The Two Main Jobs of a Story Hook
When I bring up “hook” what comes to your mind? (I should clarify that we’re talking about story hooks, not fishing hooks, lol.) For many writers, the general understanding is that a hook is supposed to grab the reader and pull them forward, through the story.
And that’d be correct. But a hook can (and should) be more than just an attention-grabber. It needs to fuel the story with drama and emotion. Any and all story hooks must have a pay-off, otherwise it’s nothing less than a superficial prop that can’t thoroughly invest your reader in the story.
This article will discuss the two main jobs of a story hook and how to plant hooks strategically so your reader keeps turning the page.
Let’s hop to it!
THE PURPOSE OF A STORY HOOK
A story hook is intended to grab your reader's attention, curiosity, and emotions. The idea is that once a reader is hooked, they become invested in your story. They want to keep turning the page.
The first hook generally appears in the first 1% of the story. You might hear or read writing advice that talks about this particular moment as being THE moment you hope to invest your reader. If you can't grab your reader early enough, then you run the risk of losing them. That said, all good stories have more than one hook, and they're planted strategically to continually tempt and tease your reader.
Hooks can be along the lines of a discussion between two people, a letter arriving in the mail, a character following someone, a family gathering to hear news, an employee getting unfairly fired by their narcissistic boss. . . basically anything could be a story hook depending on the kind of story you want to tell.
But that doesn’t mean anything can be a story hook.
Did I confuse you? Good. Just making sure you’re paying attention, which means that I basically hooked you…(I’ll be here all day.)
WHAT MAKES A STORY HOOK
Of all the examples above, which one seemed the hooky-est (yes, that’s a word for today)? If you picked the employee getting unfairly fired, then that’s great because that’s the one I intentionally wrote to be slightly more intriguing.
Why do you suppose this one jumped out more than the others? Well, it’s because of the details ‘unfairly’ and ‘narcissistic boss.’ These little extras help readers emotionally connect to the situation. Our investigative minds start spinning:
-why did the boss single out this character?
-does the character know something they shouldn’t?
-what’s up with the boss? Will they get worse and cause more problems for the company?
-will the character try to get their job back and how?
Story questions like these keep readers invested and wanting to know more. Ideally, each story question will be answered along the way, while new ones are posed, deepening your readers’ emotional bond with the character as they watch the character solve their problem.
THE TWO MAIN JOBS OF A STORY HOOK
The other examples I listed (discussion between two people, a letter arriving in the mail, a character following someone, a family gathering to hear news) could all work as potential hooks, but only if they accomplish two very important jobs.
1.| They pose a story question that pings the reader's curiosity and interest.
2.| They show a dramatic situation that pings the reader's emotions.
Your hook must move the story forward AND tug at your reader's feelings. If either of these two requirements aren't fulfilled, then the hook is less likely to draw your reader further into the story.
A discussion between two people could be fun to eavesdrop on but won’t necessarily hold our interest unless we know the two people involved are two parents fighting over the kids in the divorce settlement. By adding that emotional bit, we automatically can imagine several scenarios or outcomes and we’re more invested.
A letter arriving in the mail is definitively not a hook. But if you were to rephrase it to a mysterious letter hand-delivered by a chimpanzee (owls were already taken), suddenly, it becomes a bit more interesting, doesn’t it?
A character following someone straddles the line of hooky-ness because we don’t know if the skulking character is a murderer, a mugger, a PI, or a suspicious wife. Identifying details for these characters could immediately engage your reader with intrigue and curiosity.
A family gathering to hear news is fairly mundane as is. An estranged family gathering to hear terrible news is much more interesting and pulls us in.
THINK LIKE A READER WHEN YOU’RE SETTING UP A HOOK AND A PAYOFF
A story hook promises trouble is ahead. If you play it right, your reader will anticipate more than one possible outcome. They’re looking for the payoff. As they read, they’ll pick up breadcrumb after breadcrumb, organizing them into some semblance of logic or explanation. All of this is supposed to build the tension for your reader.
They want to know what will happen next, and most specifically, how will the protagonist solve their story problem.
As authors, we already know how our characters’ situations will play out. Sometimes, this knowledge can work against us, and we forget that we still have to work hard to keep our readers a little out in left field.
Keep the line taut once you hook your reader. As you reel them in, be sure you’re injecting doses of micro-tension. These smaller moments of conflict will deepen your reader’s emotional investment. If you ease up on the tension, your readers will feel the slack.
Always keep the heat up and don’t give your characters much room to breathe. Readers can tell when authors go easy on their characters or when the plot begins to sag. Your audience will anticipate certain terrible outcomes (especially if they’re fully invested), but if you fall short of their expectations, you’ll have some mightily disappointed readers on your hands.
HOW TO ESTABLISH THE EMOTIONAL RESONANCE IN A HOOK
Let’s say you want to set up a hook where the main character is in a bank when it's stormed by armed gunmen.
A story question that might pop up could be: Will Dominique try to disarm one of the gunmen using her martial arts skills?
That kind of question is intriguing enough to get a reader to turn the page.
Okay, so what about the second job of the hook? The hits-ya-in-the-gut part? You want your reader not only to wonder if Dominique will disarm the gunman, but you want your reader to worry about whether she'll succeed or fail.
The only way a reader will emotionally engage like that is if you've established a bond between the reader and the character.
If your reader doesn't really care about the character, then they won't care if the character succeeds in this moment. And the hook will fall flat.
Yeah, so if we’re talking about the hook that’s introduced in the first 1% of the novel, then that means we writers have to do quite a bit of work in the opening page or so if we're going to deliver an emotionally engaging moment.
Surprisingly, it doesn't take a lot for readers to connect to a character within the first couple of pages. The trick here is to introduce the protagonist in a way that's relatable. Don't worry about likeable at this early stage. When readers meet a character they can relate to, you've created the first bond of emotional connection.
The best way to write a relatable character is to give them believable flaws. Make them struggle for the things they want, and avoid making them perfect. Balance out their traits, too. A character who’s skilled in martial arts might crack under pressure because the last time she was in a fight, she accidentally broke a guy’s neck.
DISCOVERY WORK
Try identifying your hooks in your current WIP. Or, if you're still in Discovery mode, start brainstorming some potential grab-the-reader-by-the-lapel moments.
For each hook, write down the story question it poses and the dramatic situation involved.
Next, mark the emotional piece in the hook and explain why it matters.
What is the payoff of this hook? Describe in detail how things change for your character and the action they’ll take as a result. Does the action your character takes put them into a better or worse situation? Explain why this outcome escalates the tension (and if it doesn’t, then decide if that serves your story or not).