Source: The Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine by Randy Ingermanson
Date: February 10, 2010
Issue: Volume 6, Number 2
Home Page: http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com
Good advice on hooking your reader.
A good first chapter does four things well:
- It makes a contract with the reader
- It sets a hook in the first sentence
- It sets a second hook near the end of the first page
- It sets a third hook at the end of the chapter
…
The reason you need three hooks is because readers have
three increasing levels of commitment:
- If your reader likes the first sentence, she’ll commit to reading the first page.
- If your reader likes the first page, she’ll commit to reading the first chapter.
- If your reader likes the first chapter, she’ll commit to the rest of the book. If she’s in a bookstore, that’s the point at which she buys the book.
