Teachers, editors, agents, and publishers all tell writers to find The Hook, better known as the first line of any piece of writing, to lure their readers into a story, a novel, a memoir, or a poem. What arrests and rivets a reader’s attention? What compels someone to keep reading? Most importantly, where does one find such a creature?
There are famous ones aplenty:
“124 was spiteful.” Beloved by Toni Morrison
“Reveille was sounded, as always, at 5 a.m.—a hammer pounding on a rail outside camp HQ.” one day in the life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
“Not while, but long after he had told me” “Each Bird Walking” by Tess Gallagher
“It was a brilliant day, and instead of going straight home from school, Pearl dawdled.” The Amazing Bone by William Steig
“The girl sits on the hard ground” “Photograph of the Girl” by Sharon Olds
“He means, I think, there’s an out” “Door to the River” by Mark Doty
“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.” Their Eyes Were Watching God by Nora Neale Hurston
“The sweat wis lashing oafay Sick Boy; he wis trembling.” Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
“You have broken the path of the dragonfly” “Pearls” by Rita Dove
“Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu. Waiting by Ha Jin
Who wouldn’t continue reading?! But I want to propose that instead of starting from the idea of what catches at the reader’s curiosity and imagination, we should start with what captures the writer. Inspiration comes from a kind of startle, a recognition that has just arrived. We follow it like children after the ice cream cart. It entices, lures us to want more, ask more, imagine more. Our hook is also what will hook the reader. What is the phrase, image, question, clarity, or reversal that instantly arrives in our minds and takes us headlong into our writing?
It’s true that as we write we may create the hook that will work for the reader, often embedding it within initial drafts, and have to search it out later. But the impetus for the writer begins with what grabs the writer’s focus and creates the spark of excitement that propels each of us down the pathways of our pages. Whatever shows up, write it down raw, in its original state. Don’t try to iron it out or make it what you think it’s supposed to be. The sudden flash speaks volumes, with depth, mystery, and emotional complexity. Listen for the charge of excitement in a waiting story or the nascent bud of a poem. Your urge to write it down is what will compel a reader to also feel the tug and pull toward all the following words.
Upcoming Events
Writing Beyond the Academy: Scholarship as Storytelling.
Join me online, July 7 – 13, 2024, to write freely, in your genre, your voice, with your experiments from facts, memory or imagination. Leave the curriculum and publishing pressures behind. How do you create metaphor, lyricism, and plot in scholarly work?
I follow the Amherst Writers & Artists Workshop Method closely. Every writer is treated with respect and all writing is treated as art and separate from the writer. I offer writing prompts, not assignments. We listen acutely for what uniquely engages and surprises the reader.
Sunday – Saturday, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. EDT. Cost $1000. Non-refundable deposit $250.
For more information: maureen@maureenbjones.com www.writingfulltilt.com
Writing Retreat at Stump Sprouts in Hawley Massachusetts: August 5 – 9, 2024
Join me on a sunny, quiet hillside with views of the western Massachusetts hills for three days of imagining, remembering, restoring, and inventing. Writers with all levels of experience and genres are welcome. The retreat is firmly based in the AWA Method with respect for all voices and an atmosphere of adventure. Single rooms, shared baths, organic, home-made meals, and time to rest and wander. Fee is $1325 with a $200 deposit by June 1st. maureen@maureenbjones.com
Prompt Photo
