journey story hook

8 story hook examples (how to grab attention)

A ‘hook’ in a story promises intrigue, entertainment and answers to the questions it raises. Far from the trickery of a bait and switch, a hook gives a true sense of what your reader can expect of your story’s pleasures. Explore great story hook examples and what they teach us about starting strong:

• Post author By Jordan
• 20 Comments on 8 story hook examples (how to grab attention)

A literary ‘hook’ in a story promises intrigue, entertainment and answers to the questions it raises. Far from the trickery of a bait and switch, a hook gives a true sense of what your reader can expect of your story’s pleasures. Explore great story hook examples and what they teach us about starting strong

Story hook examples

A literary ‘hook’ in a story promises intrigue, entertainment and answers to the questions it raises. Far from the trickery of a bait and switch, a hook gives a true sense of what your reader can expect of your story’s pleasures. A brilliant hook also also grabs a reader’s attention from the get go, to encourage them to read on. A hook can also show a strong voice from the start. Explore great story hook examples and what they teach us about starting strong. Here are eight types of hooks.

These hooks in narrative writing a hook should: Raise curiosity, create questions and promise eventful action with them.

1. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

At dusk they pour from the sky. They blow across the ramparts, turn cartwheels over rooftops, flutter into the ravines between houses. Entire streets swirl with them, flashing white against the cobbles. Urgent message to the inhabitants of this town , they say. Depart immediately to open country . Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See (2014), p. 3.

2. Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje

When the team reached the site at five-thirty in the morning, one or two family members would be waiting for them. And they would be present all day while Anil and the others worked, never leaving; they spelled each other so someone always stayed, as if to ensure that the evidence would not be lost again . Michael Ondaatje, Anil’s Ghost (2000), p. 5.

3. Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann

Those who saw him hushed. On Church Street. Liberty. Cortlandt. West Street. Fulton. Vesey. It was a silence that heard itself, awful and beautiful. Some thought at first that it must have been a trick of the light, something to do with the weather, an accident of shadowfall. Others figured it might be the perfect city joke – stand around and point upward, until people gathered, tilted their heads… Colum McCann, Let The Great World Spin (2009), p. 3.

4. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

It’s 1851. I’ll be twenty-four years old next birthday. I’ve been shut up in here since the age of sixteen. I am a model prisoner, and give no trouble. That’s what the Governor’s wife says, I have overheard her saying it. I’m skilled at overhearing. If I am good enough and quiet enough, perhaps after all they will let me go; but it’s not easy being quiet and good… Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace (1996), p. 5

5. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Villon-sur-sarthe, France, July 29, 1714 A girl is running for her life. The summer air burns at her back, but there are no torches, no angry mobs, only the distant lanterns of the wedding party, the reddish glow of the sun as it breaks against the horizon, cracks and spills across the hills, and the girl runs, skirts tangling in the grass as she surges toward the woods, trying to beat the dying light. V.E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020), p. 3.

6. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Let me begin again. Dear ma, I am writing to reach you-even if each word I put down is one word further from where you are. I am writing to go back to the time, at the rest stop in Virginia, when you stared, horror-struck, at the taxidermy buck hung over the soda machine by the restrooms, its antlers shadowing your face. Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019), p. 3

7. God Help the Child by Toni Morrison

It’s not my fault. So you can’t blame me. I didn’t do it and have no idea how it happened. It didn’t take more than an hour after they pulled her out from between my legs to realize something was wrong. Really wrong. Toni Morrison, God Help the Child (2015), p. 3

8. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

On the morning of October 30, 1969, the body of Chase Andrews lay in the swamp, which would have absorbed it silently, routinely. Hiding it for good. A swamp knows about death, and doesn’t necessarily define it as tragedy, certainly not a sin. Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing (2018), p. 6

The examples of hooks from novels above illustrate what effective hooks do:

How to write good hooks for stories:

Great story hooks do one or more of the following. They:

• Build urgency
• Prompt pressing questions
• Involve intriguing contexts
• Introduce striking voices
• Show a glimpse of a vivid world
• Imply past or future conflicts
• Build narrative tension
• Share relevant backstory
• Set the story’s tone

Let’s explore each of these ideas in brief with reference to the story hook examples given above.

Ways to write hooks:

1. build urgency.

A girl running for her life; a dead body lying in a swamp; a crowd gathering to point into the sky.

Each of these actions or images create a kind of urgency that hooks a reader into the story.

The reader wants to know why a girl is running for her life. We need to find out who murdered Chase Andrews. We want to know what the crowds are staring up at in Let The Great World Spin (an urban tightrope walker).

To build urgency in your story’s hook, you could:

• Describe an action with a time limit: For example, having ten minutes to get to a crucial interview
• Share actions with high stakes: A girl running for her life; a tightrope walker between NY skyscrapers
• Imply a situation requiring urgent investigation: A murder, a mystery – a vital piece of missing information for one or more characters

What needs to happen at the start of your story (or scene, or chapter) that is of utmost priority for your characters?

Watch this brief video on how to write hooks and keep reading for more ideas:

Story Hook Examples: How to grab attention

2. Prompt pressing questions

Good story openings include meandering beginnings that take time getting to the point (this is especially common in literary novels that do not necessarily require the brisk pace of a thriller).

Yet even if your story opening is gentler, more tone-and-mood-setting, a question hook, rather than full-tilt action, how can you prompt pressing questions, creating elements of a hook?

In the opening hook to Anil’s Ghost , for example, we wonder what evidence is being sought that could be ‘lost again’.

A good story makes us ask ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘where’ and ‘when’ at several junctures. The hook is a crucial place to set up these questions. Tweet This

For the above story hook examples, readers may have questions such as:

• What are people gathering to point at? ( Let The Great World Spin )
• What or who is the girl running from? (The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue )
• Why does the narrator think something is gravely wrong with her newborn (God Help the Child )
• When will the prisoner be released, if ever? ( Alias Grace )

What thought-provoking questions does your hook give your reader? You can also use a rhetorical question as a hook. Or, use a statistic hook, quoting facts and figures to grip a reader’s attention.

Make a Strong Start to your Book

Join Kickstart your Novel and get professional feedback on your first three chapters and story synopsis, plus workbooks and videos.

3. Involve intriguing contexts

The best story hooks don’t only grab our attention. They tell us (often in a highly compressed way) a lot about the world we’re about to enter. Why we’re in for a good story .

We begin to understand aspects of con text such as place , era, scenario and situation. That a wartime city is about to be evacuated, for example ( All the Light We Cannot See ). Or that there is a wedding party, somewhere in the periphery, that may be relevant to a character’s current situation ( The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue ).

What makes context intriguing? Elements such as:

• Implied recent, imminent or eventual conflicts
• Interesting, compelling relationships (e.g. the man writing to his mother at the start of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous )
• Interesting facts (for example, Delia Owens’ description of the swamp’s peculiarities as a biome opening Where the Crawdads Sing )

How can you involve your characters’ contexts at the start of a novel, chapter or scene so that your reader pricks up their ears?

4. Introduce striking voices

We tend to think of hooks strictly in terms of ‘Plot’ with a capital ‘P’. Yet a hook may be something as simple as teasing the reader with introduction to an interesting character (or multiple characters).

For example, in the opening to Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (written as a Vietnamese-American man’s letters to his abusive mother), there is an immediate, intimate sense of a connection between two characters. A connection that has its own complex history filled with vignettes such as the rest stop scene the narrator describes.

We have an immediate sense of voice through the wording of the man’s letter.

A hook thus is not only made up of the pressing or intriguing questions it inspires. It can also be something as simply compelling as a lone, specific voice reaching out to us from the written page.

You could also consider using a quotation hook. This, as the name implies, means using a quote from a notable or famous person. This will serve introduce the topic of your story, or lead into it. A quote hook will can be effective in reeling your reader in from the word go.

What makes your viewpoint narrator’s voice compelling from the first line? What fragment of their experiences, beliefs, fears or desires may invite your reader into their narrative?

5. Show a glimpse of a vivid world

Many novels start with story hooks that describe and define place, a descriptive hook. Delia Owens’ swamp facts at the beginning of Where the Crawdads Sing , for example. Or Ondaatje’s description of a forensic archaeological site in Sri Lanka.

To hook readers in, you could show a glimpse of what is extraordinary about this place. The dead body in the swamp with its already remarkable properties. The strange hunting trophy on the rest stop wall that fills the narrator’s mother with horror in On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous . These are all examples of vivid descriptions of scenes that create a picture  in a reader’s mind.

What detail is typical of your story’s era, time or primary location? Or else, your hook could begin with something out-of-the-ordinary – the tightrope walker between towers of Let The Great World Spin , for example.

6. Imply past or future conflicts

Stories are about change, at root. Nothing is an agent of change like conflict (as the evacuation order leaflets at the start of All the Light We Cannot See show).

As an example, on the first page of God Help the Child by Toni Morrison, we wonder what is so wrong about the narrator’s newborn.

We quickly learn that her worry is driven by colorism, a by-product of racism. The narrator’s child has been born ‘midnight black, Sudanese black’ (p. 3), the mother’s surprise being because she has lighter skin tone herself.

From the first page, this story hook example suggests conflicts at the heart of racism; its comparative prejudices and violences. We wonder how others will treat this child due to a mother’s concern, thus her anxious focus creates narrative suspense.

What past or anticipated conflicts might feature strongly in the opening pages of your story? Find ways to build a hook around their suspense.

7. Build narrative tension

The best story hook examples teach us how to build narrative tension from the start. It may be something as simple as Addie LaRue running for her life from the wedding party. Or else the hush of a crowd craning their necks at a terrifying, aerial spectacle.

To build narrative tension in your hook, you could use just such an attention-grabbing hook:

• Describe high-stakes events (e.g. a man walking a tightrope between skyscrapers)
• Imply an immediate struggle or obstacle (for example, the implied hurdles of being ‘other’ in the opening to God Help the Child )
• Suggest a situation whose outcome could go either way (for example, whether the protagonist will be released from prison or not in Alias Grace )

8. Share relevant backstory

Beginning with a large chunk of backstory that is irrelevant to the main events of your story is not a good way to begin. Your reader may quickly become bored, as writing coach Romy Sommer explains:

An issue I see with a lot of beginner writers is they tend to write the backstory as the story itself. So the first few chapters will be, ‘This thing happened, and then this thing happened…’ Understanding Character Arcs: How to write characters, preview on YouTube

Good story hook examples instead of giving all the backstory tell the reader backstory that is relevant to the current situation.

For example, the petty crime that lead a character to be currently incarcerated. Or the evacuation order that lead to your character’s current hurrying from their home city. This type of hook is useful for revealing just as much as you want to in a few simple sentences.

Relevant backstory tells us just enough to give the present scene context, history, and fuller narrative purpose .

9. Set the story’s tone

Many of the story hook examples listed above set the tone for the story. Addie LaRue’s bid for freedom, to not ‘just’ be anybody’s wife, for example. Or Little Dog’s difficult, complex relationship with his mother in On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous .

How can your story’s hook hint at your story’s primary subjects, themes and symbols?

Writing exercise: ‘Toning’ your hook

Find three adjectives for a hook sentence you’d like to write. For example:

• Tense, unsettling, eerie
• Lyrical, languid, mysterious
• Gritty, fast, loud
• Silly, quirky, unexpected

Write a sentence to a paragraph while thinking about your three adjectives. How many questions out of the 5 (‘who’, ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘where’ and ‘when’) can you make your reader ask?

Start finessing your story idea now so you have the foundation for a brilliant hook.

Related Posts:

• Grabbing attention with scene beginnings: 5 tips
• 10 dialogue tips to hook readers
• How to start a novel: Hook readers from page one
• Tags how to write a hook , story openings

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

20 replies on “8 story hook examples (how to grab attention)”

Another excellent and practical article, Jordan. Thank you!

Thank you for the kind feedback, MJ! Have a lovely week.

Hi Jordan, so glad I stumbled on this article while researching Hook / Concept! Excellent information and I’ve printed it off (for an anti-clutter frugal printer, that is quite high praise lol). Now off to read your other articles. Thanks!!

Hi Regan, thank you so much for your kind feedback and taking the time to share it. I am only happy to contribute to print-clutter 🙂 It’s a pleasure, have a good week.

Thanks Jordon you help me a lot I am writing a non fiction article I needed to find out about a good hook how to try to hook reader in the first sentence I got it thanks to your explanations if you ever teach writing lessons on how write short stories for children I ready to enlist thanks for your help

Hi Scooter, it’s a pleasure. Penguin has a useful article by Alan Durant on how to write a children’s picture book here that you may find interesting. Happy holidays!

Thank you, Jordan. I found this very helpful! People so often talk about a ‘hook’ and it’s interesting to really break it down to see what makes it work.

Hi Rebecca, it’s a pleasure. I’m glad to hear that! Thank you for reading our blog and have fun working on your story’s hook 🙂

Very helpful. Thanks. Although, I noticed that you use ‘their’ to refer to the woman giving birth, but ‘him’ to the person writing to the mother, whose gender was not revealed in the sentence. sigh. why do we need to erase women? Other than that small observation, very useful info.

Thank you for your feedback and my apologies, definitely no erasure intended. I think the spur-of-the-moment rationale was probably to use the neutral ‘their’ due to the ungendered reference in the immediate sentence (‘the narrator’). Yet since the narrator in question is indeed a woman, I’ve changed it to ‘her’. I’m glad you found this article useful, thank you for reading and sharing.

If you had to pick one story hook, which would you pick, having something blow up or a tiny man shrinking?

Hi Alex, thank you for your question about story hooks. Explosions are fairly standard for action stories, but depending on the context it could be a safe in medias res starting point. But if a man is tiny already, why would he be shrinking? Thanks for reading our blog.

Great article. It helped me a lot with my writing. thanks

So glad to hear that, Sule. It’s a pleasure, thank you for your feedback and for reading our blog.

Excellent examples and a well written article.

Hi Debra, thank you for your kind feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed this article.

I hope this doesn’t annoy you, I’m compelled to rearrange wording until its more clear to me of what’s being said.

We tend to think of hooks strictly in terms of ‘Plot’ with a capital ‘P’. Yet a hook is just as often made from an inviting ‘who’—or compellingly repulsive anti-hero.

Hi Meka, not at all, thank you. I appreciate all help from our readers in making my articles better, especially when feedback is constructive like this. I’ve rewritten that sentence for clarity (I’m always updating articles here thanks to readers’ helpful suggestions). Thanks for sharing.

I’ve struggled for ages to understand hooks and inciting incidents! I’m autistic, and despite having a great logical brain, sometimes it takes the right kind of teaching by breaking down a concept into steps, then “steplets” lmao. I’ve been writing for years, but never actually LEARNED how, if you know what I mean. Now I want to write a proper fanfiction that’s not for kids. I want it to be as scary and spine tingling as possible without being heavy handed. This article helps a ton!!! I’m definitely gonna check out any others and watch the linked videos! Thank you very much for the help! ^–^ ♡♡♡

Thanks Rose. That’s wonderful to hear, so pleased that this is so helpful. Enjoy the videos and the rest of our varied blog posts.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pin It on Pinterest

Write a Memorable Opening Hook for Your Story: Tips and Examples

Affiliate Disclaimer

As an affiliate, we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases. We get commissions for purchases made through links on this website from Amazon and other third parties.

Crafting a memorable opening hook is one of the most important aspects of writing a story. The opening hook is the first impression the reader has of the story, and it can make or break their interest in continuing to read. A strong opening hook can captivate the reader and draw them into the story, while a weak one can leave them feeling bored and uninterested.

The opening hook is the first sentence or paragraph of a story that grabs the reader’s attention and sets the tone for the rest of the narrative. It should be intriguing, engaging, and memorable. The reader should be immediately drawn into the story, eager to find out what happens next. A good opening hook can be the difference between a story that is quickly forgotten and one that stays with the reader long after they’ve finished reading.

The Importance of a Strong Opening Hook

The opening hook of a story is the first sentence or paragraph that captures the reader’s attention and draws them into the narrative. It is the author’s chance to make a strong first impression and set the tone for the rest of the story. A well-crafted opening hook can make the difference between a reader continuing to read or putting the book down.

Capturing Reader’s Attention

The opening hook is the author’s opportunity to capture the reader’s attention and make them curious about what happens next. It should be intriguing, and unique, and leave the reader wanting to know more. An effective opening hook can create a strong emotional connection between the reader and the story, which can lead to increased engagement and investment in the characters and plot.

Setting the Tone for the Story

The opening hook sets the tone for the rest of the story. It can establish the genre, mood, and style of the narrative. It can also introduce the protagonist, antagonist , or conflict. A strong opening hook can give readers a sense of what they can expect from the story and help them decide if it is something they want to continue reading.

Establishing Expectations

The opening hook can also establish expectations for the story. It can hint at what the story will be about, what themes it will explore, and what kind of journey the reader can expect to go on. This can help readers decide if the story is something they are interested in and can keep them engaged throughout the narrative.

In conclusion, a strong opening hook is crucial for capturing the reader’s attention, setting the tone for the story, and establishing expectations. It is the author’s chance to make a strong first impression and draw readers into the narrative. By crafting a compelling opening hook, authors can increase engagement, investment, and enjoyment of their stories.

Elements of an Effective Story Hook

When it comes to writing a story , the opening hook is crucial in capturing the reader’s attention and drawing them into the narrative. An effective story hook should be intriguing, and suspenseful, and introduce the main characters, setting, and initial conflict of the story. Here are some key elements to consider when crafting a memorable opening hook.

Creating Intrigue and Suspense

One of the most important functions of a story hook is to create intrigue and suspense. This can be achieved by asking questions that pique the reader’s curiosity and leave them wanting to know more. For example, starting with a mysterious event or a shocking statement can immediately grab the reader’s attention and make them want to know what happens next.

Introducing the Main Characters

Introducing the main characters early on in the story can help readers connect with them emotionally and become invested in their journey. A well-crafted story hook can provide a glimpse into the character’s personality, backstory, or motivation, making them more relatable and interesting to the reader.

Presenting the Setting

The setting of a story can be just as important as the characters and plot, and a good story hook should give readers a sense of where the story takes place. This can be done through vivid descriptions of the environment, or by setting the scene with sensory details that help the reader visualize the world of the story.

Introducing the Initial Conflict

An effective story hook should also introduce the initial conflict that sets the plot in motion. This can be a problem that the main character needs to solve, a challenge they must overcome, or an obstacle that stands in their way. By presenting the conflict early on, the story hook can create a sense of urgency and tension that keeps the reader engaged.

In summary, a well-crafted story hook should create intrigue and suspense, introduce the main characters and setting, and present the initial conflict of the story. By considering these key elements and using them to craft an opening that grabs the reader’s attention, writers can set the stage for a compelling and memorable narrative.

