I love to write. Its very rewarding to see my words on a page. I always think to myself, “These words came out of my brain!” It always amazes me. Using the best words can also be a challenge of course, but the biggest challenge of all is WRITING THE HOOK.
You know, that moment when you pick up a book, open the flap and read what its about? Its the most important part of writing. It is what causes the shopper to buy the book. Afterall, that is what we want, someone to buy and read our book.
That is most rewarding.
(Okay, the money from the purchase is not bad either…)
So how do you write a good “hook”? I’m still trying to figure that out, but I like to leave a bit of a mystery for the shopper. That might make them turn to the first page and scan through it or go to the last page and read it….of course that’s cheating! Sometimes the hook needs to lie a bit. I mean, maybe not lie, but give a false…ummmm hope? It can’t be too far off though, or the reader will be angry at you. Like killing off the main character, that makes readers really mad!
In my book Daffodil Hill, a few of my readers were mad at me. But I am not going to tell you why, you’ll have to read it for yourself.
So…when I do feel like I can write a decent hook, I always try to write it, leave it and then go back and read it. If it makes me want to read or buy my own book, then I know its a winner!
What about you? What are your best hooks? Or what hooked you and then disappointed?
Writings by Danette 