The HOOK

"The Hook" is such a loaded phrase when it comes to writing. You have to hook your reader within the first few pages, or arguably the first few paragraphs or even sentences. And that ain't easy. But more than that, you have to hood an agent in your 300 word MAX query letter selling said book with a hook. And you have to do it while also including other important stuff about yourself, the potential agent, and the book itself. No pressure.

I mean "it is a truth universally acknowledged," that writing ain't as easy as we think it is or should be. Not only does a story have to make sense, but it has to have likeable characters, compelling narrative, and tie in all the loose threads that are woven throughout the book. Or at least it should. But does any of that even matter if you don't hook the reader right away? 

I know I tend to have a problem of telling rather than showing when I want to explain some background information that doesn't exactly fit into the flow of the story but that is really important for better understanding the characters, their motivations, and ultimately their actions. Only problem is, it can really disrupt the story's flow. And dropping someone right into the middle of a story with a hook of an opener is a bit of a challenge for me. I want to set the stage, give the context, and set the reader gently into the world I've created, not just push them from the train into a strange new world, no matter how beautiful or well thought out. I am trying, though, so at least there's hope of me one day getting to the point of pushing them into my world while also giving them a bit of a cushion to land on.

But I digress, I was actually hoping to focus on the hook needed for a query letter. I attended some marketing thing the other day that was a high level look at query letters (it was ultimately trying sell a much more detailed walk-through in terms of resources and tools), and while it was definitely a sales pitch it was also pretty informative. Like I didn't realize the word count restriction. It totally makes sense and I hope I would have found that out through some research ahead of time, but going into that talk I did not know that. Nor did I know some other things like just how much time you should spend on a query letter to make sure it is gold before you send it out. I mean, I thought I should spend time on it, but I didn't appreciate just how much time, energy, and revisions/rewrites should be put into it. When you stop to think about it, it really does make a ton of sense. It doesn't matter how great your book is if you can't get anyone in the publishing world to read it because your query letter just isn't getting it done. *sigh* And I thought writing the book was the hard part. This query letter business actually feels harder. And that's saying something. 

Here's hoping that when I get done with the story I'm currently working on I can take the time to craft a really solid query letter that will, hopefully, get someone interested enough to give the story a chance by asking to read its first few pages/chapters/whatever. But then comes the second wave of pressure and panic. Is the hook in the opening to the book enough? Ahhh!

It really is a hook world. We're just living in it.