BE A SUCCESSFUL HOOKER.

Hooker?
Did you come to the blog thinking I was going to talk about a very old profession? If you did well……. HA! Made you look. You fell for my hook.
So what is a hook?
I think instructor Mary Buckham, in her lecture packet on Hooks and Pacing, says it best.
"Hooks create an emotional response from a reader. Not just any emotional response but one that gets under your subconscious, raises a question and compels a reader to turn one more page in order to find an answer.
Hooks can, and should be used, in the opening sentence of a book, the opening paragraph, the end of the first page, the end of the third page, the end of the third chapter, opening a chapter as well as an ending one, at each new scene and, if you're writing a series, the last sentence."
In her book How I Write Janet Evanovich says: "The beginning is the most important part of the book. It must capture the reader immediately and force them to keep reading."
Agent Donald Maas says hooks are vital to open your book, open each chapter, open each scene, and end the book. The best books contain one or more of twelve different hooks.
* Action or danger
* Overpowering emotion
* A surprising situation
* An evocative description that pulls a reader into a setting [think a specific setting here that impacts the story line vs simply description per se – simple description of a generic or vague nature is not evocative nor qualifies as a setting]
* Introducing a unique character [Introduction of a character is not enough – they must be unique.
* Warning or foreshadowing
* Shocking or witty dialogue [internal or external]
* The totally unexpected
* Raising a direct question

Still not convinced hooks are important? Take five of your favorite books from the shelf and read the first paragraph. Is there a hook? I had twenty-one books on the table and all save one had a hook. All but a handful had the story GMC in the first pages. My very favorite opening is Michael Connelly’s first page of The Brass Verdict. It completely lays out the story.
Recently I was at a luncheon and ladies were talking about a book on the best seller list. One asked if the book was any good, should she read it. They other’s response blew me away. She said, “It’s great once you get past the first hundred pages.” I knew the book, it was two hundred seventy-five pages. My mouth is always forty feet in front of the rest of me spoke up and asked why on earth would anyone continue to read a book after the first five pages if it didn’t interest you. To me those are chuckawalla books. They don’t grab my attention in those fist pages and they get chucked against the wall.
Does your opening immediately draw the reader in? Want to share? Or tell me what you most favorite ever opening is.
Here’s my opening for Under Fire.

“We have a visual on the boat.” Coast Guard Lt. Commander Olivia Carver’s gloved fingers tightened around the helicopter’s control stick and she increased airspeed. The chase was on.
Olivia’s heartbeat matched the tempo of the rotors. Sweat bonded her flight suit to her body and trickled between her breasts. Counter-narcotics had become her reason for existing and she was damn good at it.