What is the best 'Hook' you have used in your stories?
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I'm very proud of my first sentence.
'It was a single truth in a week full of lies.'
I think almost every sentence in your first chapter should hook in some way but I'm not a big fan of hooks at the ends of chapters. I know it's preferred by publishers and some of my chapter ends do have hooks, but it's a glaring device that draws attention to the structure of a novel and detracts from the story in my view. I have been known to put down a book with end of chapter hooks that fail to deliver in the following chapter. Hooks are a good thing, but they should never be an empty promise to the reader and too often they are.
I quite like the two first-sentence hooks in my two novels. I think I've actually posted these before but anyway...
They're both historical adventure stories. The first book begins 'Louis-Henri Loison could not die.' (He's a real historical character. When I researched him I got the impression that considering some of his early exploits he must have been convinced of his own immortality).
The second starts with 'Another dead 'un over here!'
In both cases the reader has to get to at least the next sentence to have any idea of what the hell's going on :)
I like end-of-chapter hooks, too. Not every time; that gets predictable and it's not always appropriate.
I'm very proud of my first sentence.
'It was a single truth in a week full of lies.'
I think almost every sentence in your first chapter should hook in some way but I'm not a big fan of hooks at the ends of chapters. I know it's preferred by publishers and some of my chapter ends do have hooks, but it's a glaring device that draws attention to the structure of a novel and detracts from the story in my view. I have been known to put down a book with end of chapter hooks that fail to deliver in the following chapter. Hooks are a good thing, but they should never be an empty promise to the reader and too often they are.
I quite like the two first-sentence hooks in my two novels. I think I've actually posted these before but anyway...
They're both historical adventure stories. The first book begins 'Louis-Henri Loison could not die.' (He's a real historical character. When I researched him I got the impression that considering some of his early exploits he must have been convinced of his own immortality).
The second starts with 'Another dead 'un over here!'
In both cases the reader has to get to at least the next sentence to have any idea of what the hell's going on :)
I like end-of-chapter hooks, too. Not every time; that gets predictable and it's not always appropriate.