How to Hook a Reader Immediately
Everyone, whether it be someone who picked your book up off the shelf, an agent, an editor, or some other person in the book industry, they’re going to decide whether to keep reading within the first page.
Sometimes it only takes someone until the end of the first paragraph to DNF a book.
This just goes to show that a “hook” isn’t just a gimmick. It’s a promise that you’re story is worth their time.
So, let’s look at some ways to craft an opening that captures the reader’s attention and makes your book impossible to put down.
Read to the end to get our free worksheet for improving your hooks.
What is a Hook?
To put it simply: a hook is anything that creates a compelling question in the reader’s mind.
You want to make the reader need to know what comes next. Don’t give them the opportunity to shelf your book for another time.
5 Powerful Types of Hooks
The Action Hook: Start in the middle of the situation where the character is already doing something with resulting conflict or danger.
The Mystery Hook: Present a situation that is strange, wrong, or unexplained. Giving your reader an uneasy feeling can make them more interested in figuring out how it will be resolved.
The Character Hook: Introduce a character in a way that reveals a flaw or a critical component to their world.
The Statement Hook: Use a bold declaration, whether thematic or philosophical, that sets the tone for the book.
The Atmosphere Hook: Immerse your reader in vivid sensory details of your unique or unsettling world right from the start.
How to Craft a Killer First Page
The best way to ensure you capture the reader’s interest is to combine hook types. You want to give them multiple reasons to stay interested in the book.
Just having a single burning question that the reader is trying to get answers for sometimes isn’t enough, especially with modern short attention spans and ADHD brains.
The biggest thing a story needs to do from the beginning is establish the stakes.
You don’t have to do this all on the first page, though. The stakes should be introduced naturally, but make them integral to your book.
Introduce the core conflict early so the reader has an idea of the central problem or tension. The conflict can evolve over time, but by revealing parts of it early, people will feel like they will miss out on a great book if they don’t continue reading.
If your writing style is unique enough, that alone can be a hook.
Practice Crafting Hooks
Try some simple exercises to improve your skills for hooking a reader.
Here’s one you can do right now:
Step 1: Pick a character or setting.
Step 2: Give them one of the following:
A secret they’re afraid of people finding out.
A goal they have to reach in the next 24 hours.
A person arriving in their life that they never wanted to see again.
Step 3: Write the first paragraph (or line, if you’re feeling ambitious) that introduces this tension.
Things to Avoid
Starting with the character waking up. It is overused and, most of the time, a boring introduction.
Info dumping. Overloading the first page with backstory or worldbuilding can be too much for a reader, leading them to save the book for another time.
The vague mystery. A mystery itself is interesting. Making it overly vague often ends up being confusing instead of intriguing.
Cliches. “Once upon a time.” “It was a dark and stormy night.” Be creative and show the reader that your book is worth their time.
Your hook sets the tone for the entire book, so don’t shirk this part of the process. Now it’s time to revisit your first page with these ideas in mind and see what you can come up with!
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