Sometimes the plot and conflict might not be evident in the opening of the book, but there should be enough of a tease within that opening to give the reader an indication of events to come. Dialogue or narrative action are usually the best ways for a writer to accomplish this. A good book will often begin by throwing the reader right into the middle of a conversation or event.

Be aware, though, that gimmickry has no place in good fiction. If you open your book with a situation that’s cliché or right out of a TV sit-com, it will stand out like a neon sign and not act as a hook to draw the reader into the story. The best hooks will draw the reader into the book without the reader even being aware that there is a hook. If a hook is too obvious, all the reader will see is the hook and not be drawn into the story.

However, when opening your book, don’t think in terms of ‘this could never happen.’ Remember that truth is often stranger than fiction, and just because an author creates a situation that’s unfamiliar to the reader, it doesn’t mean that the situation doesn’t or can’t exist. Think about it — the secret baby and marriage of convenience are two of the most popular plots in romance fiction. Yet how many of us have ever met someone who had a secret baby or was thrust into a marriage of convenience? What you need to think about is whether you have created a situation that enables the reader to suspend disbelief and enter the world you’ve created. And by ‘world’ I don’t necessarily mean a paranormal plot. The ‘world’ is the story the author is writing and the characters she’s created to populate that world.

So begin your books by sucking the reader into your world.

© 2007 Lois Winston

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Award-winning author Lois Winston writes humorous, cross-genre, contemporary novels. She often draws upon her extensive experience as a crafts designer for much of her source material. Her first book, TALK GERTIE TO ME, a combination chick lit/hen lit/romantic comedy with a touch of the paranormal, was an April 2006 release and has to date won a Readers and Bookbuyers Best award and racked up nominations for a Reviewers Choice Award, a Golden Leaf Award, and a Beacon Award. LOVE, LIES & A DOUBLE SHOT OF DECEPTION, a mom-lit romantic suspense, was a June 2007 release.

Lois also contributed to DREAMS & DESIRES, a charity anthology of 19 romances by 19 authors which was released in February 2007. All proceeds from this anthology go to a shelter for battered women. In addition, Lois is a contributor to HOUSE UNAUTHORIZED, a November 2007 release. When not writing or designing, you can find Lois trudging through stacks of manuscripts as she hunts for diamonds in the slush piles for the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. Visit Lois at www.loiswinston.com.

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