How to write the perfect opening hook to your novel
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- What’s the worst fate that can befall a new writer? You pour your heart and soul into your novel but the agent doesn’t even read it because of a rookie error on the first page. This video shows you a simple trick to prevent this happening to you.
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"5% of people check facebook while having sex" sounds like a really catchy first line. Definitely piques one's attention lol
I just came across your channel today and I'm thankful for it
I HATE this modern obsession with the "necessity" of hooking readers, like their goldfish minds are unable to read past the opening if it doesn't sycophantically manipulate them enough. Gass's The Tunnel has its first few chapters written in such a dense, allusive way as to deter people from continuing thereby rewarding them by pressing on. Art should not be easy to consume, nor should it bow to the back and call to the consumer.
“There’s no wolf in there, stupid,” the little girl muttered to herself.
Vicki Voland teetered at the edge of the backyard where her old outdoor easel stood. Large paw prints circled the muddied lawn just outside of the woodland bordering the Voland house. The leaves began to rustle in the breeze and a chill hit her knees. The gloomy day cast a shadow through the woods so dark and so worrying that it made Vicki wonder exactly how far into town a wolf might travel. She gathered her scarlet oversized hoodie around her, feeling just like little red riding hood as she ventured out to the easel.
I found your channel and my inspiration! Thank you for your unparalleled wisdom, among the vast sea of youtubers
As a reader I get bored very quickly if the beginning is filled with too much boring back ground and close the book. Therefore, as an author, my inciting incident is the hook. 😊
I do too, I need to sense very quickly that 'something' is afoot.
Thank you for the insightful tip for finding the hook.
Always wondered, are horses scared of rattlesnakes? I guess they would be if a bag of them was thrown at them. And there is the rattle too I guess. I've had many encounters with snakes - no rattles, Australia - while riding, even one reared up threatening to strike, horses never so much as blinked.
Good point. In the same vein, I wonder, do mice really like cheese?
"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
"It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him. Yossarian was in the hospital with a pain in his liver that fell just short of being jaundice."
I had to look up what a dead channel looked like when I read that book 😆
You should make a video about the anti-villain spectrum. This type of villain shows remorse yet knows that his actions are absolutely necessary for the greater good. Ozymandias from the Watchmen is a great example of this. He murdered millions of innocent people to stop nuclear Armageddon.
Another example is General Hummel from the movie The Rock, who stole some biological weapons and was planning to extort the U.S. government to pay the families of fallen marines.
It was the 24 hour whelk stall at the start of Aberystwyth Mon Amour that hooked me.
Ha ha now that’s a hook so powerful it’s almost dangerous
Imagine having mollusk access at all times
I find it kind of hilarious there are people so out to lunch that they check facebook while having sex. Anything to avoid the horror that is that dastardly present moment where magic might happen and flip your world rightside up. As for opening hooks, I think the one I have in my draft is decent-ish, but Im sure when I get done with the first draft and start on the second, it'll change and get even better. Right now it's
"He left it all at the edge of the wood, or at least he thought he did."
That Mel Gibson hook you shared was brilliant, I'll keep it in mind for my second draft.
J R Tolkien?
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien.
Well done my friend!
Brilliant again. Thanks!
My favorite opening line of a story: 📖
"Yes, Your Honour. It was I who discovered the body."
From Rashômon by Akutugawa. 🇯🇵
I read an article in my local newspaper about opening lines. One of their examples really stood out to me: "The lone testicle lay buried one feet deep in the woods". I guess it really stuck with me because I was 10 when I read that and instantly thought of it when I opened this video.
Great video, but the transition between whisper quiet oration and blaring intro music was jarring
Noted!
Wonderful, enjoyable and funny videos on writing and lots more! Thks so much 😊
Thanks for your kind words!
I think having the experience of improv story telling can help you create hooks easily. As an experienced dungeon master (narrator to a tabletop role playing game), I found it important to make my players care about the story so they themselves feel like doing the main quest without my intervention. To do this, I had to hook them somehow and I found that speaking of the events simply without using "big words" and adding a mysterious tone usually works. I am saying usually because sometimes some players just have their own agenda or their own story they want to create.
I am currently working on a novel and this the first sentence:
"Grandpa, what should we do about that barrier?" a girl asked in a serious tone as she stared at the thin white layer of magic spanning across the sky.
If I'm not bothering your day, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this opening.
Thank you for this video and I'm glad I found your channel ❤
Hey I’m no expert but I did play Dungeons and dragons for 30 years.
Your opening line didn’t overly intrigue me, the reason is the barrier is so broad and the so is the sky. It is very hard to image what a barrier is. Is it’s 1meter x 1metre, 1000 KM x 1000 KM? Is it stopping something. Is the barrier just a rainbow. Is the little girl just paranoid.
I think the girl needs to describe the barrier or give it meaning.
Here is my attempts
“Grandpa, grandpa, why is there a white barrier in the sky, blocking the sun?”
The street looked as if filled with human statues, like time itself stopped. Everyone had frozen in awe staring up as a thin white magical layer covered the sky.
Or “Grandpa, do you think that white barrier is going to be a problem?”
Or not sure the girls age, “Grandpa, is the sky meant to have a white barrier across it?“
@@behanflaherty9460 I see the problem. Thank you 🥰
I did some changes but I felt like I couldn't change the opening line that much. So this is what I did:
"Grandpa, what should we do about that barrier?" Nagi asked in a serious tone, her purple eyes fixed on the thin, ethereal layer of white energy stretching across the sky. She sat on the only windowsill of their small shop, her small frame barely fitting as she hugged her right leg. Her short, pointed ears peeked through the curtains of her smooth silver hair that glistened in the unobstructed sunlight, revealing that the barrier, though visible, did not block the rays of the sun.
In Daragonia, it was common knowledge that magic without substance was invisible to non-users, so the sight of even a thin layer of energy enveloping the sky alarmed Haven, prompting the city to issue an urgent lockdown.
The Maverick beginning sounds great. I always liked the beginning of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid too. It's a great intro to the characters and their world.
Same screenwriter- William Goldman - for Butch Cassidy. Great movie.
How's this? Grave robbery-how in the world did I end up in this crazy situation? It's beyond insane, but here I am, hiding in the bushes outside The Villa Diodati. Dull morning light peeks through the skeletal branches, sending all kinds of slasher movie vibes my way. Add that to stink of rotting leaves, and I can only hope someone chops me up. Anything to end this constant waiting for the fool who roped me into this ridiculous mess.
Would you mind checking out the opening sentences to my novels? I designed them so that the hooks draw blood.
Get a lav mic. Your audio is too low. I can barely hear what you're saying.
I can hear it perfectly at only half volume. I think its you bro
I can hear it fine
I can hear him fine, but a lav wouldn’t hurt
Everyone knows that discerning gentlemen of culture only check MYSPACE mid-horizonal mamba.