How can you create an opening that hooks your reader into your story?

A hook is not a gimmick. It's a sneak peek. You'll watch a film if you like the trailer. You'll click to read more if you like the hook. Here are three types of hooks with examples: 1. Narrative hook: You share the beginning and withhold the ending. For example: It was 2 am and I never imagined this would happen. 2. Research hooks: You share a captivating glimpse into a study's intriguing findings to spark curiosity. For example: Meet the 15% of marathon runners who thrive on minimal training. 3. Argument hook: You make a bold claim without revealing how you arrived at it. For example: 80% of smartphone users unknowingly share their location data with third parties.

A strong opening, or "hook," is crucial for captivating your reader and enticing them to delve deeper into your story. A strong opening, or "hook," is crucial for captivating your reader and enticing them to delve deeper into your story

From reading, we want to know ourselves or the people, situations in our life in a better way. Ask questions after giving a glimpse of your view in the chosen topic. Our average capacity to read is 230- 300 words per minute and in that if it's overloaded with info or some techniques. It will exhaust the reader. Engage with the reader through sharing experiences, give them perspectives to come to a conclusion. Anyone can give info but as a writer, our goal is to provide info and also a way to apply the contents/info in the reader's life.

"I was arrested in Eno's diner." - Lee Child, Killing Floor Lee Child famously anguished over this line, the first in his very first book, but it absolutely works. In just six words, he's baited a reader into asking all sorts of questions, including most of the classic 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, and why). He quickly dips into answering those questions, setting the stage for the rest of the book, but that opening is rock solid because it immediately engages the reader. We can't all be as good as Lee Child, but spend some time making sure that you're starting off with good content.

In my experience, when using a hook, I like to include a little humor. Just as speakers warm up their audiences by first relaying a joke for funny antidote, a hook with humor truly captures a reader's attention. After all, who isn't more relaxed, awake and interested in more from a writer than someone who is made to laugh?

No one will forget their school or college tours. Just because, may be for the first time, we would have seen and experienced those moments. Help the reader to create a mental picture from your content. We can't and need not experience everything from the real life experience. So, facilitate the reader to experience the inexperienced moments.

As a human being, we tend to believe that worse things happens only to us and we only take silly or wrong decisions. If others get to know, then what others will think. To clear that clutter, connect the readers with real time stories. It could be yours or anyone's. Through the story, it should help them to make some meaningful decisions in their life. Many of us tend to forget the birthdays or some of the important occasions. But none of us forget the dates such as New year, Christmas and likewise. What makes us remember those. It's like from the new year, new beginnings will happen or for some of us. it's because of holiday. If the person or the occasion matters to you, you can remember them.

The point of using in medias res is to put your reader immediately into the action, or present a situation that demands they keep reading. Much like a good hook, you should use it to ask questions that readers then want to answer. I started my first and second novels in medias res because I wanted readers to feel immediately immersed, to get a sense of what the rest of the stories would be in their most distilled forms (tense and suspenseful for the first, exciting and action packed for the second). On the writing end, it's also a good way to get the creative juices flowing and get over the hump of writing those first few pages before settling in for the long haul.

Think of hooks like breadcrumbs. Lay them out sparingly to get your reader to follow you where you want to go. Ask a question in your first hook, then answer it, but ask another, with your second.

When agents and publishers read your manuscript, they will check how you handle backstory and exposition. They will assess the quality of your dialogues and narrative and prose, and verify whether you can conjure interesting characters. All that is visible on the first two pages of your manuscript. Some agents spend as little as one minute on reviewing submissions. Your opening needs to shine like a diamond. Before readers buy a book, they skim through the first chapter or make use of Amazon’s Look Inside feature. They determine whether the story has the right genre and whether the prose is promising. Your opening needs to hook readers. The opening hook makes the buy.