Crafting Your Hook

Crafting a memorable opening hook is crucial to capturing your reader’s attention and drawing them into your story. Here are some key elements to consider when crafting your hook:

The Role of the First Paragraph

The first paragraph sets the tone for the entire story and should be crafted with care. It should introduce the main character, setting, and conflict while also grabbing the reader’s attention. The goal is to create a sense of intrigue and make the reader want to keep reading.

Using Vivid Language and Imagery

Using vivid language and imagery can help bring your story to life and make it more engaging for the reader. By painting a picture with words, you can transport your reader to another time and place and make them feel like they are a part of the story.

Incorporating Mystery and Questions

Incorporating mystery and questions into your hook can create a sense of intrigue that will keep your reader engaged. By posing questions and leaving things open-ended, you can create a sense of anticipation and make the reader want to keep reading to find out what happens next.

Building an Emotional Connection

Building an emotional connection with your reader can help make your story more memorable and impactful. By tapping into universal emotions like love, loss, and fear, you can create a sense of empathy and make the reader care about your characters and their journey.

Incorporating these elements into your opening hook can help you create a story that is engaging, memorable, and impactful. By crafting a hook that draws the reader in and makes them want to keep reading, you can set the stage for a story that will stay with them long after they’ve finished reading.

Types of Story Hooks

When it comes to writing a memorable opening hook for a story, there are several types of hooks an author can use to grab the reader’s attention. Here are some of the most common types of story hooks:

Action-Packed Openings

Action-packed openings are a great way to hook readers. These types of openings usually involve a lot of movement, excitement, and danger. They can be a great way to introduce the protagonist and set the tone for the rest of the story.

Philosophical or Thought-Provoking Beginnings

Philosophical or thought-provoking beginnings are another type of hook that can be very effective. These openings usually involve an interesting question or concept that the author wants the reader to think about. They can be a great way to introduce the theme of the story and get the reader thinking about the deeper meaning behind the events that are about to unfold.

Character-Driven Hooks

Character-driven hooks are a great way to introduce the protagonist and get the reader invested in the story. These openings usually involve a glimpse into the protagonist’s life or personality and can be a great way to establish a connection between the reader and the main character.

Dialogue-Based Openings

Dialogue-based openings are another effective way to hook readers. These openings usually involve a conversation between two or more characters and can be a great way to introduce the setting, establish the tone of the story, and give the reader a glimpse into the personalities of the characters involved.

No matter what type of hook an author chooses to use, the most important thing is to make sure it is compelling and memorable. By using a combination of action, interesting questions, protagonist, and dialogue, an author can create a hook that will grab the reader’s attention and keep them engaged throughout the rest of the story.

Avoiding Common Hook Pitfalls

When it comes to crafting a memorable opening hook for your story, it’s important to avoid common pitfalls that can turn readers off before they even get started. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Overusing Tropes and Clichés

While tropes and clichés can be effective in certain contexts, overusing them can make your story feel stale and unoriginal. Instead of relying on tired tropes and clichés, try to come up with a unique hook that sets your story apart. Consider the context of your story and think about what would be most surprising or intriguing to your readers.

Revealing Too Much Too Soon

It’s important to give your readers enough information to hook them in, but revealing too much too soon can take away the element of surprise and leave your readers feeling bored. Instead of revealing everything upfront, try to tease out information in a way that keeps your readers guessing. This will help build suspense and keep your readers engaged.

Starting with Irrelevant Details

While it’s important to set the scene and establish context, starting with irrelevant details can make your readers lose interest before the story even begins. Instead of starting with mundane details, try to focus on the most unique and interesting aspects of your story. This will help grab your readers’ attention and keep them engaged from the very beginning.

By avoiding these common hook pitfalls, you can craft a memorable opening that sets the tone for your story and keeps your readers engaged from start to finish.

Refining and Testing Your Hook

Once you’ve written your opening hook, it’s important to refine and test it to ensure that it’s as effective as possible. Here are a few tips for refining and testing your hook:

Seeking Feedback from Readers

One of the best ways to refine your hook is to seek feedback from readers. Share your hook with a few trusted friends or colleagues and ask for their honest feedback. Did the hook grab their attention? Did it make them want to keep reading? Use their feedback to make any necessary revisions.

Revising for Maximum Impact

After receiving feedback, revise your hook for maximum impact. Consider using strong verbs, vivid imagery, or a surprising twist to make your hook stand out. Make sure your hook is relevant to your story and accurately represents the tone and style of your writing.

Testing Different Hook Scenarios

It’s also a good idea to test different hook scenarios to see which one resonates most with your readers. Try writing a few different hooks and testing them with a small group of readers. Track which hook gets the most engagement and adjust accordingly.

By refining and testing your hook, you can ensure that your story starts off on the right foot and captures the attention of your readers from the very beginning.

The Hook in the Context of Your Entire Story

When it comes to writing a story, the opening hook is crucial. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the hook is just one piece of the puzzle. To create a memorable and cohesive story, the hook must be considered in the context of the entire narrative.

Foreshadowing and the Bigger Picture

One way to ensure cohesion throughout the story is to use foreshadowing in the opening hook. By hinting at what’s to come, the reader will have a sense of the bigger picture and be more invested in the journey. This can also help tie in the backstory and give it more significance.

The Hook and the Story’s Climax

Another way to consider the hook in the context of the entire story is to think about the story’s climax. The opening hook should set the stage for the climax and create a sense of anticipation. This can be achieved by introducing a conflict or tension that will be resolved in the climax.

Ensuring Cohesion Throughout the Story

Finally, it’s important to ensure cohesion throughout the story by using consistent themes, characters, and settings. The opening hook should introduce these elements in a way that sets the tone for the rest of the story. By maintaining consistency, the reader will be able to follow the journey and feel more connected to the characters and their struggles.

In summary, the opening hook is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to writing a memorable and cohesive story. By considering the hook in the context of the entire narrative, using foreshadowing, tying in the climax, and maintaining consistency, writers can create a story that will captivate readers from beginning to end.

Crafting a well-crafted hook is essential to capture the reader’s attention and make them want to read more. As a writer, it is crucial to keep in mind that the first few sentences of a story can make or break the reader’s interest. A hook should be intriguing, engaging, and memorable to make the reader want to continue reading.

In today’s competitive market, where bookstores are overflowing with options, a well-crafted hook can make a big difference in whether or not a reader chooses to pick up your book. By creating a hook that resonates with the reader, you can increase the chances of your book standing out from the crowd.

It is important to remember that the hook should not be misleading or make exaggerated claims. The reader must feel that the hook accurately represents the story and the characters. A hook that promises something that the story does not deliver can lead to disappointment and frustration for the reader.

In conclusion, a well-crafted hook is a powerful tool that can help a writer capture the reader’s attention and stand out in a crowded market. By understanding the reader’s expectations and creating a hook that resonates with them, a writer can increase the chances of their book being picked up and enjoyed by readers.

Latest posts

Achieving Your Word Count Goals with Daily Sprints: A Guide

Many writers struggle with meeting their word count goals, whether it’s for a school assignment, a blog post, or a novel. It can be frustrating to stare at a blank page or screen and feel like you’re not making progress. However, there is a technique that can help you achieve your word count goals and…

Beat Burnout: Setting Reasonable Writing Expectations

Writing can be a fulfilling and rewarding experience, but it can also be exhausting and draining. Writing burnout is a real phenomenon that can affect anyone, from professional writers to students. When writers push themselves too hard, they can experience stress, lack of motivation, and even physical symptoms like headaches and fatigue. To avoid burnout,…

Dealing with Criticism and Rejection as an Author: Tips and Strategies

As an author, receiving criticism and rejection is an inevitable part of the writing process. It can be difficult to navigate the emotions that come with having your work scrutinized, but it’s important to remember that criticism and rejection are not personal attacks. Instead, they are opportunities for growth and improvement. One way to deal…

Between the Lines: How to Write a Strong Story Hook

By David Griffin Brown

Diving into a story is an act of trust—a tacit contract between the writer and the reader. Whether you're aiming for indie or traditional publishing, there's a fundamental truth you can't evade: readers, much like literary agents, seek a promise, a reason to invest their time, emotions, and thoughts. That promise? The elusive hook .

It's tempting to envision the hook as a mere industry buzzword, propagated by literary agents seeking the next bestseller. But the hook is an essential part of storytelling. It's what piques curiosity, stirs emotions, and compels readers to venture farther into the narrative labyrinth. It's not just a tool for snagging agents; it’s the writer’s invitation to the reader.

As writers, we are architects of worlds , sculptors of characters , and weavers of plots . But all our efforts hinge on that pivotal first impression.

Renowned literary agent Sarah Davies aptly sums it up , saying, "I’m always looking for the two 'C' words—concept and craft." Concept refers to a unique premise or an old tale with a fresh twist. Yet without craftsmanship—the intentionality of structure, character, and language—a strong concept is nothing more than a neat idea.

To craft a compelling hook is to understand a reader's heart—to tap into their innate hunger for stories that resonate, challenge, and enthrall. It's not just about making an agent's eyes linger on your manuscript; it's about making a connection with whoever reads that first line. Because in the end, whether you’re pitching to an agent or presenting your tale to the world, your mission is the same: to convince your reader to turn the page.

The Hook in the Query Letter Pitch

The query letter pitch is your abstract—the abbreviated portrayal of a complex narrative. But as any author knows, distilling complexity into simplicity isn't straightforward.

Again, think of a query letter hook as a promise. You need to convince agents that you have both a fresh concept and the craft savvy to pull it off.

What makes an effective query letter hook?

• Distinctiveness : As a developmental editor , I've encountered countless tales—some unique, some familiar. The trick is to find that sliver of distinctiveness even in familiar terrain. What sets your narrative apart from the numerous others in the genre? The world of literature thrives on novelty. Showcase yours.
• Relevance : Remember, you're writing for a contemporary audience. Your story might be timeless, but your pitch should have contemporary resonances—whether it's a new spin on a classic tale, a fresh trend, or a timeless theme with a contemporary hue.
• Clarity : Dive into the heart of your story. Strip away the redundant and the superfluous. Your hook should be devoid of jargon or overly complex ideas. Remember: you’re pitching the story, not the context. Your pitch should resonate, not obfuscate. Clarity is critical to convincing an agent of your skill with the written word.
• Structure : Agents receive many manuscripts with meandering or unfocused plots, so they want to see evidence in your pitch of intentional structure—because structure relates directly to emotional turns in your reader. Does the protagonist have a clear, specific, and relatable narrative goal ? Are the stakes apparent and significant?

In a world saturated with stories, the importance of a stellar hook in your query letter pitch can't be overstated. It's your foot in the door, your first impression. Make it count.

The First Sentence Hook

The weight of an entire narrative often rests on the promise of the first sentence. It's the gateway through which readers step into the realm you've painstakingly crafted. But what makes one sentence so powerful, so captivating, that it propels the reader headfirst into your story?

The first sentence can be a declaration of intent, an invitation, or a challenge—sometimes all rolled into one. Consider that you are setting the tone for the entire narrative to come.

What makes an effective first-sentence hook?

• A distinct voice : From the get-go, your reader should perceive a unique and nuanced character behind the words. Consider the difference between an actor who convinces you fully that they are the character on the screen or stage and another who seems merely to be reading lines. When the narrator feels like a real person, readers are more easily convinced to follow them.
• A forecasting of the novel: The first sentence can be a microcosm of the entire tale. This doesn't mean revealing all but giving readers a hint about theme, character or conflict.
• Instant immersion: Transport your readers . Whether it's the hustle and bustle of a futuristic city or the gentle rustling of leaves in an ancient forest, they should be able to lose themselves in your world from the very first word.
• A font of curiosity: Dangle a question, a mystery, or an enigma. Let them feel the tug, the itch of curiosity, compelling them to delve deeper, seeking answers and revelations.

When done right, the first sentence isn't just a beginning; it's an art form, a testament to your skill as a writer. It's where immersion takes root, where the journey truly begins.

The First Page Hook

The hook's duty doesn't end with the first sentence. In fact, the subsequent sentences on that initial page are just as critical. While the opening line grabs the reader’s attention, the rest of the page should draw them in with such immersion that they forget they are reading. The first page is where the story's pace, tone, and atmosphere begin to coalesce.

What makes an effective first-page hook?

• Balanced exposition : There are no hard-and-fast rules about what “works” on the first page, but you don't want to drown readers in information. Showcase experience over explanations.
• Conflict or tension : Even if you are opening with stasis, introduce a ripple—a hint of the central challenge or dilemma your protagonist will face. This not only piques interest but also lays the groundwork for deeper emotional engagement.
• Character nuance : Characters are the beating heart of any narrative. Use this space to give readers a glimpse into your protagonist's soul, perhaps by revealing a quirk, a hope, or a fear.

The First Chapter Hook

If the first sentence ignites interest and the first page fans the flames, then the first chapter is where the fire truly blazes. The first chapter sets the tone and trajectory for the entire narrative. It's not about introduction; it's about immersion. Here, readers should be able to dive into the story world, connect with the protagonist, and begin to anticipate (and thus care about) what will happen next.

What makes an effective first-chapter hook?

• Plot progression : The gears of your story should already be turning. Avoid the quagmire of setup.
• Stakes : Stakes are the source of your reader’s engagement. Whether it's the fate of a universe or the future of a relationship, make it clear what's at risk. This isn't about laying all your cards on the table but showing just enough to make readers invest their emotions.
• Emotional connection : No amount of intricate plotting can replace genuine emotional resonance. Create character connection with nuance, flaws, strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and most importantly, clear motivations.

A powerful narrative is one that offers readers a compelling and immersive experience . As a writer, you're not just spinning a tale; you're crafting an experience. The first chapter should double down on that promise, convincing readers that this journey is worth the investment of their time.

The essence of a hook is its position at the forefront of your narrative. It's that pitch , the opening line, the initial page, and the inaugural chapter that beckon readers—or agents—into the world you've created. Yet a powerful hook isn't simply a marketing tool or a superficial lure to make your manuscript appealing. It's a litmus test, a reflection of the strength and authenticity of your entire narrative.

When an agent is captivated by your hook, they're lending faith to your promise, the potential they feel lies within the subsequent pages. A compelling hook signifies more than just a good beginning; it’s indicative of a well-developed manuscript. It tells the agent, "I understand my story, its pulse, its essence, and I can deliver this consistently from the first page to the last."

So, while the hook may physically sit at the start, its roots run deep, drawing sustenance from the entirety of your crafted tale. A truly effective hook doesn't just make promises—it's also the initial evidence that those promises will be fulfilled.

David Griffin Brown is an award-winning short fiction writer and co-author of Immersion and Emotion: The Two Pillars of Storytelling . He holds a BA in anthropology from UVic and an MFA in creative writing from UBC, and his writing has been published in literary magazines such as the Malahat Review and Grain. In 2022, he was the recipient of a New Artist grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. David founded Darling Axe Editing in 2018, and as part of his Book Broker interview series, he has compiled querying advice from over 100 literary agents. He  lives in Victoria, Canada, on the traditional territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.

• Share Share on Facebook
• Tweet Tweet on Twitter
• Pin it Pin on Pinterest

About the Darling Axe

Our editors are industry professionals and award-winning writers. We offer narrative development, editing, and coaching for every stage of your manuscript's journey to publication.

Related Posts

On the Beaten Path: How to Use Beats in Fiction

Story Skeleton—Bel Canto

Story Skeleton—The Way of Kings

Leave a comment.

Thanks! Your comment has been submitted for approval. Please be patient while we weed out the spam ♥

September C. Fawkes - Editor & Writer

Write better with an editor.

• The Triarchy Method of Story
• Editing Services
• Writing Tip Index
• Recommended Books
• Testimonials
• Glossary of Writing Terms
• Lifestyle Tools
• Conferences & Conventions

Writing Tips

My philosophy, monday, march 25, 2019, story structure explained: prologues, hooks, setups, inciting incidents.

Beginning (or "Exposition")

Prologue (not always present).

In Spider-verse

Orphan State

Plot Point 1

2 comments:

Thanks for this!

I love comments :)

Popular Writing Tips

Helpful Links

Search articles, september c. fawkes.

Let's be Social

Get writing tips by email:

Editing Testimonials

Recommended for Writers!

Find more of my tips on ...

• Recommended Reading
• Conferences & Conventions
• Icon Credit

Kindlepreneur

Book Marketing for Self-Publishing Authors

Home / Book Writing / Story Hook Examples: The Best Way to Get Readers to Read

Story Hook Examples: The Best Way to Get Readers to Read

The word “hook” is used a lot in the literary world. Unfortunately, this can complicate things quite a bit. Especially because there are two kinds of hooks that people discuss when talking about books. There’s the type of hook that’s best used in marketing your book, and there’s one that’s used at the very beginning of your book to pull the reader into your story. 

By the end of this article, you’ll know all about both types of hooks. And, if I’ve done my job, you’ll know how to craft both types effectively. 

• What a “tagline” hook is.
• What a story hook is.
• Examples of each type of hook.
• Tips for writing your hooks.

Table of contents

• What Are the Two Types of Hooks?
• 1. All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby
• 2. Cross Down by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
• 3. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
• 4. The Diviners by Libba Bray
• 5. Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea
• Tagline Hooks Explained
• Tip 1: See What Other Authors Are Doing
• Tip 2: Search Reviews
• Tip 3: Get to Writing
• Tip 4: Test Your Taglines
• 1. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• 2. Die Trying by Lee Child
• 3. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
• 4. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
• 5. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
• 6. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
• 7. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
• 8. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
• 9. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
• 10. Cell by Stephen King
• Story Hooks Explained
• Tip 1: Present High Stakes
• Tip 2: Use Your Voice
• Tip 3: Start in the Middle
• Tip 4: Use Humor
• Tip 5: Reel Them In
• Tagline and Narrative Hooks: Conclusion

When people in the publishing industry talk about a “hook,” they could be talking about two different things. There's the tagline hook , which is essentially a one-to-three-sentence blub about the book. It's not a synopsis because it doesn't include any spoilers. The point is to “hook” potential readers (or publishers) and make them want to learn more about the book (or buy it). This is sometimes called the elevator pitch or simply the tagline. 

The other type of hook serves a similar purpose, but it's found on the first page of the book. It's the very first thing readers see in the story. The hook is there to engage the reader and make them want to continue reading. This can be a single line, two sentences, a paragraph, or an entire opening scene. 

Format Beautiful Professional Books

Easy to use, and and full of amazing features, you can quickly turn your book into a professional book.

Now that you know about the two different kinds of hooks, let's dive into some examples before we get to tips on crafting your hooks. 

Tagline Hook Examples

Here are some “tagline” hook examples from different books. They're all short, somewhat vague, and designed to be intriguing. 

“A Black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust.”

“Alex Cross is gravely injured. Only his partner and friend John Sampson can keep him safe . . . and get justice.”

“Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.”

