How to Hook in Your Readers

Have you ever picked up a novel and just from that first line alone you knew it was going to be a while before you put it down? So you sat in the middle of your local book store's horror aisle for three hours until a worker had to come over and let you know they were about to close and it was time to go home?

No? Just me?

Or even worse have you ever picked up a novel, been intrigued by the cover and title, but after reading the first paragraph you immediately put it back on the shelf?

I've done this one plenty of times as well, more often than finding the one worth getting tripped on in the middle of the aisle. 

The first page of your novel is going to be the deciding factor if your reader is going to give your book the chance it deserves. Sure having a flashy cover and catchy title will get them to pick it off the shelf, but it'll be those first few lines that will make or break their interest in your book.

Hooking in your reader will mark the pivotal moment when they decide to follow you down the rabbit hole. Readers will want to see if you will follow through on your promise to tell them a compelling original story that they won't be able to put down.

Here are a few ways you can hook your reader in and reel them into your story.

Begin at a Pivotal Moment

Start your story in the middle of the action to have your reader wondering how you got to that point and where you're going to go from there.

For the love of all that is reading and writing please do not start your story with your character just waking up. Everybody wakes up (well unless they don't) but this beginning is overdone and cliche to the point it can cause your readers to put your book right back on the shelf. There's no action or event happening that your reader is going to care about.  

Paint an Interesting Picture

Bringing your reading into the world by showing them the surroundings can be a great way to hook them in. Is your character standing in the middle of a battlefield? Where were they left standing in the rain watching someone walk away? Show your readers the world they are falling into and make it something worth seeing.

Have a Compelling Narrator Voice 

Have you ever sat around a campfire and had a friend or family member tell you a story that had you on the end of your seat clinging to their every word? That's what you want your narrator's voice to be like. 

The reader is going to become close friends with this voice and it needs to be one they can connect with. Keep a consistent tone, point of view, and way of speech. 

If your narrator hasn't once said "yall", don't randomly throw it into the story.

Move Down a Few Pages 

It's possible that when you began writing you had one idea of where your story started but in your writer's brain, it actually began a few pages or even a chapter or two down in the story. Sometimes you just have to recycle the information from those first few parts into the story somewhere else so that your story can start when the real action is taking place. 

Practice

Just like catching a fish, leaning to hook in your reader is going to take trial and error and a bit of practice before you get the hang of it. However, just like with fishing sometimes you come back with an empty-net no matter how skilled you are.

Don't despair or get discouraged. Just keep writing and reading as much as you can and the pieces of your story will fall into place. 

You're doing great and I'm so proud of you.

Now go write.

With love, 

B.K. xo

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