Story Beginnings — Part 3 (Story Questions & Hooks)

For me, picking out a new book is as simple as reading its first page. Does it grab me? Do I want to read more? Do I want to read it badly enough to: a) check the book out? b) spend my hard-earned money on it?

As writers, it's our job to draw the reader in, to make them care enough to keep turning the pages. One of the tricks-of-the-trade is to ask a story question. Story questions are statements that beg answering, situations that must resolve. Story questions can be monumental or minuscule and are woven throughout a story from beginning to end. When a story question is posed at the beginning of a book, it is called a hook. In general, hooks should occur within the first few sentences of the beginning of a story. Here are three examples of hooks (all first sentences):

"The morning the wagon came to take Monette away, the air was biting crisp and a sheen of frost covered the canefields." — The Dreaming by Michele Torrey (manuscript) (The hook: Why is a wagon coming to take Monette away, and where is it going to take her?)
"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow." – To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (The hook: How did Jem break his arm?)
"It was almost December and Jonas was beginning to be frightened." — The Giver by Lois Lowry (The hook: Why is Jonas beginning to be frightened?)

If you think about it, the word "hook" describes the art perfectly. We "hook" the reader; we cast a line baited with some yummy curiosity, a juicy worm that will pull the reader along, sometimes mercilessly. . . . They want to know the answer, they must know the answer. . . . Some story questions are quickly resolved, and rightly so. It would be a gross misuse of pacing to wait the entire novel to find out why the wagon is coming to take Monette away. As the story questions are resolved, you must introduce new story questions to take their place. Yet other story questions aren't resolved so quickly, and some carry through the entire book. Jonas in The Giver only gradually begins to realize the extent and reason for his fear. It isn't until the end of To Kill a Mockingbird that we discover why Jem broke his arm.

Now, compare the above examples with story openings that lack a story question:

The yard was freshly mowed and the smell of baked bread wafted from the open window.
Bored, Jeremy sat down to play with his toy soldiers.

These hook-less examples wouldn't entice anyone. So unless you have a hook coming in the next sentence or two, or at least by the end of the first page, folks like me will likely put your book down and continue the hunt. After all, folks like me want juicy worms.

If you're feeling some literary friskiness, try your hand at writing some hooks with these exercises:

1. Write a one-sentence "hook"

Examples:

"As soon as his mother arrived home, Jack knew he was in trouble."

"Cassie knew the lump under the carpet was alive."

2. Write a story opener with a hook

Example:

"It was an old photo, wrinkly-yellow, thumb-printy and dog-eared. Melanie traced Grandpa's outline with a finger. Tears welled. If only I'd listened, she told herself, angry as on the day she'd thrown Mama's best dish on the floor where it slammed and splintered, slivers under her slippers for weeks. If only I'd listened. He'd told me where to find the map, but I was too busy. And now it was too late. Grandpa was gone. All Melanie had left was her shoebox, stuffed with a few old photographs, a dried pansy, and a piece of fishing line. Not even a roof over her head. . . ."

Feel free to post your hooks. Most of all, have fun! Until next week . . .