“Something dark and evil has awakened…”

“Hiding her own dark past in plain sight, a TV reporter is determined to uncover the truth behind a gruesome murder decades after the investigation was abandoned. But TWENTY YEARS LATER, to understand the present, you need to listen to the past…”

You'll often see these kinds of hooks displayed on a book's detail page on Amazon or even on the book itself in hardcover or paperback form. Most often, you'll see them directly above the book blurb, although sometimes they will be at the end of the blurb and include a call to action. 

You may notice a quotation hook on many book pages (or covers). These quotes are designed to do the same thing, but they have the added benefit of social proof and credibility–particularly if the quote is from a big-name author. 

These types of hooks are designed to pull the reader in and get them to open the book, or perhaps click on the “Look Inside” feature to read the first page–where the other hook takes over. 

How to Craft a Tagline Hook

You have several options for crafting tagline hooks. Plus, there are some great ways to test them to see which one resonates with people the most. 

One great way to get inspiration for your tagline is by perusing books by other successful authors in your genre . Copy and paste the taglines you like into a document to use as inspiration. (Obviously don't use anyone else's tagline as your own.) I'd suggest getting fifteen or more. This will give you a good idea of what's working for authors who write books like yours. 

For further tagline hook inspiration, look at your book's positive reviews. Your readers are a great source for this because they naturally use language that's likely to resonate with other readers. A look at your four and five-star reviews could also net you a few quotes you could use in your book marketing . 

If your book isn’t out yet, you can still study the reviews of similar books by other authors. The language reviewers use can really help to inform your tagline.

It can be tempting to just bang out a tagline that's “good enough” and then get back to working on your current book. However, I suggest you set aside an hour or more with the express purpose of writing at least a dozen potential tagline hooks for your book. This is where reader reviews and inspirational taglines from other authors come in handy. 

Try a few different structures: one-, two-, and three-sentence hooks. You generally don't want your tagline hook to be more than three (short) sentences.

Out of your dozen or more options, choose four or five that you think are the best. There are a few ways to test these. 

You can poll your email list about which they like best. You can ask your author friends or even family members. Or you can use them in Facebook ads . (Or you can do all three!)

If you have a little bit of money to spend, using your tagline hooks in Facebook ads can be a truly valuable experience. Whichever one gets the most clicks, when used as the first part of the Primary Text on your ad, can tell you which one is best to put on your book page. 

Now, let's discuss story hooks. 

Story Hook Examples

Once the reader's curiosity has been piqued by the “tagline” hook, they'll probably open the book or do the digital equivalent. This is where a strong story hook can seal the deal and get the reader to purchase the book. 

So, let's look at some examples of strong story hooks. 

As you read through these, think about what each hook does in terms of grabbing your attention, adding intrigue, and hinting at character. 

“The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.”

“Nathan Rubin died because he got brave. Not the sustained kind of thing that wins you a medal in a war, but the split-second kind of blurting outrage that gets you killed on the street.”

“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”

“If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle.”

“There are some men who enter a woman's life and screw it up forever. Joseph Morelli did this to me – not forever, but periodically.”

“The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”

“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.”

“No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.”

“Let’s start with the end of the world, why don’t we? Get it over with and move on to more interesting things.”

“The event that came to be known as The Pulse began at 3:03 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on the afternoon of October 1.”

Hopefully you can see why the story hooks above are engaging. Of course, there's no such thing as the perfect hook that will bring you all the readers. The goal of a hook should be to grab as many readers in your genre as possible.  

But given the differences in reader preference, you would go crazy trying to craft a hook that would appeal to everyone . 

And focusing too much on the hook would also be a mistake. It is merely a tool—a very important tool, but still a tool. After all, you can have the most effective hook possible, but if it's not followed by a good, well-edited story with engaging characters, then the reader won't make it through the book. 

And as indie authors, our bread and butter is read-through and reader loyalty. 

So how do you craft a good story hook? I’ve included five tips below to get you started. 

How to Craft a Story Hook

The manner in which you craft the narrative hook will depend on several factors, not the least of which is genre. And there's more than one way to grab the reader's attention.

You may have noticed that the first three narrative hook examples shared above have to do with death. There's a good reason for this. Death creates an engaging hook. It's one of the three major stakes that pretty much all novels are about, when you get right down to it: external, internal, and philosophical. Death is a clear external stake. 

But death is just one example of why hinting at the stakes to come is a great way to hook the reader. And the best part? The stakes don't have to do directly with your main character. In fact, the book mentioned above, Die Trying by Lee Child, starts with the death of a very minor character when he has a run-in with some minor bad guys. This is enough. 

So don't be afraid to put your best foot forward and address what’s at stake (or at least hint at it) in the first paragraph of your novel . 

Your author voice is unique. Even if you're still working to develop that voice, perfecting it with each novel or short story, you can bet it's unique. And you can use it to create an engaging hook. 

One thing that several of the hook examples above do is present a strong voice from the start. Most of them do this in addition to presenting high stakes and/or one of the other tips mentioned below. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket does this very well, warning the reader by mentioning that there is no happy ending to the story, and doing so in a strong voice. 

The Fifth Season by M.K. Jemisin also does this well in just two sentences, dismissing the end of the world as uninteresting.

You've probably heard this writing advice before, and it's essential for crafting a strong hook. Sometimes, we worry about setting things up for the reader, giving them backstory and exposition so that they'll be better prepared when things start to go wrong for the characters. 

In most cases, this is a mistake. Hook writing is all about drawing the reader in, and you can't do that if you're bombarding them with backstory while nothing is happening in the story's present.

Take the hook example from The Secret History by Donna Tartt: 

“The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.” 

What if she started before Bunny died, while the snow was still falling and there were still weeks to go before they realized the gravity of their situation? This would put the story in danger of getting bogged down in details. But as it is, we have a dead character and a bad situation. She's “ starting in the middle ” with her great hook. 

If it's appropriate for your genre, humor can make for a strong hook. If you can make the reader laugh with your first sentence, paragraph, or page, then you've got the reader's attention. 

The hook example from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams is an excellent illustration of this:

This kind of irreverent humor is one reason why the Hitchhiker's Guide series is so wildly popular. This hook also has a strong voice, which definitely helps. 

Once you have the reader's interest with the hook sentence (or scene), it's important that you keep it. This means that the hook has to have something to do with the story to follow. It's not a good idea to simply throw a scene into the beginning of your story that has nothing to do with what follows. 

For example, if I were to write a scene in which a character gets killed on the way to work one morning, it could make for a good hook. But if that character's death only served to make the protagonist late for work with no other significant consequences, my readers would probably feel cheated.

While the hook doesn't have to directly involve the protagonist, it should indirectly impact them in a significant way, at the very least.  

Increase Your Book Marketing

See the Publisher Rocket effect, when you use the right keywords and categories to help get your book seen more on Amazon.

It's also important to keep the pace going. You can sprinkle in exposition and backstory as you go along, but be judicious about it. Once the reader is on the line, they still could wriggle off the hook if they're bogged down with pages and pages of backstory or character history directly after the hook. 

Only give the amount of backstory that is absolutely necessary to keep the story moving.  

As you can see, the two “hooks” of the literary world are indeed very different. Although not impossible, it would be unlikely for anyone to write an opening hook that could also be used verbatim as a “tagline” hook. 

And I'd even argue that you wouldn't want to. One needs to be crafted with your marketing hat on, the other with your author hat on. They take different mindsets, but as a writer, you have the skills to craft them.  

With narrative hooks, ask your beta readers for feedback. It doesn't have to be the entire book. You can just give them the first page or the first chapter and ask if they want to read more. 

With “tagline” hooks, you can do something similar by asking your email list. You can also spend a little bit of money on Facebook ads to see which one works well!

When you have these two hooks working together, you can climb the charts and build a following of fans who will look forward to every book you release.

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

Related Posts

Parts of a book [from cover to cover], how to write a whodunit, top 8 best scrivener alternatives for writers (+ the only one that matters), sell more books on amazon, amazon kindle rankings e-book.

Learn how to rank your Kindle book #1 on Amazon with our collection of time-tested tips and tricks.

Join the community

Join 111,585 other authors who receive weekly emails from us to help them make more money selling books.

• Testimonials

Narrative Hook | What is It and How to Use in Narrative

• by Andrea Feccomandi
• January 23, 2024

I love bookstores and their smell of paper that envelops me when I enter. I love the idea that I will come out of that place with a book in my hand that will take me to distant worlds, make me live other lives, make me laugh, cry, or be angry, and, without a doubt, it will fascinate me.

Yes, but  how will I choose one book among many ?

I will wander through the shelves until a title and a cover catch my attention. Then, I will pick up the book and start reading the first sentence. If it grabs me, I’ll keep reading. If I get to the end of the first page and desire to read the second, I will close the book, go to the checkout, and pay.

Even though we may not like this as writers, very often, the first sentence or paragraph of a book is the  hook that captures  and convinces us to read it.

So, as writers, we must understand the importance of a hook in storytelling and how to craft it effectively.

What is a hook in storytelling?

A hook is your story’s opening sentence or paragraph that captures the reader’s attention and draws them into your world.

It is the  first impression that your story makes,  and it can make or break your reader’s interest in your work.

NARRATIVE HOOK DEFINITION What is a Narrative Hook? A Narrative Hook, is a storytelling technique employed at the outset of a narrative to seize the audience’s interest and encourage them to continue engaging with the story. It involves presenting an intriguing question, scenario, or event that sparks curiosity and compels the audience to delve further into the narrative.

A good hook sets the tone for the rest of your story and entices the reader to keep reading. It can be a question, a statement, or a description that piques the reader’s curiosity and makes them want to know more.

Types of Narrative Hook

Writers can use several types of hooks to capture their readers’ attention. The most common types of hooks include:

A shocking statement

Starting your story with a controversial, unexpected, disturbing statement can be a powerful way to grab the reader’s attention. This will immediately ignite curiosity and encourage your audience to keep reading. For example:  “I knew I was a monster when I started craving the taste of human flesh.”

A thought-provoking question

A question hook is a type of hook that poses a question to the reader. This type of hook is effective because it immediately engages the reader and makes them curious about the answer. For example, “ What if you could change one decision from your past, knowing it would alter your entire future? “

An anecdote

An anecdote is a short, personal story that can be used to illustrate a larger point. Anecdotes are effective because they draw the reader in and make them feel like they are a part of the story. For example:  “When I was a kid, my dad used to take me fishing every summer. It wasn’t until years later that I realized those trips were about much more than just catching fish.”

Description

A descriptive hook is a type of hook that uses vivid imagery to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. This hook type is effective because it creates an emotional connection between the reader and the story. For example, “ The sun was setting over the horizon, casting a warm glow over the rolling hills. “

He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man And The Sea .

10 Common mistakes to avoid when creating a Narrative Hook

Crafting a captivating hook for your book is crucial to grab readers’ attention from the very beginning. However, there are common mistakes that writers should steer clear of when working on this pivotal part of their novel. Here’s a list of errors to keep in mind:

1. Starting with a cliché

Beginning with a hackneyed phrase or cliché can turn off the reader. Try to avoid overly used expressions or clichéd sentences.

2. Being too vague

A hook should pique the reader’s interest, not confuse them. Avoid being overly vague or enigmatic, or the reader might feel lost.

3. Revealing too soon

Don’t give away too many details or crucial information in your hook. Let the reader be curious to discover more by reading the book.

4. Lacking originality

Avoid following overly common patterns. Strive to be original and unique in your introduction.

5. Being too long

A hook should be brief and to the point. Avoid dragging it out excessively; focus on a crucial element.

6. Being too complicated

Overcomplicating things in your hook can confuse the reader. Keep things simple and clear.

7. Lacking suspense

A good hook should create suspense or curiosity. If your hook doesn’t spark interest or questions, it may not be effective.

8. Being overly descriptive

Too much description in your hook can weigh it down. Focus on actions or events that will capture attention.

9. Not reflecting the book’s style

Ensure that your hook reflects the style and tone of your book. Don’t create incorrect expectations in readers.

10. Not trying different options

Experiment with different versions of your hook. Don’t settle for the first draft; you may find a better version that truly captures your book’s essence.

Narrative Hooks examples

There are many examples of hooks in literature. Here are some:

• “ Call me Ishmael. ” —  Moby-Dick by Herman Melville . This opening sentence immediately sets the tone for the rest of the novel and draws the reader into the story.
• “ It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. ” —  1984 by George Orwell . This opening sentence is both intriguing and unsettling, making the reader curious about the story’s world.
• “ In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. ” —  The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien-  This opening sentence is simple and descriptive, immediately introducing the reader to the world of Middle Earth.

Mastering Narrative Hooks with bibisco: captivate your readers from the first Line

The Narrative Hook is crucial in captivating readers from the beginning. With bibisco novel writing software, authors have a powerful tool to enhance their narrative hooks’ effectiveness.

The software provides a range of features designed to help writers craft compelling openings that draw readers into the heart of the story.

Whether crafting an intriguing opening line, introducing a compelling character, or setting up a mysterious situation, bibisco’s tools empower writers to master the art of the narrative hook and keep readers eagerly turning the pages.

In conclusion, mastering the art of creating captivating hook phrases is essential to  capture your reader’s attention  and keep them engaged in your story.

By incorporating these tips and avoiding common mistakes, you can create a strong hook that draws your readers into your world and keeps them interested from beginning to end.

By the way, among my personal narrative hook examples, my favorite ever is:

Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. Gabriel Garcia Marque z, One Hundred Years of Solitude

What is yours? Let me know in the comments!

Social Share

• bibisco tips and tricks
• character archetypes
• character development
• narrative perspectives
• narrative techniques
• novel writing software
• story structures
• storytelling

Download bibisco!

Elevate your storytelling with bibisco!

Grab the best novel writing software for authors and dive into a world of creative writing.

Start your story today!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

How to write fiction: a guide for beginners.

• April 17, 2024

Narrative Structure: The Building Blocks of Stories

• April 10, 2024

How to Start Writing: Overcoming Writer’s Block

• April 3, 2024

How to Write a Hook: 6 Tips to Use Narrative Hooks to Surprise Readers

by Joslyn Chase | 0 comments

Free Book Planning Course!  Sign up for our 3-part book planning course and make your book writing easy . It expires soon, though, so don’t wait.  Sign up here before the deadline!

In real life, some folks love surprises and others hate them. But one thing is certain—in fiction, you need them to write a book readers can't put down. One way to deliver is through a narrative hook. But what is a narrative hook and how can you write a hook to captivate readers? 

The purpose of a narrative hook is to pull your reader through to the next page, paragraph, or sentence where you’ll have planted another hook to keep him going.

In this article, we’ll answer what is a narrative hook and look at how to write hooks that present surprising situations or something unexpected to rivet reader attention.

What is a hook?

A narrative hook is the element of your story that grabs the attention of your reader and makes them want to keep reading. It’s often an unexpected situation or character, but it can also be a surprise twist or a cliffhanger.

Think of it like a fishing line with a tantalizing bait—once you’ve got your reader hooked, they won’t be able to help themselves but keep reading.

Why do you need a strong hook?

In her fabulous book Wired for Story , Lisa Cron tells a personal story about a manuscript she read that was boring and difficult to get through but had an exciting twist at the end. The writer was afraid he’d give away the surprise and wanted to hide all traces of the ending until it was time to spring it.

The trouble was, there was nothing to pull readers through to the thrilling conclusion. As writers, we know when we have something sensational up our sleeve for our story idea.

But if we don’t let readers know about it, they won’t keep turning pages to find out what it is.

So how can we do that and still surprise them?

Instead of keeping readers in the dark, think misdirection. Like an illusionist who draws attention to one hand while concealing or maneuvering with the other. And using hooks is one way of drawing that attention.

Choose the type of hook

You can craft an effective hook that is a surprise to the character, a surprise to the reader, or both.

When the reader knows more than the character does, it creates dramatic irony, a delicious brand of suspense. As readers, we look forward to the revelation that will surprise the character.

Recently, I came across an example of a fun hook that was a surprise to me, as reader, but didn’t faze the character. In Lee Child’s short story James Penney’s New Identity, the title character is on the run from authorities after setting a fire that raged out of control.

Toward the end of the story, he is picked up by a motorist who introduces himself as Jack Reacher! Suddenly my attention is riveted by surprise. I know the character Jack, but didn’t expect to see him here. Why is he in this story? How is he involved in the whole mess?

Using a character from another book created a hook that kept me reading. 

Use the right bait

Remember, reader expectation is key. Always write to your core audience and bait your hook appropriately. 

For instance, I write mysteries and thrillers so my target readers will expect elements of danger, death, crime, sorrow, and vengeance to come into play. This bait won’t necessarily attract a reader of sweet romance or hard science fiction. The best way to know what your readers expect is to read a lot of books in the genre you plan to write in.

And don’t forget, you should be threading multiple hooks through the scenes and sentences of your story, according to the taste and expectations of your ideal reader, as I discussed in my article on writing danger hooks .

6 Hook Writing Tips to Surprise the Reader

Now that you know the surprise can be for either the character, the reader, or both and that you should use the right bait, let’s take a look at six techniques for how to write a hook that surprises your reader.

1. Question

Remember how we looked at baiting a story hook with questions in an earlier article? When crafting a surprising situation hook, it has to be more than an ordinary question. It has to be—what the !?!?!

Essentially, you're planting questions that the reader wants to have answered so much that they turn the page. 

2. Contrast

Your narrative leads your reader’s expectations. Instead of showing them what they anticipate seeing, reveal something entirely unexpected instead. This is that magician’s trick of misdirection we talked about earlier.

Just remember to stay true to your story conflict and story goal. Don’t tack something on just for effect—it must grow organically from the seeds of your entire story.

To write a contrast hook, write out what the reader expects and then play with the exact opposite. How can you incorporate that contrast? 

3. Work up to the punchline

If you read my article on using humor in your writing , you’ll know that surprise acts in much the same way. Start out with a sentence that delivers the “normal,” layering in detail and leading your reader down a path to the punchline where you deliver the surprise.

Using a suspensive sentence structure (also known as the periodic) is great for this. This type of sentence saves the main clause for last, keeping your reader guessing as to where it will all end. It’s also an example of the classic setup and payoff.

4. Don’t bury the hook

In order to be effective, the hook should stand alone or be placed either at the beginning of the sentence/paragraph or at the end. Placement is important. Burying it in the middle will blunt the hook and your reader will miss it.

5. Alter a cliché

As writers, we’re taught to avoid clichés . But you can actually make a worn-out clause work in your favor if you use it to set up reader expectation and then twist it with a surprise.

6. Use a surprise hook at the end of a chapter

Most readers pick up a book at bedtime, planning to get a chapter in before turning out the light. If you throw in a surprise hook as your reader is reaching for the light switch, you may be able to pull them into the next chapter, where you’ll have a series of new hooks waiting.

