What Hooks a Reader on a Story? # rndrobin0415

Topic: What glues you to a story start to finish? What hooks do you use to capture your readers?

How to hook my readers?

Workshops, how-to-books, and instructors will say it’s the first two paragraphs, the first one hundred words, the blurb, the cover. . .etc. that will hook your readers.

As a rule, I agree these statements are true. 

The key statement is “as a rule”.

I write what I like to read.  I like a strong opening hook, witty dialogue, or a detailed description of a setting, all have their place and all appeal to me.  If I have had a stressful day, I may prefer a book with more narrative.  A humdrum day, a fast-paced book with a strong action hook is perfect.  I assume my readers preferences are the same. 

The story dictates the hook and the tone of my story.  Always.

When I chose print books, I look at the cover, read the blurb, and scan the first three pages.  Ebooks, offer the additional benefit of reviews (though I am careful not to find spoilers) and speedy download. As a writer, I am very aware that I’m not the only entertainment venue.  I compete with movies, television, and in the case of my Teen/Tween and YA novels—video games,

I strive to forge an emotional connection between my readers and my characters.  I hope that my readers will remember my characters and think of them as friends. Friends that make an afternoon enjoyable, an evening filled with adventure, hope, love, or good old-fashioned or just plain sassy fun!

Looking for a hook?

Here are a few of mine:

•  Charlene hadn’t told Rachel that she’d fixed her up with a cowboy, much less Lynx Maddox, the “Wild Cat” of the rodeo circuit.  Rachel signed. She should have known.  After all, Charlene only dated men who wore boots and Stetson.  “Lynx” Rodeo Romance, Book 1.  BWL release.

 ·         Audralynn Maddox heard her own soft cry, but the pain exploding inside her head made everything else surreal, distanced somehow by the realization that some had made a mistake. A terrible mistake.  “Brede” Rodeo Romance, Book 2. BWL release.

 ·         “You and Elvis have done a great job on this house,” Meredith said as her older sister led the way downstairs toward the kitchen here the tour began. “Sorry I couldn’t get over, until now, but I’ve been sort of. . .well, busy.” Slipping her Juicy Couture tortoise-shell framed sunglasses into a bright pink case, Meredith crammed them into her black Coach handbag. She hoped her sister didn’t ask her to define busy. Becoming a zombie, and dealing with the entire raised from the dead issue over the past six months, was not a topic easily plunked into casual conversation.  “Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow” BWL release.

 ·         1868  The Governor of New Mexico decreed that all Indian children over six be educated in the ways of the white man. Indian Commissioner: Thomas Morgan said:  It is cheaper to educate the Indians than to kill them.

1880, Apacheria, Season of Ripened Berries

Isolated bands of colored clay on white limestone remained where the sagebrush was stripped from Mother Earth by sudden storms and surface waters. Desolate. Bleak. A land made of barren rocks and twisted paths that reached out into the silence.  A world of hunger and hardship.  This is my world. I was born thirteen winters ago.  I am Tanayia. My people and I call ourselves “Nde” this means “The People”. The white men call us Apache.

“Whisper upon the Water” Hard Shell Word Factory/Mundania Press imprint.

Please join in the Blog Hop to see what other writers have to say!

Connie

 
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Ginger Simpson http://www.mizging@logspot.com/
Skye Taylor  http://www.skye-writer.com/
Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/
Margaret Fieland http://www.margaretfieland.com/blog1/
Helena Fairfax  http://helenafairfax.com/
Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Rachael Kosnski http://rachaelkosinski.weebly.com/
Victoria Chatham http://victoriachatham.webs.com/
Rhobin Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com/

My Favorite Time and Place to Read? How About Writing Time? #Round Robin

Life keeps getting busier, and finding time to complete daily tasks is difficult, but I always, always find time to read.

This month’s question:

What is your favorite time and place to read? How about writing time? Do you have to make time?
Do you have a ritual or is your plan helter-skelter? What's your method?

As a child it was hiding beneath my covers with a flashlight long past my prescribed bedtime.  Today, it more of a snatch of time here and there.  While preparing dinner (e-reader/ iPad /paperback on the counter), 10:30 p.m. wrapped in a woven throw on the couch listening to Slacker Radio on my iPad (when I should be sleeping), or with a grand-baby snuggled in my lap.  Reading is a pleasure, an escape, a way to share stories with others.

I make time to read, I make time to go to the gym, and I make time for family and friends.  These day-to-day activities weave, in my opinion, the fabric of a well-balanced and enjoyable life.   

