I’m a Hooker

Or so I’ve been told.  No, it doesn’t mean I hang out on seedy street corners dressed in tight leather pants and a muscle shirt, so get that mental image out of your head right now!  What it means is that I supposedly write excellent hook lines to close my scenes and chapters with.

My definition of a hook line is a bit broader than the one you typically hear, which involves a line that will hook someone into reading your novel.  I utilize the phase to explain lines that keep them reading.  I’ve already discussed pacing and momentum in our writing before (see The Scooter Method of Pacing), but I didn’t mention specific techniques other than using an illustration from my own manuscript.  One of my favorite and most effective means of maintaining momentum when transitioning between chapters is the hook line.  Think of them as teasers...on steroids. 

Most readers use chapter or scene breaks as a stopping point, choosing to put the book down and move onto other tasks.  Your goal here as a writer is two-fold:  1) to keep your reader engaged for as long as possible by influencing them to delve into yet another section, and 2) make the length of time the book sits unattended, short.  If they must put the book down, then you want them hurrying back as soon as possible to fall under its spell once more.  One way to accomplish this is through lean and compelling prose.  There is no substitute for good writing.  But another way to achieve your goal is by utilizing great hooks.   

I come up with hook lines when I’m still in the outlining phase of my books.  It can directly relate to how you structure chapters, what information you dole out and how much you hold back.  A hook line can be a light bulb event, where your reader is provided some key information explaining unanswered questions.  It can be a cliffhanger, where a character is left in peril.  But some of the best hook lines involve foreshadowing, where the reader is tantalized with possible future developments (usually of the ominous variety).  Myself, I’m an equal opportunity hooker.

Can you overuse hook lines?  Sure, but usually because excessiveness leads to lazy writing and terrible hooks.  A well conceived, perfectly executed hook line doesn’t leave a bad taste in our mouth (eyes?) when we read it. 

I’ll leave you with a quote from Stellan Skarsgard, a prominent actor talking about one of our most prominent writers today.  "I think Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) is a terribly bad writer, but he has cliffhangers after every chapter which makes you continue reading. It's like eating peanuts at a bar. You don't like them, but you keep on eating them anyway," he told Swedish broadcaster SVT.  Surprisingly, Mr. Skarsgard starred in the film version of Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons.

If being a hooker allows me to see even a fraction of that type of success, then sign me up! 

PS.  The day my book is published…I promise to take a picture of myself wearing those leather pants and muscle shirt.