Let’s take a look at some story hook examples

“There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.” Red Wind , Raymond Chandler

This is one of my all-time favorite story openers, and it’s a good example of leading readers down a path, setting up expectations, and then throwing a curve right at the end. Here’s another in that same vein:

“High, high above the North Pole, on the first day of 1969, two professors of English Literature approached each other at a combined velocity of 1200 miles per hour.” Changing Places , David Lodge

And look at these beauties:

“Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu.” Waiting , Ha Jin

“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.” I Capture the Castle , Dodie Smith

“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into an enormous insect.” The Metamorphosis , Franz Kafka

These three are superb examples of sharp, clear standalone hooks that pose such a strong and compelling question that it constitutes surprise.

How to craft a surprise story hook

Remember, you don’t have to whip these out during your first draft. The revision process is the perfect time to look for opportunities to strengthen your writing with hooks. Let’s pretend this is my first draft:

A shadow loomed out of the darkness and Rick hit the brake, finding himself surrounded by llamas.

This is the end of chapter 58, and occurs after a drive through a distressed forest area near Seattle where Rick earlier had a near-miss with a deer in the road. So, while the herd of llamas is certainly an unexpected event, it lacks the punch it might have with some revision. Let me try again.

Another deer loomed out of the darkness, or so Rick believed. To his surprise, it was a llama and there were more of them.

Okay, so now I’m tipping my hat to surprise, telling my reader that Rick expected to see another deer and was startled to see the llamas. But instead of telling, why don’t I try getting inside Rick’s head so the reader can experience his dismay as it progresses from caution to creeped-out to incredulity? Here’s the published version:

“Another deer loomed out of the darkness and Rick nudged the brake, slowing to a crawl. It wasn’t a deer, and it wasn’t alone. A veritable herd of creatures swarmed him, forcing the car to a halt, creating a barrier between him and the house. He’d been captured by a phalanx of llamas.” Nocturne In Ashes, Joslyn Chase

A toolbox full of hooks

Are you having fun adding some hooks to your writer’s toolbox? If you want to learn more about how to write a hook, Mary Buckham has several books on the subject that are very instructive.

Remember to use a combination of hooks as a fail-safe system in case some of your hooks don't work, and always tailor your hooks to your core audience. So go bait your hooks, cast out your line, and catch your ideal reader!

How about you? Do you like surprises in real life? In fiction? Do you see the value in a surprise hook? Tell us about it in the comments .

Let’s work on crafting a surprise hook. Choose one of the scenarios below and write a “first draft” straightforward opening sentence. Then revise, using the techniques discussed in the article, until you have a focused and powerful surprise hook. Show your progression and have fun!

Martha gets a letter from her foreign pen pal that shows he’s not who she thought he was.

Darren takes the bags of groceries into the kitchen to put them away and finds something totally unexpected in one of the bags.

After using the restroom aboard a trans-Atlantic flight, Jenny takes the wrong seat by mistake and overhears something she never thought she’d hear.

Write, revise, and craft your hooks for fifteen minutes , then post your work in the Pro Practice Workshop here.  Be sure to provide feedback for your fellow writers! Not a member?

Come join us here and practice writing hooks and other story skills.,

Joslyn Chase

Any day where she can send readers to the edge of their seats, prickling with suspense and chewing their fingernails to the nub, is a good day for Joslyn. Pick up her latest thriller, Steadman's Blind , an explosive read that will keep you turning pages to the end. No Rest: 14 Tales of Chilling Suspense , Joslyn's latest collection of short suspense, is available for free at joslynchase.com .

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

• How to Write a Hook by Capturing Your Reader With Emotion - […] about how action is not necessarily danger—it has to go farther than that. In the article on Surprise hooks,…

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Submit Comment

Join over 450,000 readers who are saying YES to practice. You’ll also get a free copy of our eBook 14 Prompts :

Popular Resources

Book Writing Tips & Guides Creativity & Inspiration Tips Writing Prompts Grammar & Vocab Resources Best Book Writing Software ProWritingAid Review Writing Teacher Resources Publisher Rocket Review Scrivener Review Gifts for Writers

Books By Our Writers

You've got it! Just us where to send your guide.

Enter your email to get our free 10-step guide to becoming a writer.

You've got it! Just us where to send your book.

Enter your first name and email to get our free book, 14 Prompts.

Want to Get Published?

Enter your email to get our free interactive checklist to writing and publishing a book.

15 Killer Hooks to Captivate and Engage Your Audience

Talk with a deliverability expert!

No need to flee, it’s totally free

          TABLE OF CONTENTS

Do you want to make sure that your readers are completely hooked on your content and keep coming back for more? Are you looking for new ways to captivate and engage them so they’ll stick around till the very end of your post? 

If so, then you need killer hooks – those techniques that grab attention, capture interest and compel readers to take action. 

From personal anecdotes and storytelling to humor, surprise elements, questions and promises – this article will provide 15 clever hooks guaranteed to draw in even the most distracted reader. 

Read on if you’re ready to start crafting posts that have maximum impact!

What is a hook message to grab the reader's attention?

The hook message in an article or piece of content is the attention-grabbing statement or opening sentence that captures the reader’s interest and encourages them to read further. A compelling and effective hook message not only attracts attention but also keeps the reader engaged and interested in what follows.

According to studies, the average attention span of a person is only 8 seconds, which makes the hook message all the more important. And given the overwhelming amount of content available online, a well-crafted hook can make all the difference between a reader continuing to read or scrolling past.

There are several types of hooks that can be used, such as posing a question, using a startling statistic, or telling a story. However, the most effective hooks are typically those that tap into the reader’s emotions or curiosity.

One example of an emotional hook could be starting an article with a relatable personal story. This immediately sets the tone for the article and creates an emotional connection between the reader and the writer. Another type of hook that is effective is using a surprising or unexpected fact that challenges common assumptions.

Regardless of the type of hook used, the goal remains the same – to captivate the reader’s attention and encourage them to read on. So, whether you’re writing a blog post, article, or marketing copy, taking the time to craft an attention-grabbing hook can make all the difference in capturing your audience’s interest and keeping them engaged.

15 killer hooks to engage your audience

✅ shocking statistics.

Use a statistic that will get your audience thinking and wanting to know more.

✅ Interesting Quotes

Quotes can be powerful intros that give your audience a new perspective on your topic.

✅ Personal Anecdotes

Personal anecdotes are an effective way to humanize your message and connect with your audience.

✅ Surprising Facts

Surprising facts are great hooks that will leave your audience intrigued and wanting to know more.

✅ Contrasting Ideas

Contrasting two different ideas can be an effective way to draw your audience in and spark interest.

✅ Bold Statements

Bold statements can challenge your audience’s thinking and get them engaged in your message.

✅ Humorous Anecdotes

Humor is a great way to break the ice and ease the tension in your presentation.

✅ An Alluring Question

Asking an intriguing question can make your audience curious and keep them engaged.

✅ Powerful Images

Powerful images can captivate your audience and give your message an emotional impact.

✅ Unique Analogies

Analogies can be an excellent way to help your audience better understand complex concepts.

✅ Startling Comparisons

Comparing two different things can be a great way to highlight the importance of your message.

✅ Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theories can be a fun way to engage your audience and get them thinking critically.

✅ Controversial Ideas

Controversial ideas can be used to stimulate discussion and engage in healthy debate.

✅ Shocking News Stories

Using shocking news stories can be an effective way to get your audience’s attention and keep them engaged in your message.

✅ Emotional Appeals

Emotional appeals can be used to connect with your audience on a personal level and inspire them to take action.

Most famous hooks in history

“Four score and seven years ago…”  – This is the opening line of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, instantly capturing the attention of the audience with its memorable and poetic beginning.

“I have a dream…”  – Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic speech begins with this powerful and aspirational statement, immediately drawing the audience in with its hopeful and inspiring tone.

“In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit…”  – J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel “The Hobbit” starts with this intriguing line, sparking curiosity and inviting readers into a fantastical world.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”  – Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” begins with this contrasting statement, setting the stage for a story filled with drama and tension.

“Once upon a time…”  – This classic opening line is often used in fairy tales and folklore, instantly signaling to the audience that they are about to embark on a magical and enchanting journey.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”  – Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” starts with this witty and satirical sentence, immediately capturing the attention with its ironic tone and social commentary.

“Call me Ishmael.”  – The opening line of Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” is simple yet intriguing, drawing the reader into the narrative by introducing a mysterious character.

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”  – George Orwell’s “1984” begins with this unsettling and unusual line, immediately creating a sense of intrigue and setting the tone for a dystopian tale.

“In a galaxy far, far away…”  – The opening crawl of the “Star Wars” films grabs the audience’s attention by transporting them into a vast and epic science fiction universe.

“To be or not to be…”  – Shakespeare’s famous soliloquy from “Hamlet” starts with this existential question, instantly captivating the audience with its introspective and philosophical nature.

Most famous hooks in marketing to engage the audience

“Just do it.”  – Nike’s iconic slogan is a short and powerful hook that inspires action and motivation, appealing to the audience’s desire for achievement and self-improvement.

“Think different.”  – Apple’s memorable tagline challenges the status quo and appeals to individuals who want to stand out and embrace innovation.

“Got milk?”  – This simple yet catchy slogan from the California Milk Processor Board prompts the audience to consider the importance of milk consumption, making it memorable and thought-provoking.

“Finger-lickin’ good.”  – KFC’s slogan evokes sensory appeal and mouthwatering sensations, creating a strong connection between the audience and the product.

“Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”   – M&M’s clever tagline emphasizes the product’s quality and convenience, leaving a lasting impression on the audience.

“Because you’re worth it.”  – L’Oréal’s slogan speaks to the audience’s desire for self-care and self-worth, positioning their products as a way to indulge and pamper oneself.

“The breakfast of champions.”   – Wheaties’ tagline positions their cereal as fuel for success and accomplishment, appealing to athletes and those striving for greatness.

“I’m lovin’ it.”  – McDonald’s popular jingle encapsulates the joy and satisfaction associated with their fast-food experience, creating an emotional connection with the audience.

“The happiest place on Earth.”  – Disneyland’s slogan taps into the audience’s longing for happiness and magical experiences, creating a desire to visit the theme park.

“Red Bull gives you wings.”  – Red Bull’s tagline implies that their energy drink provides an instant boost and a feeling of empowerment, appealing to individuals seeking energy and vitality.

These hooks have become iconic in marketing because they effectively capture the attention and resonate with the desires, emotions, and aspirations of the target audience.

Crafting the perfect hook can elevate your content and create a lasting impression with readers. Many of these hooks allude to a story, so focusing on how the hook will capture the audience’s imagination is key. 

If you want to leverage your story-telling skills and captivate your reader from beginning to end, a great hook is essential. With guidance and practice, it can be easy to craft an eye-catching hook for any type of content that you produce. 

Remember to focus on who you are writing for and weaving in interesting tidbits along the way. Hooks don’t have to be complex or long; they just need to evoke curiosity so readers continue exploring your content, making it enjoyable and easy to read! 

So go ahead — get creative with your 15 killer hooks! Who knows — maybe one will be the spark that captures countless readers’ attention.

Articles on the craft and business of writing

The hero’s journey story ideas.

You’ve probably heard of The Hero’s Journey as a plotting tool, but have you considered it as a tool for coming up with story ideas? In this article, The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, you’ll find over 75 creative writing prompts to get your Hero’s Journey inspired story going.

But first, let’s review what The Hero’s Journey is and its origin.

Where to start with The Hero’s Journey

1. The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Ordinary World:

Introduction to the hero. Life is normal, but something happens that signifies things are about to change. ( The Ordinary World can be physical, but also a state of mind.)

• What do you want the reader’s first impression to be about your protagonist?
• What can happen to show this?
• How does the reader first meet your protagonist?
• What, where and when is your lead’s Ordinary World?
• What is good about it? Why is he or she comfortable here?
• What will the lead miss most when he or she leaves?
• What happens that feels a little off?
• Does your character notice this? How does he or she react?

2. The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Call to Adventure:

Something shakes up the Ordinary World, either external or something from within the hero. Your hero is forced to face the beginnings of change. Otherwise known as the inciting incident .

• What happens that changes everything?
• How does the hero feel about this?
• How does he or she react?
• What action does the main character take in response to what happened?
• What is now the main character’s goal?

3. The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Refusal of the Call:

The hero feels fear of the unknown. Another character may express uncertainty. The antagonist might enter here to keep the protagonist from entering the fray.

• What internal dilemma does your protagonist face in response to his goal?
• What does the antagonist do to make things worse for your protagonist?
• How does the protagonist react to this?
• Why? What is his or her fear?
• What will the hero lose (what is at stake?) if he or she doesn’t follow through?

4. The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Meeting with the Mentor:

The protagonist finds someone who gives him training or advice that will help him face the unknown. (Another character can take on the mentor role briefly during the story.) Or internally, the hero reaches within to find a source of courage and wisdom.

• Who in this new world can help the protagonist?
• How does the protagonist find him or her?
• Does the protagonist trust this character?
• What is the conflict between the mentor and the protagonist?
• Does this mentor accompany the lead, or send him or her on?

5. The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Crossing the Threshold:

The hero commits to the story and the challenge.

• What step does the lead take that he or she can’t take back?
• Why does he or she choose this? What does this step mean to him or her?
• What does his or her decision mean to the story? To others in the story?
• What does the antagonist do in response?

6. The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Tests, Allies, Enemies:

The hero encounters challenges and tests, is fully committed and has no choice but to move forward and keep fighting.

• Does your protagonist succeed? How?
• How does the antagonist react to this?
• Does your protagonist fail? How?
• How is the situation made worse?
• What character revelation takes place for both?
• What risks does the protagonist take?
• Who does the main character meet to help him or her in the journey? How do they help?
• Who does the lead meet who blocks him or her in the journey? What trouble do they cause?

(Repeat the above, complete and in pieces, as often as needed.)

7. The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Approach to the Inmost Cave:

The hero is on the edge of danger and prepares for the major challenge. (Keep up the conflict!)

• What does the lead need to face?
• What decisions does he or she have to make?
• What action does he or she take?
• What does the antagonist do in response to this?
• What is at risk for the protagonist?

(Repeat the above as often as needed.)

8. The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Ordeal:

The hero confronts death or faces his or her greatest fear. Out of the moment of death comes a new life. (Death: Physical, psychological, or professional.)

• What is impossible for the hero?
• How does he or she confront it?
• What happens as a result?
• What is revealed about his or her character?
• How does the antagonist respond to this?

9.  The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Reward (Seizing the Sword):

The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing death. But it’s not over yet. Things might look brighter but they will get worse.

• What is settled?
• What has the protagonist learned? How does it change him or her?
• What decision does he or she now make?

10.  The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Road Back:

The hero is driven to complete the adventure and loses what is most important. Death does happen here…psychological, physical, or professional.

• What risk did the protagonist take in the story that comes back with consequences?
• What is the worst thing that can happen?
• How does it happen?
• When does the protagonist realize all is lost? What happens?
• What image/scene will the reader to experience (complete with all the pain)?

11.  The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Resurrection:

The hero is severely tested once more on the threshold of his home. The protagonist is changed forever and commits to a new plan. The meaning of the journey is clear.

• What decision does the protagonist make when he or she realizes the reality of the situation?
• What action does the protagonist now take?

12. The Hero’s Journey Story Ideas, Return with the Elixir:

The hero returns home, transformed. Satisfying, surprising-but-inevitable ending.

• What has the hero accomplished? How is he or she transformed?
• What is the final scene in the story?
• What is surprising?
• What is inevitable?
• What do I want the reader to remember?

Want more information on The Hero’s Journey ? Also check out Plotting with The Hero’s Journey .

Looking for more story ideas? What about some inspiration from Shapeshifters Real and Metaphorical ?

Award-winning novelist Kathy Steffen teaches fiction writing and speaks at writing programs across the country. Additionally, Kathy is also published in short fiction and pens a monthly writing column, Between the Lines. Her books, FIRST THERE IS A RIVER , JASPER MOUNTAIN and THEATER OF ILLUSION are available online and at bookstores everywhere.

Share this:

• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

January 31, 2012 at 10:17 am

Love this. This is the topic of my next retreat — The Initiatory Journey of the Writer. Uses the Wheel of Initiation, borrowing some from the hero’s journey.

January 31, 2012 at 1:02 pm

Thanks Julie! Originally I did this to help me with my latest WIP and found the questions inspired some terrific thinking 🙂

February 8, 2012 at 2:02 pm

THis writing is a heroic journey. I shared this on Twitter. thanks again.

Esercizi di scrittura: come trovare nuove idee per lo sviluppo di una storia « Libri Wondermark

February 13, 2012 at 4:23 am

[…] cercato per voi alcuni esercizi di scrittura, questa settimana partiamo dall’estratto di  un bel post  che descrive i punti salienti di  The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers di […]

Book Review: The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler - How To Write Shop

April 11, 2018 at 9:37 am

[…] Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces for having a major impact on storytelling and then breaks down the mythic storytelling structure into steps to apply to any storyline. The idea is simple: there is a mythic story structure buried […]

Plotting with The Hero's Journey - How To Write Shop

May 14, 2018 at 10:25 am

[…] Those are all the stages of The Hero’s Journey. Are you a convert? Post any questions you have in the comments and let me know how you plan to use The Hero’s Journey when plotting your next book! Or maybe you will use it for inspiration… […]

June 14, 2023 at 4:52 pm

Could you give some story ideas?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

The Hero’s Journey: Beginnings

By Julia Blair

Download the Math of Storytelling Infographic

The journey of a thousand miles…

In 1977, Stars Wars burst onto movie screens around the world, capturing the hearts of millions of viewers and establishing itself so firmly in the collective culture that 42 years later we still avidly follow the ongoing saga, frenetically hyping each release of a new installment in the franchise, and passionately arguing whether or not the plot and characterizations do justice to canon or disservice to our expectations.

Not only did  Star Wars: A New Hope give us heroes and villains we still love (and love to hate), it dished up a tasty bit of scholarship on a shiny silver platter. The Star Wars box office take made Hollywood moguls sat up in their overstuffed chairs and take note. Christopher Vogler wrote an enigmatic white paper that circulated widely among screenwriters behind the scene (this white paper later morphed into his book, A Writer’s Journey). 

Everyone wanted in on this magical thing called the monomyth. Suddenly people were talking about mythic symbolism, the Hero’s Journey, and the wisdom revealed by a previously obscure academic who told us to follow our bliss.

Here we are in the 21 st century, and the Hero’s Journey seems to have lost some of its luster. Among the criticisms hurled at it through the years are that it’s ethnocentric, it’s gendered in support of the patriarchy, and that it’s led to an overabundance of formulaic films replete with two-dimensional heroes.

Everyone’s a critic

Way back in 1975, three years before Star Wars even hit the theaters, Steven R. Phillips wrote an article about using the monomyth to analyze contemporary literature. He said:

“No critical system is universally applicable, and we have seen that as the fictional emphasis in a work of literature shifts from the  relationship of the hero with his society to the relationship of the hero with eternity* the limitations of the monomyth as a critical system become apparent. Yet to a remarkable extent the details of the monomyth remain useful. … Relatively simple and easily understood yet almost infinitely flexible, the monomyth meets the most important demand that we can place on any critical system: it works.”

