Five Ways to Hook Your Reader with Emotional Connection on the First Page
The first few pages of a novel are arguably the most important.
Not because beginnings matter more than the rest of the story.
It’s just that if your hook doesn’t do its job to grab and hold the reader’s interest, that reader will put the book down, never even reaching the masterfully woven tension that escalates throughout the first act, the shocking impact of the climax, or the beautiful insights you’ve planted in the falling action and resolution. Without a hook, there is simply no motivation for anyone to read your story, no matter how amazing it is.
A good hook, on the other hand, gets you out of the slush and keeps readers turning pages.
No pressure or anything, right?
Fortunately, writing great hooks is a learned skill. While, yes, there are writers who seem to come by this and other writing skills naturally, many of them probably learned it subconsciously through reading or listening to really great stories, the same way they learned a lot of other storytelling skills.
And you can learn it, too.
There are absolutely no hard and fast rules for writing a great hook. But following a few general guidelines can help you write a better one.
One thing I want to caution you away from is the idea that there is a right and a wrong way to hook your reader. As you probably know, there are very few rules in writing. And a hook is one of those things that is quite subjective. Writing hooks is not about following a formula. It’s about capturing the interest of a real person, a certain reader. Your reader. Lots of writers can tell you how they write hooks, what hooks they rely on, and when and why they employ them. Studying other writers, especially the writers you admire most, can teach you a lot about how to do certain things. But bear in mind that how they do things is what works for them and their reader. You might not be writing for the same audience. And you certainly have your own voice and style. So anyone instructing you how to write better hooks should also be teaching at least a little about the intersection between words on the page and your ideal reader of those words.
When we talk about genre, we’re not just trying to limit your or fit you in a box. But we are talking about writing a certain way for a certain audience who likes these certain things. Genre is important. It helps people find the kind of story they are looking for. You don’t have to be rigid. But you do have to understand how selling works. Selling is about finding the right reader.
You do not have a solid hook if you aren’t grabbing the interest of the right reader. What interests your reader is all that matters.
I’ll use myself as an example, since I’m sharing some of my hooks.
I write fiction that is character-driven. A story that is character-driven is a story where the character development is at the heart of the story. In other words, character choices propel the plot forward. Every choice the character makes determines where the plot goes next. The character’s growth and the inner workings of their relationships are as much the point of the story as the resolution of any external plot problem.
This is opposed to a plot-driven novel where events propel a character or characters through the story. Characters still make choices, but those choices are usually driven by something external, something beyond their control. Ticking clock or disaster plots come to mind. The story is over when the clock runs out or the disaster is averted or cleaned up. Characters DO often grow, but character growth isn’t mandatory, reaching some external objective is. (James Bond comes to mind.)
The list of hooks I’m about to share with you will help you grab the attention of readers who like the sort of things I write. (Side note: It helps when you know who you’re writing for but don’t get hung up on it if you don’t. It’s enough to know what hooks YOU. You hopefully like your own book, so write for YOU.)
My character-driven approach might not appeal to someone who takes a more plot-driven approach to storytelling and their readers. But for anyone who has repeatedly been told to immediately drop their character into action, but that didn’t feel organic to a story, this might be a real light bulb moment. (And you can and should still use action, but a different kind than perhaps what you were thinking…)
The best hook is directly connected to your story objective
That means that your hook is not just a ploy to grab attention. It’s organic and meaningful to the story. It pulls you into it.
Don’t use a mysterious phone call in the opening pages if the phone call isn’t important.
If your character’s mother isn’t involved in the story at all, don’t have him avoiding her calls on page one.
Don’t have creepy sounds coming from the attic if what’s in the attic isn’t going to come back around by the end of the story.
In a way, your hook is a promise to the reader about how this story is going to move forward and possibly end. It shouldn’t ruin anything for them. It shouldn’t be a spoiler of any kind, but it should be directly connected.
And it’s okay if you don’t know your story objective when you start writing. So don’t worry about this until you're in that revision stage where everything starts to gel and you finally know what the heart of the story really is. A lot of seasoned writers go back and drastically rewrite their beginnings to fit the story they ended up telling. It’s okay to not nail your hook during your first or second draft. It’s okay if it’s the LAST thing you write.
So now I’ve droned on about hooks, here are the ones I promised you.
each of these five hooks uses emotional connection to grab your reader’s attention. I’ll also talk about the emotion it taps into and what promise that makes regarding that character’s development, just to give you an idea how that works if you aren’t sure.
Your POV character misses someone they love and have lost.
As readers, we all understand and can empathize with loss of a loved one. Seeing something that triggers the memory of a lost love is universal.
The unwritten promise:
This character is going to be challenged throughout this story to move through the stages of grief. One of the biggest mistakes I see with loss as a hook is that the author doesn’t move the character through the stages of grief alongside the developing plot. This results in a resolution that feels shallow and too easy.
Your POV character deeply regrets something they have done (or not done).
Most people have wrestled with regret at some point or another, so this is a good way to form an instant connection between your reader and your main character. Regrets about things we’ve done or have not done can result in feelings of Shame or Guilt. Shame is a feeling that stems from a deep and abiding belief that something is wrong with us. And Guilt is a feeling that we have done something wrong. Guilt can be reasonable, and can help us fortify our own morals. Or it can be completely unfounded, in that we feel guilty for things we didn’t even do or that didn’t actually hurt anyone or anything. Still painful, either way.
The unwritten promise:
This character is going to be forced to confront and rise above that shame or guilt probably by a character who triggers that in them directly or indirectly. Maybe they’ll directly be confronted by someone dredging up their past. But we also process Shame or Guilt by helping others deal with it. We recognize ourselves in others.
Your POV character receives some life-altering news.
This could be the loss of a job, a lottery win, someone receiving divorce papers. Whether the emotion is elation or crushing fear, people understand that a huge life change is going to be HARD.
The unwritten promise:
This character is probably going to find their new normal after a period of change or chaos. The character will have to face and overcome a fear. They may experience grief as they process the loss of their old life, even if the change is wonderful. Other people can support this transition or create more discomfort for the main character. The character has to learn a new way of being in order to successfully navigate a major life change.
Your POV character is unsafe.
I’m referring to something other than afraid-of-the-dark unsafe, although that works and is relatable, too. When I was thinking of this, it was more of an immediate and real threat than a horror movie thing. Protagonists are sometimes being victimized. Or possibly they are self-destructive. This reaction is visceral.
The unwritten promise:
This character is going to take their power back and confront their abuser. If they are abusing themselves, they are going to deal with whatever is causing them to do that. If they are self-harming, they are going to take steps to get help and support to stop doing that.
Your POV character becomes suspicious about someone they trust.
Has your character’s boyfriend been acting funny lately? The emotions on this one can go practically anywhere. Does this dredge up some hidden wound? Does the character start sleuthing to find out what’s up? Does the character go into vengeance mode? I’ve seen this set up in thrillers, literary fiction, horror.
The unwritten promise:
This completely depends on where your character is at at the time of discovery, but what makes a good story is that the character is going to DO something in reaction or response, and that’s going to trigger growth or devolution of character.
There are plenty of other ways to hook your reader by employing an emotional connection between them and the main character right from the first page. If you can make your readers identify with and connect with your main character, they will invest by turning pages and that is the goal. These hooks also work throughout your story. I use them when I’m starting new chapters and switching POVs to help the reader get grounded quickly in the emotional reality of a new character.
I also love to use emotional hooks to end chapters. There’s nothing better than hearing that you made someone forget to eat or read through the night. Bwahaha! But that’s for another blog post ;)
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Here’s to writing better hooks!
Celeste