tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post2828176213386898799..comments2024-01-12T00:00:04.996-05:00Comments on The Paper Wait: The elusive HOOKEileen Cameronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03147679493619958932noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-36603201126939150832010-09-02T21:12:06.435-04:002010-09-02T21:12:06.435-04:00Here's my stab:
For a reader: Hook = a great...Here's my stab: <br /><br />For a reader: Hook = a great voice, plot, characters, or any combination of the above that keeps you turning pages.<br /><br />For an agent: Hook = a great elevator pitch.<br /><br />For an editor: Hook = a manuscript that won't require a lot of editing. <br /><br />Heheh. Kidding about last last one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-49032814483872930862010-08-26T11:43:41.383-04:002010-08-26T11:43:41.383-04:00Hmmm. I tend to think most books, even the most lu...Hmmm. I tend to think most books, even the most lushly layered, literary novels, can be boiled down to the hook. But, like all writing, you may need to search for the perfect words to describe the hook.<br /><br />I just finished reading Jennifer Donnelly's, A Northern Light. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it. It is so beautifully layered. There are so many plot layers that to say the hook is "farm girl dreams of escaping her dreary life and moving to a world of books and learning in New York City" would tell you next to nothing. Which of the many plot layers would you include in the hook? Which of the other characters?<br /><br />Is it that writing a hook -- and I mean writing that two-sentence description of the hook -- is like writing a PB? Every word counts and you have to craft it just so.J.A. Palermohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18325616361174334630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-54139438214363800712010-08-25T17:47:41.562-04:002010-08-25T17:47:41.562-04:00I've been reading so much about "hooking ...I've been reading so much about "hooking the reader" lately I started to question it myself - what is it exactly?<br /><br />I was worried I was getting a little bit of literary ADD, if something doesn't grab me immediately - well, then maybe it's not worth sticking with - and I don't think that's always the case. Sometimes it is, but usually if I take some time with something - it does end up grabbing me - but not necessarity in an immediate manic way! <br /><br />I've been grappling with "hook" as I work on my new WIP and sometimes I think it makes me freeze up. While I think it's important, I don't want to obsess about it too much.<br /><br />Thanks for commenting Meg & Gale!Robin Constantinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12702857007702547325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-41290666165587103772010-08-25T07:39:34.405-04:002010-08-25T07:39:34.405-04:00GREAT post, Robin. Yes, the elusive hook. What is ...GREAT post, Robin. Yes, the elusive hook. What is it? Is it just a great idea that draws a reader in it? If that's so, then what about after you're in? What if the writing doesn't hold up? What if the story is predictable and unsatisfying? A good idea alone doesn't make a good book (thought it might sell a lot).<br /><br />Maybe good writing unhooks the hook? CRIS CROSS is a beautifully written story. Like you and Gale, I didn't race through it. I was confused by the character's ages, and found myself wondering what the story was all about? Not much happened in the story. It was quiet. Yet it won the Newbery.<br /><br />You are right, Robin, what hooks one reader, editor, agent might not hook another. That's why we all have to write our own stories and perhaps the hook is to hook ourselves. I don't mean that in an egotistical/narcissistic way, but there HAVE to be other readers out there like me who want a good story, with compelling characters that makes them think about something other than a hook.Meg Wiviotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16178051434999444739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265428284848727164.post-23421837648325964452010-08-24T15:54:01.314-04:002010-08-24T15:54:01.314-04:00Glad to hear someone else was not "hooked&quo...Glad to hear someone else was not "hooked" immediately on Criss Cross. I did put it aside for a while, but as you say, the voice brought me back.<br /><br />I think you've defined the hook in all its aspects in your second paragraph. I know for a picture book to be a big seller, all those things are necessary - as well as a rhythmic first couple of sentences about a character or situation that grabs the reader's attention immediately. Not easy.Gale Sypher Jacobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06316827256622168039noreply@blogger.com