[*The emphasis is mine. I write about the changing relationship of fiction and modern myth in another article, “ Mano a Mano with the Monomyth: Why the Heroine’s Journey Matters .”]

“It works,” the man says. 

Approaching a half-century later, we still love Star Wars, but the Hero’s Journey has entered its own Tests, Allies and Enemies stage. 

Both the Hero’s Journey and the Story Grid methodology are literary tools. They were originally intended to be applied to a finished object – a Story – to examine the pattern of its constituent parts.

People are naturally inquisitive. As one might expect, someone will inevitably turn the tool around and see if it works the other way.

And why wouldn’t it? If we know the parts and the pattern before we start, we can build a better beast, right? It works for sewing, cooking and woodworking (lots of things), so why not writing?

This is both the power and the fatal flaw of the monomyth. It’s a two-edged sword.

A skilled writer can craft a story so compelling, so driven, that we never even see the framework it’s built upon. We hurtle through the story, hearts pounding, souls wrenching, skillfully driven from Inciting Incident to Resolution. Some writers are just that good. 

One of the most critical things that Shawn and the Story Grid Editors stand by as a way to achieve that level of skill is understanding the importance of genre.

It’s the first question we ask of a writer or a manuscript. What genre are you writing in? What genre is this story?

There are articles galore on the SG website on the importance of genre, the purpose of genre, its characteristics and secrets, and their multitudinous obligatory scenes and conventions. So many choices! So many flavors! (Sometimes it’s hard to pick just one.)

There are twelve SG content genres, with different requirements and expectations, all sitting somewhere along the sliding scale of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and its accompanying values at stake.

Yet they all have something in common. All of ‘em.

Yep. You guessed it.

The good ol’ monomyth. The Hero’s Journey.

An everlasting love

Like that old romantic partner you thought you’d moved on from, but there they are and the sparks still fly.

Now, I’m not talking about structural genre. You know, the SG clover leaf with archplot, miniplot, and antiplot on it, although the HJ is there, too.  All Archplots are the Hero’s Journey, Shawn says, right at the top of those wonderful genre cheatsheets.

No, I’m talking about content genres.

All of the content genres, from Action to Morality (or Action to Worldview, if you’d prefer to rank them alphabetically raher than by value at stake), share at least some aspect of the Hero’s Journey in their obligatory Scenes and Conventions.

It’s a ticklish thing, aligning elements across story analysis methods because things don’t always match up in neat boxes. Story analysis is a subjective activity, too. We’ve often heard the Roundtable Editors put forth differing interpretations of story and scene. I find that’s one of the most thought-provoking aspects of that podcast.

Taking the time to analyze masterworks yields an enormous payoff to the writer. The more we do it, the more we are able to understand not only the parts of the story, but what makes it tick and why it works. Analyzing masterworks lies at the core of the Story Grid methodology.

The Hero’s Journey is just one of the many tools to use, and it remains sharp.

Call to Adventure and Refusal of the Call

The Call to Adventure occurs in the Beginning Hook of a story and corresponds loosely to the Inciting Incident. In some cases, the Inciting Incident  is the Call to Adventure, and in others we see the protagonist’s Call as a  result of the Inciting Incident. It can be something as dramatic as a bombing, or as simple as a letter.

The Call to Adventure is the first step on the journey that draws the character out of their ordinary world, out of their comfort zone on a journey toward a meaningful life.

The writer uses the Call to Adventure to present the global problem or challenge and set up the protagonist’s Objects of Desire. This arises from the genre choice and the subsequent value at stake. The call is how the challenge to the status quo is delivered. It forces the protagonist to recognize that change is coming.

The protagonist often refuses to be drawn away by the call. They may deny their responsibility to resolve the challenge, denying the seriousness of the event or feel they are needed elsewhere. They may refuse the call because they feel unworthy or that there are others better suited to the challenge.

Archetypes most associated with the Call to Adventure and the Refusal are:

• the Hero (although not all protagonists are archetypal heroes);
• the Herald, who may actually deliver the Call; 
• the Mentor, who has answered their own Call in the past and now lends their experience and aid to the Hero; 
• and the Threshold Guardian, who may play a role in the protagonist’s refusal of the call.

For the rest of this article, I want to address one of the most common complaints made against the Hero’s Journey, that it leads to formulaic writing. Instead, we’ll look at some of the ways writers have innovated an ubiquitous two-part aspect of the Hero’s Journey,  The Call to Adventure  and The Refusal of the Call .

We all know the call in  Star Wars , when R2D2 plays Princess Lea’s message to Luke. At first, he refuses, choosing instead to stay and help his uncle at the farm.

In  The Matrix , Neo literally gets a call on his cellphone. He receives a series of messages that tell him about the Matrix. His refusal plays out in his initial rejection of the order to climb out the window.

The Fellowship of the Rings shows that Frodo’s call is issued by the wizard Gandalf who asks him to take the Ring to Rivendell. Once there, Frodo thinks his part is over and cedes responsibility to Elrond and the Council. 

In the courtroom drama,  The Verdict , Frank Galvin’s call comes when he’s given a medical malpractice suit by a colleague. His refusal can be seen in his initial response to settle the case, to ignore whether or not justice is being served and just take the settlement money.

In Marvel’s  Black Panther , T’Challa must step up to take his father’s place as king of Wakanda. He believes his call is clear: to succeed his father, but the true call is to use the knowledge and resources of Wakanda to make the world a better place. T’Challa’s refusal comes in his choice to protect his country’s resources through a policy of isolationism.

In  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone , Harry Potter receives an invitation to attend Hogwarts. Harry’s refusal is that he at first disbelieves that he could be a wizard. He is unaware of his gifts and his place in the world.

The Inciting Incident in  Flight is an airplane crash. The call comes later, when lawyers present evidence that the protagonist’s actions may have caused the crash. Whip’s call is to face the truth about himself. He refuses to accept that his drinking is a problem to himself or others, and heads for a bar right after the hearing.

In  Spirited Away , Chiro’s call occurs when she and her family become lost on their way to their new home. They come across a tempting array of food in what seems to be an abandoned amusement park. Chiro’s parents fall to it, but she does not, entering the extraordinary world by a different means. 

In  The Hunger Games , Katniss volunteers to stand in for her sister who is chosen during the reaping. The call to adventure comes in the form of a lottery. Later, Katniss refuses to follow Haymitch’s advice on how to gain support and win sponsors.

So this is what we’ve got:

• A holographic plea for help
• A mysterious cell phone call
• A wizard’s personal request
• A client referral
• A king’s death
• A letter in the mail
• A counter full of food
• A death lottery

Nobody’s perfect

These examples give us a taste of the variety of ways writers have portrayed the first step of the Hero’s Journey. Each example sets in motion a series of choices the moves the protagonist along the value spectrum of the story’s genre.

The stages of the Hero’s Journey remain a wide-open playground for writers. Yes, it’s not perfect. Yes, there are alternatives. But it does still work, and I suspect that’s because it arises from a deeper part of the human psyche that we all share. 

We are all humans, in all our glorious diversity. We can (and should) celebrate our wonderful differences. On the flip side of that coin, there are so many things that bind us together. The monomyth is one of those things, and it’s an essential part of the writer’s toolkit.

Are you interested in myth and archetypes? Want to incorporate and innovate the hero/ine’s journey into your writing? Let me be your guide. Give me a call and let’s map out your writer’s journey.

Share this Article:

🟢 Twitter — 🔵 Facebook — 🔴 Pinterest

Sign up below and we'll immediately send you a coupon code to get any Story Grid title - print, ebook or audiobook - for free.

Julia Blair

Julia Blair knows firsthand the challenges of balancing writing, family, and an outside job. Her most creative fiction always seemed to flow when faced with grad school deadlines. While raising a family of daughters, horses, cats, and dogs, Julia worked as an archaeologist and archivist. She brings a deep appreciation of history and culture to the editing table.

As a developmental editor and story coach, her mission is to help novelists apply the Story Grid methodology to their original work and create page-turning stories that readers love. Her specialties are Fantasy, SciFi, and Historical Fiction.

She is the published author of the short story Elixir, a retelling of fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, and has several several articles on the Story Grid website. She the co-author of a forthcoming Story Grid masterguide for the Lord of the Rings.

Level Up Your Craft Newsletter

10 Hero’s Journey Short Story Examples

The hero’s journey doesn’t just appear in novels! Discover our guide with the best hero’s journey short story examples.

The hero’s journey is a narrative structure used in literature for centuries. It can be found in the works of the best fantasy authors such as The Lord of the Rings and can also be used to powerful effect in short stories. Below is our pick of the best short stories that utilize the hero’s journey form: their diversity may surprise you!

Here Are The Best Hero’s Journey Short Story Examples

1. story of your life – ted chiang, 2. the swimmer – john cheever, 3. the long walk – richard bachman, 4. never stop on a motorway – jeffrey archer, 5. the greatest thing in the world – norman mailer, 6. one ordinary day, with peanuts – shirley jackson, 7. the ghost of the crossroads – frederick manley, 8. leaf by niggle – j.r.r. tolkien, 9. shot down over libya – roald dahl, 10. the way of the cross – daphne du maurier.

Incorporating the hero’s structure narrative but molding the form to serve the story, Story of Your Life begins with the narrator, Dr. Louise Banks, speaking to her as-yet-unborn child. Banks, an experienced linguist, is brought on board to attempt to communicate with aliens whose ships have arrived mysteriously at locations worldwide.  

It transpires that the past and future appear to the aliens with the same clarity as the present. Banks’ Return is represented by her memories of the date from the tale’s beginning and her words to her unborn child, but with the Elixir: knowledge. You might also be interested in these personal narrative examples .

“More interesting was that Heptapod B was changing the way I thought.” Ted Chiang, Story of Your Life

Beginning in an ordinary, affluent neighborhood in America, Ned Merrill is relaxing beside a friend’s pool on a summer’s day. But things take a surreal turn when Merrill decides that, to get home, he will swim across every backyard pool between his friend’s home and his own.

Although his endeavor starts as a fun frolic, it quickly becomes entirely different as Merrill encounters disgruntled neighbors and finds himself in uncomfortable situations. He eventually completes his swim and makes it back to his home. But the lightness of the venture has long gone, and when he realizes his house is empty, we get the sense that he’s talking about a deeper hollowness. 

“He had done what he wanted, he had swum the county, but he was so stupefied with exhaustion that this triumph seemed vague.” John Cheever, The Swimmer

This novella from Stephen King, written under a pen name, features a narrator who follows both a literal and figurative hero’s journey. It’s set in a near-future dystopian version of the USA, where every year, The Long Walk is broadcast live. It follows one hundred boys who’ve registered to appear in the contest. The starting gun sounds, and they set off; the winner is the last one standing.

Our hero Garraty, leaves his home at the start of the story, driven by his mother, heading to the starting line. His journey takes him over a hundred miles and over state lines. At the end of the tale, he receives the Elixir – the ultimate treasure – but it comes at a terrible cost. You might also be interested in these tragic hero examples .

“None of us really has anything to lose. That makes it easier to give away.” Richard Bachman, The Long Walk

The Call to Adventure, a key stage of the hero’s journey, is delineated in this short story: the protagonist, Diana, receives an invitation to her friend’s farmhouse. But on the drive there, Diana becomes increasingly nervous. She’s convinced an ominous-looking black van is tailing her. 

There are trials to overcome on her journey: traffic is slow, she’s stressed, and before joining the motorway, she accidentally hits a cat, killing it. The twist is too good to ruin by revealing, but it’s certainly true to say that the hero’s journey structure lends itself very well to the suspense genre.

“Diana gathered up her bag and walked purposefully towards the door, dropping the contract on Phil’s desk without bothering to suggest that he have a good weekend.” Jeffrey Archer, Never Stop on a Motorway

Written during the author’s sophomore year at Harvard, this short story follows Al Groot, who we meet haggling for a doughnut and coffee, remembering when he had more cash. He decides to hitch a ride with three strangers who walk into the cafe by making them understand that he has more money than he does (the Departure).

Later, he wins a gamble on a pool game but insists on quitting, angering his companions (The Initiation). They bundle him into their car and drive off with him, but Groot escapes by jumping out of the moving vehicle (The Return). The Greatest Thing in the World won Story magazine’s annual college contest in 1941. The ‘greatest thing’ – aka the Elixir, is luck. You might also be interested in these hero’s journey examples in real life .

“He stood there a small, old, wrinkled boy of eighteen or nineteen.” Norman Mailer, The Greatest Thing in the World

First published in 1955, this short story from the master of the form, Shirley Jackson, offers a new spin on the hero’s journey story. We begin the tale witnessing Mr. John Johnson going about his day in a good mood, spreading goodwill wherever he goes. 

When Mr. Johnson returns home, his benevolent mission complete, the Elixir is revealed and passed on, baton-like, to his wife when we learn the terrible truth: Mr. and Mrs. Johnson take turns undertaking acts of goodness – and acts of evil.

“Mr. Johnson radiated a feeling of well-being as he went down the steps and onto the dirty sidewalk.” Shirley Jackson, One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts

A traveler sets out from a  visit to a friend to return to the inn where he’s staying; it’s a bitter, snowy night, and he becomes hopelessly lost, wandering in the blizzard. He turns up suddenly at this inn – late at night –  in a state of terrible shock, meeting the Mentor figure in the story: Andy Sweeney, the publican.

We learn of his terrible ordeals and the sinister stranger he met at the crossroads. A seemingly well-to-do gentleman who is inordinately fond of gambling. After a time, the penny drops, and the narrator wises up to who exactly he was gambling against and what was at stake. In a frenzied return home, we see the narrator enter the Ordinary World again, where he tells the story of his close encounter and even closer shave.

“Night, and especially Christmas night, is the best time to listen to a ghost story. Throw on the logs! Draw the curtains! Move your chairs nearer the fire and hearken!” Frederick Manley, The Ghost of the Crossroads

This is one of the only short stories the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit author ever wrote, and, despite the extremely different subject matter, it also follows the hero’s journey structure. The tale is an allegory following an artist’s journey through the stages of death. It could be viewed as a lighter take on that other epitome of the hero’s journey form, Dante’s The Divine Comedy.

Crossing the first threshold, Niggle arrives at the workhouse (purgatory) and, in gradual degrees, with the assistance of a couple of otherworldly and unseen mentors, arrives in the countryside (heaven).

“Things might have been different, but they could not have been better.” J.R.R. Tolkien, Leaf by Niggle

The hero’s journey structure can lend wonderfully to true-life stories; it’s a great tool to hone the narrative arc and regulate a story’s pace. The beloved children’s author, Roald Dahl, uses it to powerful effect in this short story, which details his experience of crashing in the desert in 1940 when, during World War II, he was flying for the Royal Air Force.

After being hit by ground anti-aircraft fire, Dahl believes he can return to the base, but his plane ends up nose diving into the sand. The author is badly wounded and must hope for rescue by the Allied Forces before it’s too late. For more, check out our hero’s journey examples in Disney movies .

“Blast this stick; it won’t come back. They must have got my tailplane and jammed my elevators.” Roald Dahl, Shot Down Over Libya

Leaving the Ordinary World of their quiet middle-class English village behind, their local vicar leads a group of modern-day pilgrims on a sightseeing trip to the Middle East. Following a visit to the Garden of Gethsemane, strange events and trials beset the travelers: each is forced to confront the fate they most fear. However, their experiences are ultimately liberating, and they return home with new self-knowledge. Why write fanfiction? Check out our guide to find out!

“Du Maurier excelled at evoking a sense of menace. Darkness comes to the fore in her macabre and chilling short stories” Lucy Sholes, writing for BBC Culture

Melanie Smith is a freelance content and creative writer from Gloucestershire, UK, where she lives with her daughter, long-suffering partner, and cat, The Magical Mr. Bobo. Her blog posts and articles feature regularly in magazines and websites around the world.

View all posts

Helping Writers Become Authors

Write your best story. Change your life. Astound the world.

• Start Here!
• Story Structure Database
• Outlining Your Novel
• Story Structure
• Character Arcs
• Archetypal Characters
• Scene Structure
• Common Writing Mistakes
• Storytelling According to Marvel
• K.M. Weiland Site

The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 2: The Hook

Readers are like fish. Smart fish. Fish who know authors are out to get them, reel them in, and capture them for the rest of their seagoing lives. But, like any self-respecting fish, readers aren’t caught easily. They aren’t about to surrender themselves to the lure of your story unless you’ve presented them with an irresistible hook.

Our discussion of story structure very naturally begins at the beginning—and the beginning of any good story is its hook. Unless you hook readers into your story from the very first chapter, they won’t swim in deep enough to experience the rest of your rousing adventure, no matter how excellent it is.

What is a hook?

Where does the hook belong.

Structuring Your Novel (affiliate link)

Because your ability to convince the reader to keep reading is dependent on your hook, it must be present as early as possible in your first scene. In fact, if you can get it into your first line, so much the better. However, the hook must be organic . Teasing readers with a killer opening line (“Mimi was dying again”) only to reveal all is not as seems (turns out Mimi is an actress performing her 187 th death scene) not only negates the power of your hook, it also betrays readers’ trust. And readers don’t like to be betrayed. Not one little bit.

Examples from film and literature

Now that we’ve got a basic idea of what a hook is and where it belongs, let’s consider a few examples. I’ve selected two movies and two books (two classics and two recent), which we’ll use as examples throughout this series, so you can follow the story arc as presented in popular and successful media. Let’s take a look at how the professionals hook us so successfully we never realize we’ve swallowed the worm.

It’s a Wonderful Life   directed by Frank Capra (1947):  Capra opens with a successful framing device that hooks the reader with a sneak peek of the climax. The movie opens at the height of the main character’s troubles and immediately has us wondering why George Bailey is in such a fix that the whole town is praying for him. Next thing we know, we’re staring at an unlikely trio of angels, manifested as blinking constellations. The presentation not only fascinates us with its unexpectedness, it also succinctly expresses the coming conflict and stakes and engages the reader with a number of specific need-to-know questions.

Takeaway value

So what can we learn from these masterful hooks?

1. Hooks should be inherent to the plot.

2. Hooks don’t always involve action, but they always set it up.

3. Hooks never waste time.

4. Hooks almost always pull double or triple duty in introducing character, conflict, and plot—and even setting and theme.

Our hook is our first chance to impress readers, and like it or not, first impressions are usually make or break territory. Plan your hook carefully and wow readers so thoroughly they won’t ever forget the moment your story first grabbed them.

Stay tuned: Next week, we talk about the First Act .

Tell me your opinion: How early in your story is your hook found?

Related Posts: The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 1: Why Should Authors Care?

Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Helping Writers Become Authors podcast in Apple Podcast or Amazon Music ).

