Hook…

I’m not talking about Peter Pan’s nemesis here. I’m talking about the beginning of a novel. In a way, “hook” is an insulting term.  It refers to the first chapter, first paragraphs, first words even, of a novel that can get a reader interested in the story. Readers aren’t fish, though, and an author can’t hook them and reel them in. That said, all fiction has to interest the reader at the beginning. Readers usually don’t start reading in the middle of the book, after all.

There is only one ba...