Hooks, Lines & Sinkers

Hands up if the title to this article ready-made you think that you'd strayed into a fishing feature?

Perhaps you didn't quite go that far, but hopefully you were nonplussed or curious enough to wonder what on earth those three fishing 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 flourishing short stories, novels and articles then the "hook" in our title takes on a whole new range of meanings and equates really well with the earth of creative writing.

What most beginners fail to understand once they 1st begin writing, and this applies as more to articles as it does to short stories and novels, is that once they submit their activity to an editor, competition judge or publisher there is only a brief moment to impress which is why a lot of attention of necessity to be paid to that 1st opening sentence.

Hooking your reader with a good beginning isn't a guarantee to success, but it wish serve to focus attention and do 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 over again focuses attention. As long as the rest of the piece lives up to its early promise, you can be sure that your effort wish at the really least obtain close scrutiny and hopefully more more!

So, simply how do you move up with a good hook? It would-be be good if I could say that there was several magic formula accessible but regrettably I haven't found it even as 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 once you have a mind boiling with ideas troubled to spread themselves over the page! All this wish do is do you tense up with frustration and dam your creativity.

Instead, start touch the keys and slap those ideas across the screen! Once you have the basic outline down then you can start the writing process, including the opening sentence. If at this stage you are still stuck, try effort the activity for a few days, there's a good chance you'll move up with thing once you're mind is focused on thing else and the 1st 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 simply as often or more so in the opening sentence. My actual opening "hook" ready-made use of a question, which over again is a really good way to start, as questions by their really nature demand a response from the reader, even as if it is only to see to the end of the sentence!

I took this a step further by exigent physical action, "hands up", which of course is a ridiculous thing to expect a reader to do once there is no way of knowing whether they have complied or not! It is this stupidity that hopefully grabs attention and carries on from wherever 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 likewise do good hooks either from songs, proverbs or else literary works, but likewise try golf stroke 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 several ideas and his annual grumble during our recent Christmas meal gave me a marvellous opening line, or hook, for what wish be a gay article taking a close look at this, in my opinion, more reviled vegetable!

What was it? Oh yes, once janus-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 earth ..." 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 once 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 surprised looks and laughter from the rest of the family were enough to confirm what I'd directly thought, here was a hook solicitation 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 thing every writer has to get to grips with if they want to bring home the bacon success so it is a good idea to train yourself to several generate hooks and be on the alert for them by listening to what else folk say.

Having a small notebook handy does a lot of sense, but reading what else folk have done before you wish likewise pay dividends. Try this quiz of opening lines to far-famed novels. It's not easy, but don't worry simply about your score, the real benefit of the quiz is seeing what worked for the author. The scent of slaughter, several believe, can linger in a place for years. Once Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End proclaimed that he would-be 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 rarely completed it once caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were. The intruder came early in Feb one wintry day, through a biting wind and a drive snow ... "The marvellous thing is that it's painless," he said. "That's how you cognize once it starts." Last night I unreal of Urban centre ... A wide plain, wherever the broadening Floss hurries on between its green banks to the sea, and the affectionate tide rushing to meet it ... Mr Jones, of the Manor Farm, had fast the hen-house for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes. "Tom!"

Well, what did you think? Several were emphatically intriguing but others in my opinion left a lot to be desired which simply 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 Saint 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 Mount kilimanjaro by Ernest Writer Wife by Daphne De Maurier The Mill on the Floss by Saint george Elliot Animal Farm by Saint george Eric blair The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Brace

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 an articles publicized 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 See ALL Just simply 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 do 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 announce on May 11, 2002