Hooks in Books
When I started submitting my first novel, I was told that, in order for it to be accepted, it would need to have a commercial hook. However, no one could ever tell me specifically what that was! Of late, as I embark on a new novel, I've been reflecting on what hooks my published novels have and what could be the hook or hooks in this new one.
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What is a 'hook in a book'? I think of a hook in a story as something that catches a reader's attention and makes them want to carry on reading - when you can't stop reading because you HAVE to know what happens next. Put simply, a hook grabs the reader's attention and pulls them into the story.
'Story hooks work by reeling in the reader and making them want to learn more. Therefore, a good hook will create some sort of question (or better yet, multiple questions) in the reader's mind. They will simply have to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.'
Hooks can take different forms. Here are some of those listed by Casie Bozay in her excellent blog post, 10 Story Hook Tips For Grabbing Attention that I've used in Prologues:
- starting with action, dropping the reader into a tense scene. In The Greek Island Secret, the novel opens with Sofia finding her son dead, apparently having taken his own life.
'Sofia Simonides let out a scream and tottered backwards. Her pulse struggled to force blood around her veins. The body was slumped against the gnarled trunk of an ancient olive tree, his head hanging to one side and resting on the left shoulder. Andreas had a blue-grey pallor, his skin a candle-wax translucency. Sofia bent over and touched his cheek. It was icy cold.'
In The Sicilian Promise, we share with Joe the arrival of the dreaded telegram informing him his son has been killed in action in WW2.
'He opened the door to a solemn-faced young man in uniform. "Mr Joseph Howells? A telegram for you." The blood drained from Joe's face. As he took the envelope, his hand shook. His pulse raced so fast he steadied himself against the hall table. Please, God. Don't let it be what I think it is.'
- create intrigue about the characters. In The Secret Sister, Carlo has just arrived at a POW camp in mid-Wales.
'Thoughts of home made him uneasy as he realised, once again, that he might never be able to go back (to Sicily). He felt for the crucifix that hung around his neck as an image of his accuser entered his head.'
Hopefully, the readers will want to find out why Carlo can't return to his homeland after the war has ended and what has he been accused of? Who is his accuser?
'She heard the rafters in the upstairs loft creaking. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Her heart thumped. Several Nazis had been found hiding in neighbours' barns. They'd been trying to find out who was resisting the occupation and they were listening for evidence, She froze to the spot, hardly daring to breathe. Another creak. She wasn't imagining it.'
In my new novel, I've tried to introduce the possibility of something ominous to come after what should be a happy fun-filled evening.
'Greta smiled as she watched her new husband join in with the traditional Greek dancers, his blue eyes sparkling as swayed his hips and tried to dip in time with the others as they circled the dance floor. The haunting sound of the bouzouki music filled the busy taverna above the noise of the fun and laughter from the diners. Since arriving in Crete four years before as a naïve art student, she’d heard the instrument played many times but tonight, there was something unnerving about the dissonance of the music. She quickly dismissed the feeling when her three-year-old daughter wriggled down from her lap to join the dancers.'
These prologues are often short, sometimes no more than a page, but the hope is that they will pique the interest of readers to find out more.
The advice in Casie Bozay's blog post is once we as writers have the reader's attention is to hold on to it. How can we do that? If the reader has too many unanswered questions, they will become frustrated but if they are answered straight away, the reader doesn't have a reason to read on. Getting the balance is crucial but not easy perhaps. Casie suggests:
'The best way to handle this is by answering some of the questions created by your hook while introducing new questions to keep the reader in suspense.'
So that is my task ahead as I write the first draft of a new novel. Wish me luck!
Thank you for reading. Writers, what hooks have you used in your novels? Readers, what makes you want to read on?
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