Hooks
My next post was going to be on Endings. However, the thoughtful comments to my post on Beginnings made me want to linger a bit longer on the subject of Hooks. We are told all the time, "You must hook your reader!" But what about the quiet set-up, the story which opens like a wide-shot of the landscape which shapes the story, or a close-up on a character? Must every story start with action and danger? In short, must every book begin with a sentence as dark and striking the first sentence in Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book : "There was a hand in the darkness and it held a knife." In a word -- no. Not every book has to begin with darkness, knives, or the slaughter of the protagonist's family. Every story needs a hook. But not every hook involves action or physical threats. A hook which is understated, subdued, focused on character, is perfectly acceptable in a book which is focused on character. Take the first two lines of The Kite Runner : I became wha...