Love Helping Writers Become Authors? You can now become a patron. (Huge thanks to those of you who are already part of my Patreon family !)

Sign Up Today

Related Posts

K.M. Weiland is the award-winning and internationally-published author of the acclaimed writing guides Outlining Your Novel , Structuring Your Novel , and Creating Character Arcs . A native of western Nebraska, she writes historical and fantasy novels and mentors authors on her award-winning website Helping Writers Become Authors.

Great post. Love the examples. My hook is in the first chapter for sure. My first manuscript it takes a few pages because editors who critiqued it said that the story should start in the main character’s world before the hook. That is sometimes true with fantasy.

My second book starts right out with it. It works well with that story.

In fantasy, sometimes the world itself can be the hook. Fantasy readers love their settings. Lengthy descriptions usually won’t cut it, but introducing interesting facets of the world building can be just enough to grab a reader’s attention.

Excellent examples. My latest is on the first page, possibly the first sentence. My last book however the hook didn’t come til the end of the 1st chapter.

Glad to hear that in Fantasy, the world itself can be a hook. My next work started out as a question, “What would it be like to live in a world of dolls?” Then I worked on the premise which helped me find my hook! All The Pretty Dolls

Thanks for the great post, K.M.

Cheers, Anna Soliveres

@Mshatch: Sometimes we will find that we can begin with a mini hook that grabs readers until we can give them the true kicker.

@Anna: Sounds like a great premise! Really, the only requirement of the hook is that it create a spark of interest in the reader – and there are so many ways we can do that.

My hook is in first scene when Jordan (MC) is unexpectedly sucked into a void of psychic energy… In next scene he is turned from spirit to mortal in a hope to keep reader hooked on his plight and question just who his captor is (Like power wise)

My hook (For query letter) reads: “When Jordan is sucked through a vortex making spirit mortal once again he knows he is in trouble. His captor wants Jordan to perform but just who he is and how he has trapped a spirit in physical needs finding out. Jessica is a viewer who wants to help but becomes hopelessly entangled in a world of dreams she had no idea existed.”

You’re raising questions that should definitely pique readers’ curiosity. For the sake of the query, you might want to make it immediately clear what the phrase “making spirit mortal once again,” since it’s not clear how he became spirit (rather than mortal) in the first place.

lol he died… Yeah I’ll change that bit!!

The very fact that he’s dead and comes back is a good hook in itself.

I try to hook readers within the first paragraph.. and if not by then, I certainly hook them by the second paragraph.

Thanks for some tips to help me organize my hooks a little better.. 😀

Mine is a serial killer thriller (and no, I’m not a poet also LOL), and the hook comes in the 8th paragraph, if you count two “paragraphs” that are only one line each. I’ve rewritten the first couple pages many times over the years (yep, years!), but the hook has always been what it is, where it is. It’s one of the few things I’ve been sure about from the very beginning.

The whole reason I took on the monumental challenge of writing a novel is because the first vision I had of the characters hooked ME. I was the one losing sleep and asking myself: who are these people, why did this happen to them, and how will they respond? That vision became chapter one, with the hook currently taking place at about the 600 word mark. My quest to find out more about everyone involved, where they come from, what is going on and why it matters is what kept me writing. I hope someday it will keep readers reading!

That’s always WAY COOL when characters do that!

@Gideon: First paragraphs are an art form in themselves! Glad you found the post helpful.

@Nikki: Sometimes we just *know* about the hook. When it’s one of the earliest things we write – when it’s a concrete concept even before we start writing – that’s usually a good sign of its power.

@Abby: That’s a great way to look at it. If we can figure out what hooks *us* about this particular story, we can use those same elements to snag the readers.

Thanks Katie, this gave me literally hours to think about. I ended up writing a blog post in response because I had too much to say (or meander through, depending on one’s perspective and my inconclusive conclusion). The response can be found at here: http://brokengirl.info/2012/03/04/hook-plot-and-sinker/

Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, London! Off to read your post.

I’ve tried to pose a number of little hooking questions throughout Chapter One. On the first page I have “What is the treasured object in the heroine’s pocket, and what is its significance?” and “What answers is she seeking in her life?”

But I consider my MAIN hook to be, at around page 6, “Who is the menacing man on the horse, and why has he set his dogs on her?” 😀

@London – I read your post. 🙂 The passages from your story certainly made me want to read more. 🙂

My hook is my first sentence, then my inciting incident comes at the end of the first chapter — I’m thinking that may leave readers feeling a bit “thrown into it”, with not enough time to connect with the characters before things are off and running. Hmmm, not sure….

@Happy Odd Girl: Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to bring the hook in from the very first. So long as we have little hooks pulling the reader along until we can snag them with the BIG HOOK, that’s all that counts.

@Shari: The placement of the inciting event is crucial. It will get one or two posts of its own here in a few weeks!

This is one of the best definitions of ‘hook’ that I’ve read. I’ve had ‘little hooks’ on the first page of a MS and I’ve had the ‘big hook’ in the first paragraph of another MS. Seems I get better response from beta readers with the hook in the first paragraph.

Totally agree with the ‘teaser hook,’ it leaves me flat and I don’t want to read books by that author again. It’s a lazy way to write.

Teaser hooks are surprisingly prevalent, but as I mentioned in another post , they’re nothing but a lie to the reader.

Definitely within the first chapter. There’s a lot of questions: Who is the man that died in the vacant house? Why was he there? Why does the MC still wear an engagement ring when her fiancé is dead? And did the MC really see her former college roommate at the scene, reporting the crime for a TV news station?

Mysteries are some of the best at utilizing their hooks right away. Book opens. Dead body. Bam. Instant questions.

Definitely. Probably why I like the genre so much.

That’s absolutely a drawing card for most readers, I would think.

Beginnings. Getting the reader to go past the first page is always a challenge. I’ve rewritten my opening paragraph a few times to try to include the hook in those first few words. Was I successful? I’ll let my beta readers decide. 😉

I rewrite my beginnings more than any other part of the story (endings can sometimes be a close second). They’re tough to get right because there’s just so much we have to incorporate to make them work.

Not that I have much experience with beginnings and endings in fiction, but from what I do have, and from reading posts by others, beginnings and endings are often the toughest. I’ve had to noodle around to find the ending for both my published novel and my work in progress. Especially on this current work, once I discovered the ending, it enabled me to clarify the premise of the story so I can develop details throughout the story that point toward that ending.

Beginnings are something like a detailed table of contents in a scholarly text – you can’t really finalize the table of contents until the body of the book is complete, at which time you can then update the table with all the stuff that your book needed that wasn’t in the original outline of the table.

Very interesting post! In my currently released novel Ghosts on the Red Line, the hook appears in the first chapter when a boy on a Boston Red Line subway train witnesses another passenger interacting, apparently, with a person the boy can’t see or hear. However, in the current version of the prequel novel that I’m writing now, I’m breaking the early-hook rule — first chapter describes the demolition of a rural village in China (this sets up the crime that happens later), and second chapter describes the refusal of a Hong Kong tycoon to fund his son’s business venture (which results in consultant Harry West’s invitation to Hong Kong, where he encounters & must resolve the crime). I’m still working on this… maybe I’ll find a way to plant the hook earlier.

We always have to have *some* kind of hook in the first chapter, preferably on the first page. This doesn’t always have to be the “official” hook, although I always prefer the hook to be integral to the plot. However, we have to give the reader at least a small reason to keep reading.

You mean taping fish hooks onto the first page isn’t how to do it?

Only if you’re going to include a box of Band-Aids in the cost of the book!

Great post and great examples. Now, I’ve seen many stories where the first scene is some event that happens way ahead in the story. The following scene goes back in time to tell what happened to bring the protagonist to the situation presented in the very first moments. For me this is a powerful hook and maybe the only solution for some plots, where the overall idea is too complex to be presented in a fez paragraphs without running the risk of losing the reader. What is your opinion about this kind of strategy? Thank you again for your books, blogs, videos. Greetings from Brazil. Marcos

After a short prologue (actually just a short newspaper article describing an apparent suicide), my hook is sentence one:

Matt Lanier drove south on Interstate 35 and struggled with fact he was more happy than sad that his father might be dead.

Of course, this is my third chapter one, so there’s no guarantee this one will stay. 🙂

@Marcos: I wrote a post on the “flashfoward” not too long ago. In a nutshell, I agree that it can be a very effective hook when done well. The trick is to make sure that the tension in the flashforward pays off when the reader actually reaches that point in the story. Nothing is worse than feeling an author tricked us by making us *think* something tense was happening when it really wasn’t.

@ChiTrader: It’s a good one. You immediately introduce us to the character, the plot, and his inner conflict.

Best story structure analysis I ever stumnbled upon is at http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html

Thanks for sharing! I’ll check it out.

This might be a stupid question, but if a book is part of a series does it’s hook question need to be answered within that book or is alright to answer it in a subsequent book? I’m struggling with the rewrite of my first novel and I’m trying to find a hook that is answered within the first book.

It really depends on the hook. It’s absolutely possible that the initial hook question can be strong enough to last throughout the series. However, smaller hook questions will have to be introduced and definitively answered within each book. The trick is to balance the reader’s need to keep reading with his potential frustration over not learning the answers at the right time.

Thanks K.M. for another brilliant post.

I couldn’t agree with you more about the importance of a hook, especially when you are trying to draw readers in quickly. With the endless amount of options – both in bookstores and online – for the reader to choose, your book needs to stand out and get them asking “What happens next?”. The first person to read it will most likely be an editor and they don’t have time to read 40 pages in to find out when the story starts.

Thanks for being an inspiration and teacher to this new writer and blog owner. A Writer’s Journey

Glad you enjoyed the post! The hook is all-important. Sometimes we just have to figure out what hooked *us* in our stories, then figure out how to share that in our opening pages.

I’ve been reading through various posts on your web site, and they are very insightful. I will be referencing them.

My character finds that her boyfriend had stashed his gun in her car before she moved to college. He leaves a note saying, “You’re in the BIG city now, so I figured you’d need some protection.”

She assumes it’s sarcasm because she used to live in New York City. She moved to a small town of 1,100 when she was 16, and now she has moved to a town of around 60-70,000. But she starts pondering if it’s not sarcasm and he’s being honest.

Would you consider that a hook? The main question readers could have is why or from what does she need protection.

Yes, that could definitely be your hook. I would be careful to play it so that the protagonist has some immediate (and not easily resolved) questions about the gun. Let her immediately ask the questions you want your readers to ask.

Thanks for the feedback! I’m considering leaving out the note. She will recognize it because she has shot it before at a gun range. I’ll just see what happens when I rework that scene in the next step.

Glad to help!

I have actually tried to plant one in my very first paragraph. But am not sure now, since my story has so many points to get started. I have decided to rewrite it right, after finishing my first draft. (Which is a sort of way too detailed outline, or a skeleton of the story)

Even though I outline extensively, I often have to go back and tweak by beginning after finishing the first draft.

Yeah! Its simpler to dive straight in and than, after getting the darn thing on the paper, think of a proper hook. Since until this point, you have all of your story in front of you and a whole idea what questions are applicable at the beginning. So, lets see how it all work out for me 🙂 I am really confused and scared and excited at the moment. You know, the beginners anxiety! You have been there 🙂

Structure is a bit scary in the beginning. But it’s also an amazing journey of discovery!

I get your point here, but I’m also finding it a little confusing. I feel like there’s a difference between “hooking your reader” and the structural element of your story called the Hook (capital H).

A great first line (a great first paragraph, a great first 5 pages) is supposed to draw your reader in (hook her), but the story’s Hook is supposed to be kind of a deeper “oh wow” or even, in some cases, an OMG moment, isn’t it? Sometimes your Hook is also your inciting event, and that’s a bit lower down in the % of the story, structurally. I think you even mention this in your book… or was it Larry Brooks? I’m not sure… it’s been awhile and I read a lot of structure books and blogs! 🙂

I never looked at the first line Pride and Prejudice as its Hook. I looked at it as a first line writing method called “the universal truth.” (Heck, it even references the universal truth!) Other authors use this type of opening line, too. Writer’s Digest even lists this as a type of opening line.

I’m not saying that the opening line can’t or shouldn’t be the Hook, btw, I just feel that it isn’t necessary. Opening lines/paragraphs/scenes should be great and draw the reader in, but they don’t really need to be or contain the Hook, do they?

Also, there can be a huge difference between a story’s first scene and it’s first chapter as far as length and structural function, so it seems kind of arbitrary to say your Hook should be in the first scene. It’s a bit easier for me wrap my brain around when you use percentages to talk about where structural elements belong. I thought I read somewhere (again, you or Larry, or maybe in WD) that your hook should pop in around 10-12%.

I’d be interested to know where you found the Hook for a book like Outlander (Diana Gabaldon) to be (if you’ve had a chance to read it).

With respect and a desire to learn… Diogeneia

The turning point you’re thinking about at the 12% mark is the Inciting Event (as per this post: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/your-books-inciting-event-its-not-what-you-think-it-is/ ). We do find some arbitrary references to the hook as being several different things (most notably the high concept part of the premise that will grab agents and browsing readers: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-pitch-your-novel/ ). But structurally speaking, the Hook in the opening scene is the event that will grab readers. The first line isn’t the Hook in and of itself; it’s part of the larger whole of the scene. Think of the first line as the first of many hooks that will create the larger picture of the capital-H “Hook” that will grip readers in the first scene and pull them into the story.

The Hook is, structurally speaking, one of the smallest integers. You’re right that it’s almost more of a technique than a structural moment. But you can’t create a good story without it, so we’d be remiss to leave it out of any structural discussion.

I’ve tried to throw a few ‘hooks’ in to the first paragraph, but after many tries not sure whether I have it. I’ve read many posts from different sites and it’s definitely not easy. Hope this gets it looking better:

“Mark Bishop sighed deeply as he placed the urn next to the other three in his study, glanced at David’s boxes on the floor and slowly walked to the office. “So what’s been happening while I was at the funeral?” Mark asked as he slumped in the armchair opposite the one Bill Marsh, his farm manager was sitting. Bill told him the replacement tax advisor would be coming on Friday, “The new ‘un apparently has a farming background and is supposed t’know how to get grants an ‘all.” “Well, the last chap was bloody useless. If the idea of tax breaks or grants ever entered his mind it left at the speed of light. You’d have thought he worked for the damn Tax Man!” Mark complained. “If they’ve even been around a farm that’ll be an improvement right there.” “Yes. Any grants will be really handy as well,” Mark sighed. “If yer’d not spent so much adding all them extra rooms t’ farmhouse and all that expensive furniture yer’d a’ bin better off.” “Don’t remind me,” he grunted. “I thought it’d be a decent place to live, away from all the bullshit, where I could raise my own family.” “Yeah and we know what happened then!” As Mark’s jaw clenched at the reminder, Bill quickly continued, “Anyroad, there’s still quite a bit to do before we let the girls out t’ graze. There’s some fence posts need replacing, the last bit of hedge row to check and …”

So nice! Any kind of example in children’s literature?

I don’t read much children’s lit, but the same principles apply.

I always love your articles like this. Very informative and helpful. My hooks are generally at the very beginning of the story. In my opinion, I would think it would help to capture the reader’s interest straight away. On the same note, do you think you could judge a few opening lines to my story? I’m still working on it, but here’s the main hook I have so far: ” Krystal hated the dark. Simple as that. Someone might say, “Well, that’s a pretty common fear,” and shrug it off, but she felt differently. It affected her. Badly. It affected her ever since she was a child. She couldn’t even remember a time where it didn’t. Maybe because she didn’t know what was in it. Maybe because there was something in it, and out to get her. Or maybe because she didn’t have a shadow herself. “

It’s a good hook! Immediately, makes me want to know *why* she’s so afraid of the dark.

So would you say that the hook must be closely related to the moral premise because if the moral premise is a universal truth then should the hook be a universal truth? Does that question make sense? Trying to get this clear in my mind.

Yes and no. You want to introduce the thematic/moral premise in at least some measure as soon as you can. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be the Hook itself. It’s great when the Hook can pull double and triple duty like that, but in some stories, that’s just going to be asking too much.

whew okay thanks that worried me LOL would be no easy task for sure. Thank you! You are such a good teacher! Love left brainers since I lean too far right! Thank you for all your insights. I am creating a template with all your components. I have all your writing books but love this site too.

Very glad to be of help! 🙂

Is a hook on the third page (double-spaced) to far from the beginning. I have a couple minor hooks but I feel that the major hook is on the third page. I feel like the beginning is good enough to keep the reader interested until they reach the major hook of the story.

That works as long as there is an immediate hook on the first page that pulls readers in and makes them ask a question. What’s piquing their curiosity up to the point when you get to the “real” hook?

“Who was that,” Greg asked as he and Josie drove away from the dance, “singing, at the end? You know him?”

His underlying jealousy colored his question.

These are the first two sentences of my current novel-in-progress. By themselves, they establish conflict that is built upon later in the chapter. This first chapter has been revised from a less dynamic version with less tension. I had had an early first chapter that was more narrative and went into too much backstory – that material is elsewhere in the story. I know this version is much better, but it may yet need further development.

The following 1300 words establish Greg and Josie as boyfriend-girlfriend and introduces the fact that Josie has second sight. Her odd clairvoyance figures largely in the story, for it connects her metaphysically with the unknown musician at the dance, whom she does not know but is about to meet.

Okay, so around 2 1/2 years ago, I got an idea inspired by Ice Age (I think). I think it’s inspired by Three Men and A Baby too.

Anyways, I came across it again, and decided to give it a try. The trouble is, I can’t figure out if the trio finding the baby (who has been kidnapped from her real parents), is the Hook, the Inciting Event, or the Key Event.

There’s also the leader’s slight reluctance to take the baby with them because they’re drifters and might be a little on the outlaw side for some reason I haven’t figured out yet. But of course, he does relent, so. . .maybe that’s the Key Event?

Take a look at the timing. If you’ve got a turning point placed at each appropriate place in the story, then there’s your answer. If there’s anything missing at any of the timed points, then you know where you need to start juggling.

Hook: 1% Inciting Event: 12% Key Event/First Plot ( may be the same thing ): 20-25%

How many pages does it take to get to the 12% mark?

Depends how many pages will be in the book. 🙂 If you’re planning an outline, you can get a rough estimate by figuring your number of scenes. When I start outlining, I usually have a number of scenes I’m shooting for based on my target word count (for example, 50 scenes in my WIP), then I divide that by eight to know how many scenes should be in each section of the story.

Maybe I’ll just start writing the Inciting and Key Events, and come back to the Hook later?

That’s often what I’ll do in the outline. No reason you can’t do it in the first draft too, if that’s how you prefer to work.

Would the baby’s kidnapping be the Hook or would it be the Inciting Event?

Depends on what the main conflict is. Is the kidnapping the Call to Adventure for the protagonist–or just the first domino leading to that first real turning point into the main conflict?

Back to the drawing board!

