My Hook for Your Comments (Please)

On May 22, Nathan Bransford wrote an insightful blog about what makes a good hook.

He says: "So essentially, a hook is the quest and the central conflict, described as succinctly as possible, designed to make someone want to read more."

Here are some examples he provided:

• A man goes into the jungle to search for a missing general (HEART OF DARKNESS
• A reclusive chocolateer opens up his factory to the lucky children who find golden tickets (CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY)
• A monomaniacal sea captain forces his crew to search for an elusive white whale (MOBY DICK)
• A train engine thinks it can make it up a hill (THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD)
  
  

Reading his post this morning created my own little brainwave -- the idea for a hook for my MS. Please have a look then critique the heck out of it.

"Seven characters at various stages of rage, self-destruction, denial or legal intervention meet at a weekly support group."

Does it meet Nathan's definition of a good hook?

Bring it on. (Or, as they say in these parts, "Give 'er.")

Colleen

Hooks and key messages

Writing a hook has been on my mind since I began this MS. I've wondered/worried/obsessed about how to condense seven protags into two succinct paragraphs. Just as I turned out the light and was drifting off to sleep, violà, it came to me. (Must have been Chris' blogging about his hook that had my brain working.)

Of course, I roused myself and wrote it down (the significant other was still in the basement watching a hockey game -- for god's sake, it's almost summer!) and was delighted by my brain wave. The test will come in another month or so, when I am ready to look at it again, but it sure felt good to have thoughts crystallize for a few moments.

I used a connecting character to launch the hook. While this may sound obvious, she is a minor character in the story so focusing on her wasn't instantly top of mind. However, she provided me with a way to discuss the characters in a general way and highlight the plot development and outcome without listing each protagonist. Wouldn't that have been deadly?

The more I read/learn about hooks, the more I am convinced that we (writers) have to distance ourselves from what we have written to be able to delve into what's interesting from someone else's point of view. Yes, our baby may have cute fingers and toes, but these are superfluous to what is in her heart. The details that mean so much to us -- and, hopefully someday to others -- mean little to an agent or editor who has seconds to determine yea or nay.

Hook writing is akin to what I used to harp about when it came to developing key messages with my clients. They would insist that every angle of an issue was a key message and I would ask: "If someone were to learn one and only one thing about your issue what would that be?" I think this is where we need to go with hook development as well. What is the essence of our book? What is the one thing that strikes to the heart of what we have written?

Of course, getting there is another matter. But it helps to know the direction you need to take before you leave home.

Anyway, off to the home school group for most of the day.

Have a great writing day!
Colleen