So I'm still thinking about hooks. Miss Snark's First Victim is having another Are You Hooked? contest pretty soon, and I'd like to enter something. I didn't do so well last time.
I think I need to make the beginning of DRAWN TO YOU more hookish (I'm hoping you betas will let me know if you agree), but I'm not quite sure how to go about it. I do like the beginning because I feel like it does a nice job of setting up the characters and conflict, but I don't have an opening line that punches you in the gut and makes you want to read more.
My friend, KMart, and I were discussing whether a hook like that is absolutely essential. He said it is a nice thing to have, but then you've gotta have solid prose to back it up. He also posited that if a reader is engaged by the characters right away, she'll want to read on.
So, what do you think? Is a hook-y first line essential? A hook-y first paragraph?
By the way, I just bought the book HOOKED to help me out with this dilemma. I'll comment on it later, once I've read a bit more.
New Beginning 703
16 minutes ago
6 comments:
Good question. I'm not really sure. Honestly, I think a good first 2-5 pages are more important than a hook-y first line. And that needs to be backed up by a solid manuscript. You hear agents complaining about fantastic first five pages, because they've been polished and polished. So...that doesn't really answer anything except that I think there might be a too much focus on the first 250 and not enough on the rest of the manny.
A big hooky first line is good for Miss Snark's First Victim's AYH? contest, but I think it's totally not necessary to grab an agent.
I was worried that trying to hard to have a good hook might mean I run into one of the problems Nathan Bransford talked about a week or two ago when he was judging the first lines.
Of course, this is just me talking; I don't have an agent and haven't queried yet, so I don't know so much!
Yeah, I was thinking about what he said on his blog about first lines. It's rather jolting to have such a heavy first line and then get super light (which mine would do).
I agree with Chandler; I think the first 2-5 pages should be where the hook is. People put a lot of pressure on the first sentence. It's just one little sentence! If it pops, then yay, but if not, let its friends help it out.
Sara, aw... I just thought of all the little sentence friends in my book. Fun.
I agree with these comments - first lines should be organic and not forced or they are, well, forced.
And yes, the whole book better be incredible, not just the first small chunk. Just think of how many books you've abandonded, as readers. I would HATE if someone abandonded my book after getting hooked initially.
In my humble opinion, I say, make the whole dang book good, page 1 to end page.
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