Have fun. 😉

I know where it is in my first completed short story I’ve been trying to publish. The hook is ‘These days are always so boring. I miss being on the force. The excitement was always there and never slowed down.’ And then it takes you back to the past when you learn of his most interesting case while on the force. There’s more about the story on my blog. The post called ‘The Summary of My first Completed Short Story’. As for my first novel that I’ve struggling to write, I haven’t really put in consideration that I need to do this. Thanks for letting me know that do and I begin working on it along with the other techniques I need to practice as well.

I am so confused. I thought I could resolve my confusion by reading every post about “the hook” but even after doing so I feel unsure what it is. Then I thought I’d use the story structure database but the data there does not list hooks.

As of now, for one I keep thinking that the hook and the concept of a story are the same thing. And for another I keep thinking the word hook means at least two completely different things.

At first I thought the hook was one or more sentences that raise a question in the reader which causes them to want to read further.

But then I kept reading about hooks and the article seemed to define hook to mean kind of the same like story concept — some pitch you could use when talking to your agent.

The last book I read was Fifty Shades of Grey. I feel clear about the concept: Inexperienced, young female falls for twisted, (broken) slightly older male who sexually needs things that go against her nature. Can she or does she even want to make him have the relationship she imagined?

Now. Assuming I got the concept right. What is the hook in this book?

Thanks for any help resolving my confusion. I do admit that although I did finish it I did feel slightly bored at times. So perhaps there is no hook?

You’re completely right that the term “hook” refers to two totally different things–the hooking concept within the premise and the first moment in the story structure which hooks readers and gets the plot started. If you missed this post, it explains the differences: How to Find Exactly the Right Story Hook .

I haven’t read 50 Shades , but what you’ve described is its premise hook. The structural hook should be found in the first chapter.

Maybe thinking about the hook vs. the premise or plot is similar to comparing a battle tactic to a military strategy. The tactic is an immediate action, part of the overall strategy (one step of many), which moves the action forward in keeping with the overall strategy that you want to achieve over the course of the military engagement (campaign, war) – er – story.

My tentative plan for my current WIP is to begin with two POVs (two major protags) which will converge when one comes to the rescue of the other. Is it possible to have two hooks here, or am I better off picking one “primary” hook and making the other a secondary mini-hook instead?

Yes, you’ll need to open each separate POV with its own hook, and, of course, it’s best if you can start the book with whichever is strongest.

This is exactly the info I was hoping to find. Does each main character need his/her own hook? Yes they do. My YA novel has two main characters, with their chapters interleaved. The teen boy has total amnesia, so the hook (his question) is Who am I? (Extra barb to his hook: How did that blood get on my shirt?) The teen girl is still suffering from something that she takes the blame for (revealed later: a boy she led on tried to kill himself when she ended their relationship.) Her hook/question: Am I a femme fatale? Her fear has kept her from developing serious relationships for nearly two years. So the deeper hook: Will she get over it?

The way I try to hook readers is that at the start of my book is a preface that has a clip related to the end of the story. The reader has to read on through the book to find out how the character gets into that situation and what the vague sentences in the preface turn out to mean.

Here are the first lines of my first chapter in my soon-to-see-print second novel. I think I’ve covered – or at least suggested – all the bases: character, setting, conflict.

“Who was that,” Greg asked as he and Josie drove home from the folk dance, “the fiddler, singing, at the end? You know him?”

Jealousy tainted his question.

Josie huffed and faced the window. –Damn it, Greg. I don’t need you thinking I’ve fallen for a guy just because he can play a fiddle like nobody’s business. You know me better than that. It’s high time you cut yourself a healthy slab of self-esteem.–

“I’ve never seen him before,” she said. She didn’t want to think about the fiddler, and she didn’t want Greg to think she was thinking about him.

I believe my first chapter is interesting and it’s a great hook. I love your method. It is so understandable. I’m learning so much from your podcast. Keep doing what you are doing and you’ll keep getting what you’ve gotten.

Does a hook need a scene structure? Or is just a throw away scene?

The Hook as a scene should be structured as a complete scene.

Shark Tale, amusingly, opens with a literal (comparatively) giant fish hook, and a worm tied to it while a frightening shark approaches.

[…] surrender themselves to the lure of your story unless you’ve presented them with an irresistible hook. – K.M. […]

[…] takeaway on hooking your reader (via The Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 2: The Hook) is worth printing for your bulletin […]

[…] HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors – Secrets of Story Structure Part 2 […]

[…] hook is “nothing more or less than a question.” (K.M. Weiland) It could be putting your MC in physical danger, or it could be asking an […]

[…] Hook – 1% […]

[…] precious), we are sitting here wondering: what the heck is a hobbit? It’s a great hook; it poses a question that we, the readers, would really like answered. Tolkien gets to that by paragraph three, but he […]

[…] match. The first sentence of a story always has to hook the reader (you can learn more on this blog), and in this case, it’s done perfectly. It gives us some idea of what’s going on while […]

[…] The Secrets of Story Structure: The Hook by K.M. Weiland […]

[…] that start right off with character action or dialogue), but it still catches the interest, which, as K.M. Weiland writes, is required for a hook. Why? Well, I think the answer is in two things: genre and phrasing. Genre, […]

[…] this first episode, I’ve identified three Structural Points, the first of which is The Hook. The Hook is always going to come first. It’s the question in a story that urges the audience […]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

• Novel Outlining
• Storytelling Lessons From Marvel

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Write Your Best Book

Check out my latest novel!

( affiliate link )

Free E-Book

Subscribe to Blog Updates

Subscribe to blog posts rss, sign up for k.m. weiland’s e-letter and get a free e-book, love helping writers become authors.

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2016 · Helping Writers Become Authors · Built by Varick Design

St Paul's CE Primary

Shine in the Love of God

• Head Teacher's Welcome
• Meet the Staff
• Our School Vision
• Our Christian Values
• Statutory Policies
• St. Paul's Church
• School Improvement Plan
• St Paul's Curriculum
• Art & Design
• British Values
• Design Technology
• Enrichment Curriculum
• French (MFL)
• Handwriting
• Healthy Relationships & PSHE
• Mental Health
• Outdoor Learning
• Phonics - Read Write Inc
• Physical Education
• Quality First Teaching
• Reading - Read It!
• Religious Education
• Tallulah - Our School Dog
• Times Tables
• Writing - Talk4Writing
• Reception - Miss North
• Year 2 - Mrs Greenhalgh & Mrs Wilkinson
• Year 1 - Miss Khan
• Year 3 - Mrs Unsworth
• Year 4 - Mr Atkinson & Mr Browne
• Year 5 - Mrs Parker & Mrs Hill
• Year 6 - Miss Wilkinson & Mr Purdey
• Anti- Bullying
• Attendance & Punctuality
• Before & After School Clubs
• Class Newsletters
• Home Reading - EYFS & KS1
• Home Reading - KS2
• Mental Health & Wellbeing
• Pastoral Support
• Read It! Together
• Religious Festivals
• Remote Learning
• School Email Addresses
• School Meals
• School Uniform
• Special Events
• World Book Day
• Home School Agreement
• Attendance HERO
• 100 Things to do Before you Leave St Paul's
• Christian Service
• Keeping you Safe
• Children's Mental Health & Well Being
• House Points
• Alice Music
• Safeguarding
• Operation Encompass
• Online Safety
• Helpful Resources
• Prevent Duty
• Safeguarding Policy
• Safeguarding & Child Protection
• Our Safe Environment
• School Council
• Our House System
• High Expectations
• Collective Worship
• Values Council
• Behaviour and Attitudes

Porritt Street, Bury, BL9 6LJ

[email protected]

0161 764 3788

• Activity Days
• Extra Curricular Clubs
• School Trips & Experiences
• Cultural Capital
• Trauma Informed School

'If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.'

Martin Luther King Jr

All pupils at St Paul's CE Primary School access the Talk4Writing programme devised by the author and educationist Pie Corbett. 

The Talk for Writing approach enables children to read and write independently for a variety of audiences and purposes within different subjects. A key feature is that children internalise the language structures needed to write through ‘talking the text’, as well as close reading. The approach moves from dependence towards independence, with our teachers using shared and guided teaching to develop the ability in children to write creatively and powerfully.

To view a synopsis of  the Talk4Writing approach please click here .

At St Paul's we have created a yearly overview for the whole school from Reception to Year 6. We have selected 6 narrative genre types and 6 non-fiction genre types which all children cover over the academic year. Therefore, each half term you will see the same genre type being taught throughout the school. We have also allocated specific grammar focus' for each unit based on National Curriculum objectives for that year group and these are revisited during the year in both children's narrative and non-fiction writing.

Each unit is based upon a 'Model Text' which has been written by the class teacher. These are based upon a 'real' high quality book which the children have read previously. 

To view the yearly overview for our narrative units please click here .

To view the yearly overview for our non-fiction units please click here .

The key phases of the Talk for Writing process, as outlined below, enable children to imitate orally the language they need for a particular topic, before reading and analysing it, and then writing their own version.

The Cold Task

Teaching is focused by initial assessment. Teachers use what is known as a  ‘cold’  task. An interesting and rich starting point provides the stimulus and content but there is no initial teaching. The aim of this is to see what the children can do independently at the start of a unit, drawing on their prior learning. Assessment of their writing helps the class teacher work out what to teach the whole class, different groups and adapt the model text and plan. Targets can then be set for the class. By the end of the unit, pupils complete a ‘hot’ task which is an independent task on a similar type of writing. Progress should be evident which encourages pupils and helps school track the impact of teaching.

The Imitation Stage

The teaching begins with a creative ‘hook’ which engages the pupils, often with a sense of enjoyment, audience and purpose. The children are then introduced to a model text.  The model text has built into it the underlying, transferable structures and language patterns that the children will need when they are writing. This is learned using a ‘text map’ and actions to strengthen memory and help students internalise the text. Activities such as drama are used to deepen understanding of the text.

To see a sample model text please click here .

To see a 'text map' based on the sample model text please click here .

Once the children can ‘talk like the text’, the model, and other examples, are then read for vocabulary and comprehension, before being analysed for the basic text (boxing up) and language patterns, as well as writing techniques or toolkits.

The 'boxing up' provides children with a basic structure for their stories and is used to plan. 

To view the suggested 'boxing up' for each narrative genre in Key Stage 1 please click here .

To view the suggested 'boxing up' for each narrative genre in Key Stage 2 please click here .

Each unit also has a 'Toolkit' focus. These provide children with the writing techniques which will help them to develop their writing. The 'Toolkits' progress over the Key Stages and are built upon year on year.

Rags to Riches   - A rags to riches narrative  is often used to describe  people who begin their lives in extreme  poverty  and end up comfortable and wealthy, often through hard work or exceptional talent. 

Fear Tale - A fear narrative tells the story of a character who has to face his/her fears and overcomes it.

Finding Tale - A finding tale tells the story of a character who finds something unusual, which causes a problem., The main character has to return the object to put things right.  in putting everything right, the main character also learns a lesson. 

Journey Story - A journey story tells the tale of a main character who goes on a journey and has to overcome a number of problems before the journey ends.

Conquering the Monster Story - A conquering the monster story tells the tale of the main character who is confronted by a monster who causes problems and who is hard to defeat.  Eventually the main character is able to defeat the monster and all is well.

Character Change Story - A character change story tells the tale of the main character who needs to change part of his/her character, as he/she is always getting into trouble.  By changing the part of his/her character that get him/her into trouble, everything ends all well.

NON-FICTION

Persuasion  -  writing  to convince your reader that what you’re saying is true. 

Discussion -  writing different points of view on an issue, providing arguments for and against. It presents a balanced set of arguments without leaning one way or the other. 

Recoun t - writing in chronological order about an event which has happened.

Information -  writing information about a particular topic.

Instruction - writing a set of instructions explaining how something should be carried out or completed.

Explanation - writing a explanation so that the reader can understand how or why something is done.

Please click on the links below to see the Toolkit Progression documents for each narrative unit.

• Rags to Riches Tale - Openings and Endings Toolkit - Progression Document
• Fear Tale - Suspense Toolkit - Progression Document
• Finding Tale - Description Toolkit - Progression Document
• Journey Story - Settings Toolkit - Progression Document
• Conquering the Monster Story - Dialogue Toolkit - Progression Document
• Character Change Story - Characterisation Toolkit - Progression Document

Please click on the links below to see the Toolkit Progression documents for each non-fiction unit.

• Persuasion Toolkit - Progression Document
• Discussion Toolkit - Progression Document
• Recount Toolkit - Progression Document
• Information Toolkit - Progression Document
• Instruction Toolkit - Progression Document
• Explanation Toolkit - Progression Document

All of this first phase is underpinned by rehearsing key spellings and grammatical patterns. Short-burst writing is used each day to focuses on the class targets identified from the cold task.

The develop of our children's vocabulary is also a key priority at St Paul's. In order to introduce and expose our children to more adventurous vocabulary we have created a vocabulary progression booklet for each narrative and non-fiction unit. These booklets are used by the children over the course of the half term as a point of reference whilst writing. Pupils are also able to refer to them in subsequent units across the year and when writing in other subjects.

Please click on the links below to see the Vocabulary Progression booklets for each narrative unit:

• Rags to Riches - Vocabulary Progression Booklet
• Fear Tale - Vocabulary Progression Booklet
• Finding Tale - Vocabulary Progression Booklet
• Journey Story - Vocabulary Progression Booklet
• Conquering the Monster Story - Vocabulary Progression Booklet
• Character Change Story - Vocabulary Progression Booklet

Please click on the links below to see the Vocabulary Progression booklets for each non-fiction unit:

• Persuasion - Vocabulary Progression Booklet
• Discussion - Vocabulary Progression Booklet
• Recount - Vocabulary Progression Booklet - under construction
• Information - Vocabulary Progression Booklet
• Instruction - Vocabulary Progression Booklet - under construction
• Explanation - Vocabulary Progression Booklet - under construction

The Innovation Stage

Once pupils are familiar with the model text, then the teacher leads them into creating their own versions. A new subject is presented and the teacher leads the children through planning. With younger pupils, this is based on changing the basic map and retelling new versions. Older children use boxed-up planners and the teacher demonstrates how to create simple plans and orally develop ideas prior to writing. Ideas may need to be generated and organised or information researched and added to a planner. Shared and guided writing is then used to stage writing over a number of days so that pupils are writing texts bit by bit, concentrating on bringing all the elements together, writing effectively and accurately. Feedback is given during the lessons so that children can be taught how to improve their writing, make it more accurate, until they can increasingly edit in pairs or on their own.

The Invention Stage - The Hot Task

Eventually, pupils move on to the third phase, which is when they apply independently what has been taught and practised. Before this happens, the teacher may decide to give further input and rehearsal. Children are guided through planning, drafting and revising their work independently. It is essential to provide a rich starting point that taps into what pupils know and what matters so that their writing is purposeful. Writing may be staged over a number of days. With non-fiction, children apply what they have been taught across the curriculum. The final piece is used as the  ‘hot’  task, which clearly shows progress across the unit.

Click on our documents below:

• Our Writing Policy
• Intent, Implementation, Impact Statement
• Writing Progression Document
• Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation Progression Document
• Spoken Language Progression Document
• English National Curriculum

Our use of cookies

We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set optional analytics cookies to help us improve it. We won't set optional cookies unless you enable them. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookies page Cookie Control Link Icon

Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Analytics cookies

We'd like to set Google Analytics cookies to help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone. For more information on how these cookies work, please see our 'Cookies page'.

We use cookies to provide you with the best experience on our website. Read our Privacy Policy to find out more. Policy page Cookie Control Link Icon

Good Hooks for Essays: 14 Hook Ideas with Examples

Now here’s the clue.

If you want to wow your teacher, polish the introduction. Add something interesting, funny, shocking, or intriguing. Good essay hooks help you build an emotional connection right from the start. Think of an essay hook as bait for your readers.

Our expert team has prepared numerous examples of hooks for essays. You’ll find hook examples for an argumentative essay, personal story, history essay, and other types of papers.

For 100% clarity, we provided examples using each hook tactic. And a short part about how to write a good hook.

• 💎 What Exactly Is a Hook & How to Write a Good One
• 📜 Examples of Classical Essay Hooks
• 💡 Try Some Informative Essay Hooks
• 🦄 Here are the Most Uncommon Essay Hooks

✅ Good Hooks for Essays: Bonus Tips

• 🔗 References for More Information

We highly recommend reading all the methods and examples, so you don’t have any questions.

💎 How to Write a Hook That Will Work for Your Essay?

The hook of your essay usually appears in the very first sentence.

The average length of an essay hook should be 3-7 sentences, depending on the topic.

But first, let’s quickly go through the key questions.

What Is an Essay Hook?

An essay hook (or narrative hook) is a literary technique that writers use to keep their readers engaged. It shows that the content below is worth reading.

The hook can have different lengths. Some writers make it last for several pages. Though, it better be a short paragraph or even a sentence.

Why Do You Need a Good Essay Hook?

Writing the right hook is essential for a few reasons:

• It heats up your readers’ interest. If you did it right, they read the whole piece.
• It shows off your skills . A right hook presents you as an expert in your field.
• It attracts target audience. Only the readers you want will keep reading.
• It keeps the tension on the right level. Use an intriguing question, and a reader dies to find out the answer.
• It makes a good introduction. Starting your essay off a boring fact is simply not a good idea.

How to Write a Good Hook: Ideas and Examples

Next, we will discuss these hook types in more detail. We’ll also provide essay hook examples of less common yet intriguing types: dialogue, story, contradiction, comparison, definition, metaphor, puzzle, announcement, and background information hooks.

💬 The Famous Quote Hook

Use a famous quote as a hook for your essay on history, literature, or even social sciences. It will present you as an established writer. It shows how knowledgeable you are and motivates the readers to engage in the text.

⬇️ Check out examples below ⬇️

Quote Hook Example: Political Science

Hilary Clinton once said that "there cannot be true democracy unless women's voices are heard." Which creates a discussion about how perfect democracy should look like. If it is a form of government that considers all opinions, why are women silenced so often even nowadays? The truth is that we need to ensure completely equal opportunities for women in politics before we talk about establishing the correct version of democracy. And even the most developed and progressive countries are still struggling to get to that level of equality. It can be achieved by various methods, even though they might only work in certain countries.

Social Sciences

"Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country." These words of wisdom from John Kennedy reflect the perspective we need to teach the younger generations. For some reason, it has become popular to blame the government for any problem arising in society. Is it their fault that we don't think about waste and keep trashing our home? Social responsibility is a real thing. The well-being of our countries starts with the actions of every separate individual. It is not entirely right to wait until the government fixes all the issues for us. The best strategy is to start thinking about what we can do as a community to make our home even a better place.

And excellent sources of quotes for you:

• Brainyquote.com – you can search quotes by topic or by author.
• Goodreads.com is not only a great collection of e-books but also quotes.
• Quoteland.com has plenty of brilliant words for all imaginable situations.
• Quotationspage.com – more than 30,000 quotations for unique essay hooks.

