What is a Hook?

A hook is something that piques a reader’s curiosity and reels them in. It is an attention-getter that causes readers to keep reading.

A hook is often nothing more or less than a question. A hook is created when a reader asks the general question of "What will happen next?" This leads readers to asking a more specific question about the characters and/or events in your book.

A hook is an opportunity for you to impress readers, wow them, and make them want, and need, to know "What will happen next?"

Hooks should never waste time or betray a reader’s trust. Hooks don’t always involve action, but should set it up. A hook will typically introduce something—character, conflict, plot, theme, or setting—and will often introduce more than one thing. Hooks should always be essential to the plot.

Formula for a Hook

1. Arouse/Pique a Reader’s Interest
2. Delay Gratification
3. Reward

Methods to Hook a Reader

1. Foreshadow
   • Imply a change is coming.
   • Hint at a fateful event, intriguing incident, or happy prediction.
2. Pacing
   • Follow a fast scene with a slow scene.
   • Follow a slow scene with a fast scene.
   • Heighten pace through the use of sentences that progressively become shorter.
3. Introduce a threatening or provocative character at the end of a scene or chapter.
4. Put the protagonist in danger.
   • This doesn’t need to be serious like risking the protagonist’s life, but it should be something important to the protagonist (e.g., in danger of losing home, job, friendship, relationship, or opportunity).
   • Something must be at risk for your protagonist. This raises the stakes and readers will cheer your protagonist on, while worrying the protagonist might fail to save whatever it is the protagonist is trying to keep or achieve.
5. Raise questions for readers.
   • Give enough information to keep readers from getting lost, but keep them guessing.
   • Leave some questions unanswered until the end.
   • Sometimes answering one question earlier in your book can open up several other questions for readers, which develops the plot but still leaves readers wondering.
   • This can often be a question the narrator asks himself at the end of a scene or chapter.
6. Set things up so readers can identify with a character and his predicament or conflict.
7. Keep your protagonist from reaching his goal until the resolution.
   • Minor goals might be achieved, and the main goal might evolve, but whatever the protagonist’s main goal is, it should be out of reach for the majority of your book.
   • Characters that fail, often repeatedly, when trying to reach their main goal keeps readers hooked because readers want to find out if, and how, the character will succeed.
8. Forecast
   • Link a scene or chapter to the next by ending the first scene or chapter with one concept and beginning the next scene or chapter with a linking concept.
     • Example End: I knew Florida would be hot and muggy in August.
     • Example Beginning: My hair drooping from the humidity, I gave up on making a good impression at the meeting.
9. End a scene before the climax (breaking at the point of tension).
   • End just before a moment of high tension.
   • In some cases, you can switch to seemingly irrelevant dialogue or a scene that isn’t as exciting. This teases the reader, and then you can return to the moment of high drama.
   • Delay the resolution of a scene (concept of delayed gratification).
   • End with a mysterious object, pregnant pause, note of uncertainty, or odd event.
   • Hint at a flashback.