A great hook is vivid:
Poppies by Ulrica Hume
I was born upside down, the umbilical cord looped twice around my neck.
Why it works?
We are given an instant picture of the hospital room and the tiny, upside baby fighting for its life and we instinctively want to know more.
Gone by Michael Grant
One minute the teacher was talking about the Civil War. And the next minute he was gone.
You can just imagine the boring teacher droning on about the Civil War and suddenly. Poof! He's gone. Grant also cleverly uses his title in the first line. The question is: where is he gone? How did go? Will he ever come back?
Intrigued?
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
It's midnight, it's sweltering, and I might be high on Vicodin, but that guy-that guy right over there-that's him. The him.
This opening line characterizes the playful mood of the whole book. You can just imagine this hilarious scene, Isla, young and fun and lightheaded, pointing out her true love. The reader connects with this fun loving girl from the get go and are dying to know-who is he?
A good hook resonates:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (You know this had to be in here!)
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
Why this works?
Because she states an eternal principal and wraps it up in a big satirical bow. A rich man must want a wife because she says so! Because she wants him!
This opening line holds true just as much today as it did back then. Anyone who doubts this should check out how many Billionaire romance books there are out there. The celebrity bad boy. The rich, mean businessman. They may differ in the details but the question in all these books remains the same- which lucky girl will get the rich guy (and invariably change his ways along the way!).
Paper Towns by John Green
The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle.
Whether or not it's actually true doesn't matter; it resonates because we all hope it to be true! Everyone wants a miracle and we need to read on to find out just how exactly he's figured this out.
YOU ARE READING
Hook Your Reader
Non-Fiction[ON HOLD] Nobody will ever know how incredible your book is if they don't read it. And for that you need a hook. A unique opening line that touches the core of the story, that temptingly hints to what they'll find inside, that compels your reader...