Writing Time—the second part of today’s blog topic.

My method of writing?

I make it a practice to study the master of successful fiction.  Hemingway never wrote a treatise of the art of writing fiction.  He did, however, leave behind letters, articles and books with opinions and advice on writing.  Some of the best of those were assembled in 1984 by Larry W. Phillips into a book Ernest Hemingway on Writing.   While I do not rigidly follow these steps, I always keep them in the back of my mind.

1: To get started, write one true sentence.  One simple declarative sentence. 

·       Charlene hadn’t told Rachel that she’d fixed her up with a cowboy, much less Lynx Maddox, the “Wild Cat” of the rodeo circuit.

(Lynx, Rodeo Romance)

·       “You and Elvis have done a great job on this house,” Meredith said as her older sister led the way downstairs toward the kitchen where the tour began. “Sorry I couldn’t get over, until now, but I’ve been sort of. . .well, busy.”

(Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow) Sassy & Fun Fantasy Series.

·       Audralynn Maddox heard her own soft cry, but the pain exploding inside her head made everything else surreal, distanced by the realization that someone had made a mistake.

(Brede, Rodeo Romance Book 2)

My exception:  my YA historical novel is told in the first person.  Since the novel focuses on the emotional and life altering events of a young girl, I used historical facts and events to form the plot of my award-winning novel,  Simple declarative sentences are applied to the Prologue and Introduction.  However, emotional impact was needed to make the story ‘real’.

·       Prologue: The Governor of New Mexico decreed that all Indian children over six be educated in the ways of the white man. 

Indian commissioner Thomas Morgan said: It was cheaper to educate the Indians than to kill them.

1880, Apacheria, Season of Ripened Berries

Isolated bands of colored clay on white limestone remained where the sagebrush was stripped from Mother Earth by sudden storms and surface waters. Desolate. Bleak. A land made of barren rocks and twisted paths that reached out into the silence.

A world of hunger and hardship.  This is my world. I am Tanayia.  I was born thirteen winters ago. My people and I call ourselves “Nde” this means “The People”.  The white men call us Apache.

(Whisper upon the Water, Native American Series). 

2: Always stop for the day while you still know what will happen next.  I find this to be a key for me.  When I do not follow this step I find myself flirting with writer’s block the next day.

3: Never think about the story when you’re not working.  I carry this to an extreme, I do not talk about my work-in-progress.  The only exception being when I have research questions or trying to plot a continuing series.

4: When it’s time to work again, always start by reading what you’ve written so far.  The only problem, I am sooo tempted to make revisions.  For most part I beat back the urge (with a stick, if necessary ;-).  Otherwise, I’d never progress beyond chapter one.

5: Don’t describe an emotion–make it.  Watch and listen closely to external events, but to also notice any emotion stirred in you, or others, by the events and then trace back and identify precisely what it was that caused the emotion. If you can identify the concrete action or sensation that caused the emotion and present it accurately and fully rounded in your story, your readers should feel the same emotion.   When I am uncertain as to whether I’ve conveyed too little, or too much (insert: whiny), I ask my BF and fellow BWL writer, Geeta Kakade.  Geeta is the master of writing emotion (just ask Debbie Macomber).  

6: Use a pencil.  A mechanical pencil, please (multiple selection of refill sizes and colors available online).  I do not like to conduct an unproductive search for a pencil sharpener—or heaven forbid, be reduced to whittling a semi-acceptable point with my dull paring knife.

7: Be Brief. To quote Hemingway:  It wasn’t by accident that the Gettysburg address was so short. The laws of prose writing are as immutable as those of flight, of mathematics, of physics.  Therefore, I revise ruthlessly, use strong verbs, and avoid adverbs, and always, always step away from the keyboard when it is time to type: The End.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  For upcoming releases, contests, and links to interviews, recipes and more! Visit my website: www.novelsbyconnievines.com

Please take a moment to visit, and comment, upon view other writers participating in this month’s Round Robin Blog.

Happy Reading,

Connie Vines

A.J. Maguire  http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Geeta Kakade http://geetakakade.blogspot.com/
Margaret Fieland http://www.margaretfieland.com/blog1/
Skye Taylor  http://www.skye-writer.com/
Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.com/
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Rita Karnopp  http://www.mizging@blogspot.com
Rachael Kosnski http://the-doodling-booktease.tumblr.com/
Helena Fairfax  http://helenafairfax.com/
Heidi M. Thomas http://heidiwriter.wordpress.com/
Ginger Simpson http://www.cowboykisses.blogspot.com/
Rhobin Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com/