❓Rhetorical Question Essay Hooks

It doesn’t have to be rhetorical – any type of question addressed to your audience will do its job. Such a universal kind of hook can spike the interest of your readers immediately.

Some useful patterns of rhetorical questions:

• What could be more important than…?
• What if there was only one… (chance/day/hour)?
• Who wouldn’t like to… (be a cat/turn visitors into clients)?
• Why bother about… (inequality/imperfect education system)?
• Which is more important: … (making money or realizing potential)?

And more in examples:

Example of a Question Hook on Education

Wouldn't free access to education for everyone be wonderful? The answer would most likely be positive. However, it is not as simple as it seems. As much as the governments try to achieve this goal, there are still many uneducated people. On the bright side, in the era of technology, learning has never been so easy. Of course, some young adults just prefer the shortcut option of taking a student loan. Other ways are much more challenging and require a lot of responsibility and patience. Finding free educational resources online and gaining experience with the help of video tutorials might sound unprofessional. Still, you will be surprised how many experts hired in different fields only received this type of education.

Question Hook Example: Health

Is there anything that can help you lose weight fast? You have probably heard of this magical keto diet that is getting more and more popular worldwide. People claim that it helps them shred those excess pounds in unbelievably short terms. But how healthy is it, and does it suit anyone? The truth is that no diet is universal, and thanks to our differences, some weight-loss methods can even be harmful. Keto diet, for example, leads your body into the state of ketosis. What happens is that you don't receive carbohydrates, and in this state, fat is used as the primary source of energy instead them. However, it carries potential threats.

😂 Anecdotal Essay Hooks

This type would usually be more suitable for literary pieces or personal stories. So, don’t use it for formal topics, such as business and economics. Note that this hook type can be much longer than one sentence. It usually appears as the whole first paragraph itself.

It wouldn't be Kate if she didn't do something weird, so she took a stranger for her best friend this time. There is nothing wrong with it; mistakes like that happen all the time. However, during only five minutes that Kate spent with the stranger, she blabbed too much. Thinking that she sat down at the table that her friend took, Kate was so busy starting on her phone that she didn't notice that it wasn't her friend at all. Sure enough, the naive girl started talking about every little detail of her last night that she spent with her date. It was too much for the ears of an old lady. Kate realized she took the wrong table only when it was too late.

Literature (personal story)

Do not ever underestimate the power of raccoons! Those little furry animals that may look overly cute are too smart and evil. It only takes one box of pizza left outside your house by the delivery person for the disaster to begin. When they smell that delicious pizza, no doors can stop them. They will join the forces to find a hole in your house to squeeze into. Even if it's a window crack four feet above the ground, they know how to get to it. Using their fellow raccoons as the ladder, they get inside the house. They sneak into the kitchen and steal your pizza in front of your eyes and your scared-to-death dog. Not the best first day in the new home, is it? 

📈 Fact or Statistic Hook

Looking deeper into your essay topic, you might find some numbers that are quite amusing or shocking. They can serve as perfect hooks for economics- and business-oriented writings. Also, it is better if they are less known.

Business/social sciences

The UAE workforce is culturally diverse since around 20% of employees (usually called expatriates) come from different countries. Ex-pats tend to take managerial positions, which makes communication within companies quite tricky. The training focused on raising cultural awareness is getting more common, but such educational strategies as games (or gamification) are still rarely applied in the UAE companies. Yet, gamification was a useful tool in other places, making it an attractive UAE team building method. It can significantly help integrate ex-pats and create a more culturally aware environment.

The full version of this paper is here: Gamification and Cross-Cultural Communication in Dubai

Statistic Hook Example in Economics

The United Arab Emirate's debt has been rising drastically in past years, from about US$17 billion in 2003, which is almost 19 percent of GDP, to US$184 billion in 2009. Only a small proportion of the debt can be tracked directly to the public sector. A report by UBS bank shows that most of the debt comes from the corporate sector. Most of the companies that hold the main section of the debt are financial institutions. The public sector partly owns them. Banks in the UAE have been accumulating their debt amounts in the years mentioned above and could now account for 75 percent of the total foreign debt. The discussion is about the reasons why the UAE debt has been rising at an alarming rate.

Check the whole essay Debts in the United Arab Emirates .

Some good sources for statistics

• Finance.yahoo.com is perfect for business papers.
• Usa.gov/statistics is an easy-to-use governmental engine for searching data and stats.
• Unstats.un.org provides a massive collection of statistics published by UN organizations
• Oecd-ilibrary.org is the online library of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), featuring its books, papers, and statistics and is a gateway to the OECD’s analysis and data.

🤯 Shocking Facts are Very Good Hooks for Essays

Very similar to a statistical hook, a fact can serve as a perfect engaging introduction. Search your field for some shocking phenomenon and gently insert it in the beginning.

Don’t forget to include a reliable source reinforcing your words!

Fact Hook Example in Economics

Nowadays, much attention is paid to the problem of shark finning around the world. Millions of sharks are killed annually for their fins, and many of them are dropped back to the ocean finless, where they die because of suffocation. In many countries, the idea of shark finning remains illegal and unethical, but the possibility of earning huge money cannot be ignored (Dell'Apa et al. 151). Regarding available technologies, market economies, trade relations, and cheap employment, it does not take much time to organize special trips for shark hunting. The Trade of shark fins is alive and well developed in countries like the United States and China. However, the number of people who are eager to try shark fin soup has considerably decreased during the last several years because of the popularity of anti-shark fin soup campaigns and laws supported worldwide (Mosbergen). The situation continues to change in China.

Read the full paper about China Southern Airlines being against shark finning .

Daniel Stacey and Ross Kelly observed that long lines and a new gray market trend for bigger screen phones marked Apple's new iPhones debut. As expected, new phone models drew Apple fans outside retail stores (Stacey and Kelly). Global critics, however, noted that this year's lines were generally longer relative to previous periods mainly because of the developing gray market for Apple products. The new Apple's iPhones have larger screens than the previous models. Also, they boast of improved battery life, faster processors, and an enhanced camera. Tim Cook called them "mother of all upgrades" (Stacey and Kelly).

For the whole text, go to Apple’s New iPhones Start Selling in Stores” by Stacey and Kelly

Sources to look for reliable facts:

• Buzzfeed.com – news, videos, quizzes.
• Cracked.com – a website full of funny stuff, like articles, videos, pictures, etc.
• Webmd.com – an incredible collection of medical facts you will love.
• Livescience.com – discoveries hitting on a broad range of fields.
• National Geographic – needs no introduction.
• Mental Floss answers life’s big questions, a compilation of fascinating facts and incredible stories.

🗣️ Dialogue as a Catchy Hook for Essays

Dialogue is another type of hooks that goes perfectly with pieces of literature and stories. It can even make your short essay stand out if you include it at the beginning. But don’t forget that it only concerns specific topics such as literature and history.

Here it is:

Dialogue Hook Example in Literature

– Why did you do it? – I don't know anymore… That's why I'm leaving for a little bit right now. I need time to think.

With these words, Anna stepped back into the train car and waved goodbye to Trevor. She couldn’t even find the right words to explain why she ran away on her wedding day. It wasn’t that she didn’t love Trevor, but there was this deep, natural, and unexplored feeling that told her it wasn’t time yet. But the only thing Anna realized was that the city made her sick. That day, she took off her wedding dress, bought a ticket on the next flight leaving that afternoon, and hopped on the train taking her to the airport. She couldn’t even remember the country’s name she was going to so blurry everything was from her tears.

Dialogue Hook for History Essay

– If we still had inquisition, we could probably set him on fire. – Some dark magic, indeed, my friend! It would have probably been a real dialogue if we knew who was the first automobile inventor for sure. People were undoubtedly shocked to see the cars moving by themselves without horses. However, since they started appearing around the globe around the same time, it is almost impossible to identify who was the original creator of the idea and the first automobile itself. The credit was usually given to Karl Benz from Germany, who created a gasoline car in 1885-1886. But there are also much earlier records of a gentleman named Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, who built the first vehicle powered by steam in France in 1769.

🔮 A Story Looks Like an Extremely Good Essay Hook

A universal essay hook is a story. You can use this trick pretty much anywhere. The main challenge is to be as authentic as possible, try to tell something fresh and engaging. The more specific and narrow the story, the more chances for a successful introduction.

Story Hook Example for an Essay on Business

Dell started fast and strong. The original company was founded in 1984 when the founder was only a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas. Four years after the inception of the company, Michael Dell became the Entrepreneur of the Year. Eight years after he started the company from his dorm room's comfort, Dell was chosen as the Man of the Year by PC Magazine. […] The company was acknowledged as the world's leading direct marketer of personal computers. At the same time, Dell was known as one of the top five PC vendors on the planet (Hunger 9). […] However, the company's journey encountered a major hurdle down the road. Even after recovering from an economic recession in 2010, the company continued to experience declining sales.

Continue reading Dell Technologies Mission, Vision, and Values .

🦚 Contradictory Statement – Queen of Good Hooks

Everybody loves to start an argument by contradicting some facts. Therefore, you simply need to add a controversial statement at the beginning of your essay. People of all ages and beliefs will not be able to stop reading it!

Challenging your readers works well for social sciences, business, and psychology topics.

Examples of contradictory statements essay hooks:

If you think being a manager is a calm and relatively easy task, try surviving on five cups of coffee, a sandwich, and two packs of cigarettes a day. You would rather believe that managers only walk around the office and give their staff orders, wouldn't you? Unfortunately, the reality is much harsher than such rainbowy dreams. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. A whole set of personal qualities and professional skills must keep up with the successful strategic planning, assessment, and development. All the tasks the managers need to attend to are nerve-wracking and sometimes almost impossible to do. The stress from the demanding managerial position is often overlooked or underestimated.

Social sciences

Video games have been ruining our kids' lives and leading to an increase in crime. Since the gaming industry's development in recent years, the fear of its adverse effects on the younger generations' brains has become a significant concern. There is such a wide variety of games, ranging from educational to violent shooters and horrors. Almost immediately, caring parents jumped on the latter category, claiming that its impact is too significant and children become more aggressive and uncontrollable. Some supporters of this theory went even further. They decided to link real-life crimes to the effects of violent video games on child and adult behavior. However, as we will see later in this article, there is no or little scientific evidence supporting those ideas.

🔁 Vivid Comparison Essay Hook

Introducing your topic with an engaging, vivid comparison is a universal strategy. It is suitable for any kind of writing. The main idea is to grab your readers’ attention by showing them your unique perspective on the topic. Try to make the comparison amusing and exciting.

Comparison Essay Hook Options:

• Comparison with daily chores (e.g., Proofreading your essays is like cleaning your teeth.)
• Comparison with something everyone hates (e.g., Learning grammar is like going to the dentist.)
• Comparison with something everyone loves (e.g., John was happy like a child eating a free vanilla ice cream.)
• Comparison of modern and old-school phenomena (e.g., Modern email has much in common with pigeon post.)
• Funny comparison (e.g., Justin Bieber is the Michael Jackson of his time)

Check out examples:

Environment

For many people, flying feels like a dream come true. More and more people take their first-ever flight thanks to the rapidly developing aviation technologies. Aircraft and airports are advancing, and air traveling is getting cheaper. However, except for transporting eager travel addicted and business people, planes are used in other ways. It appears that the whole economies across the world depend on the effectiveness and efficiency of airlines. Import and export demand this kind of transportation to work at all times. Aviation development seems like a great thing. However, just like any other technological breakthrough, it comes with a price. Environmental issues did not wait too long to show up.

Social sciences/psychology

Leaving home for the first time as a freshman can only be compared to the level of stress you had in childhood when your mother left you in the line at the checkout for too long. Indeed, becoming a student and moving out of the parent's house comes with a great deal of stress. All the unknown that lies ahead makes youngsters too anxious. Then, the difficulties of financial planning and increased academic pressure come as additional sources of worries. However, it does not have to be such a negative experience. Particular techniques can help students overcome their stress related to the separation from their parents.

📄 Definitions = Easy & Good Hooks for Essays

Another versatile essay hook option is introducing a qualitative definition. Try to make it capacious, and don’t fall into verbal jungles. This narrative hook is perfect for short scientific papers where there is only one focus subject.

Business Ethics

White-collar crime refers to the peaceful offense committed with the intention of gaining unlawful monetary benefits. There are several white-collar crimes that can be executed. They include extortion, insider trading, money laundering, racketeering, securities fraud, and tax evasion. Enron Company was an American based energy company. It was the largest supplier of natural gas in America in the early 1990s. The company had a stunning performance in the 1990s. Despite the excellent performance, stakeholders of the company were concerned about the complexity of the financial statements. The company's management used the complex nature of the financial statements and the accounting standards' weaknesses to manipulate the financial records. The white-collar crime was characterized by inflating the asset values, overstating the reported cash flow, and failure to disclose the financial records' liabilities. This paper carries out an analysis of the Enron scandal as an example of white-collar crime as discussed in the video, The Smartest Guys in the Room.

Go to see the full text here: Enron Company’s Business Ethics .

Motivation is the act of influencing someone to take any action to achieve a particular goal (Montana& Chanov, 2008). Employees' motivation depends on the job's nature, the company's organizational culture, and personal characteristics. In this case study, various theories influence and show how employees can be motivated in the workplace.

Continue reading this paper about Motivation Role in Management .

📚 Metaphor Hook for Essays

Naturally, using a metaphor as a hook for your essay comes with some limitations. You should only use this type in literature and sometimes in psychology. However, it serves as a great attention grabber if it’s engaging enough.

Let’s see how you can use a metaphor:

When life gives you dirt, don't try to squeeze the juice out of it. It's better to leave it alone and let it dry out a bit. Kate decided to follow this philosophy since nothing else seemed to work. After the painful divorce process, last week's ridiculous work assignments and managing two kids alone almost drove her crazy. No polite discussions, arguing, or bribing helped take care of seemingly a million tasks these little women had to deal with. Even letting out the anger just like her phycologist recommended did not help much. Instead, Kate referred to the last remedy. She put all the issues aside with the hope that it would get better later.

The recipe is relatively easy – take a cup of self-respect, two cups of unconditional love, half a cup of good health, a pinch of new positive experiences, and mix it all for a perfect state of happiness! We all wish it would be possible, right? However, the mystery of this state of being happy is still unsolved. The concept and its perception considerably change depending on time and values. Happiness is so complicated that there is even no universal definition of it. Besides, humans are social creatures, so associating your level of success with others is not unusual. Therefore, being happy means achieving a certain level of several aspects.

🧩 Puzzle? Yes! Amazing Hook for Your Essay

Doesn’t a good riddle grab your attention? Sometimes you just want to find out the answer. The other times, you want to figure out how it is related to the topic. Such a hook would be great for writings on psychology and even economics or business.

Here are the examples:

How many Google office employees you need to destroy a box of fresh donuts? Google is indeed famous for some of the most accommodating and unique working places around the whole world. However, the success of the company does not only appear from treats for employees. It seems that the organizational culture has many effects on business decisions and overall performance. All the staff working in Google share the same visions and values, helping them cooperate and lead the company to success. However, there is one aspect to consider. The organizational culture needs to be adapted to the ever-changing business environment.

Who survives on dirt-like substance, is never joyful, and only returns to the cave to sleep? It sounds horrible, but the correct answer is human. Nowadays, the demands for any kind of workers are rising, which brings tremendous effects on people. As the number of duties increases, it is getting harder for employees not to chug on coffee and come back home in time for a family dinner. The work-life balance is disturbed, leading to anxiety, relationship issues, and even health problems. Social life appears to be as important as making money. Therefore, the correct distribution of time between personal life and work duties is necessary for happiness.

📢 Announcement Is Also a Good Essay Hook Option

Announcements could be suitable for literary pieces and historical essays.

Such a hook doesn’t have to be too long. It should be significant enough to persuade your readers to stick to your writing. Make sure it aligns with your topic as well.

Ways to use announcements as essay hooks:

It was a revolution! The Beatle's first song came out in 1962, and almost immediately, hordes of fans pledged their loyalty to this new band. Nearly all youngsters became obsessed with their music. No one can deny that the Beatles are still considered the creators of some of the best songs in history. However, the arrival of the British band influences culture as well. Many photos depict girls going crazy on live concerts and guys shaping their haircuts after the Beatles' members. The revolution that the band brought left an impact, evidence that we can still trace in modern British culture and music.

I will never go to Starbucks again! Oh, no, mind me. I love their coffee. At some point in my life, I even thought I had an addiction and had to ask my friends to watch my consumption of Pumpkin Spice Latte. Then, the wind of change turned everything upside down. On my usual Starbucks morning run, I noticed a homeless man holding a paper cup begging for money. At first, I didn't pay much attention since it's a usual occurrence in our area. However, one day, I recognized my old neighbor in him. The only cash I had on me, I usually spent on my cup of coffee, but I decided it was not much of a sacrifice. From that moment, I only showed up on that street to shove a few bucks into that poor guy's cup. One day, to my surprise, he talked to me.

ℹ️ Background Information Essay Hook

Last but not least, give background information on your subject to make a good intro. Such an essay hook is effortless and suitable for practically any paper. Try to find the most unobvious angle to the background information. At the same time, keep it short and substantive.

Here are the ways to use background information essay hooks:

Air Arabia is among the leading low-cost carriers in the global airline industry. The airline is mainly based at the Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Air Arabia, 2012). The airline came into inception in 2003 after His Highness Dr. Sheik Mohammed Al Qassimi, the Ruler of Sharjah, issued an Emiri Decree. Later, Air Arabia was transformed into a limited liability company. For nearly a decade, Air Arabia has witnessed tremendous growth, resulting in increased fleet size and improved sales revenues. At the same time, Air Arabia has created a renowned brand that offers reliable and safe services (Dubai Media Incorporated, 2012). Air Arabia identifies itself as a low-cost carrier by providing low fares in the industry. Some of the key strengths of the airline include punctuality and safety. This aims to ensure that the airline serves its customers most efficiently by observing its safety requirements and adhering to the landing and takeoff schedules (De Kluyver, 2010).

Read the full text here: Air Arabia Company Analysis.

Walmart was founded by Sam Walton in the Arkansas United States in 1962 as a grocery store. The company, which operates a chain of over 8,000 stores in fifteen countries, is estimated to employ over two million employees from diverse backgrounds. Wal-Mart was incorporated in 1969 and started trading in the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. […] Although the company can leave its consumers with a saving due to its low-price policy, it has faced some sharp criticisms over how it treats its employees and other stakeholders. Wal-Mart boasts of its ability to save its customers' money, an average of $950 per year. This, however, has been criticized as harming the community. Also, the feminists' activists have focused on Walmart's misconduct in offering low prices. (Fraedrich, Ferrell & Ferrell 440)

Now we won’t keep you for long. Let’s just go through simple points of essay hook writing.

Someone may think that you have to write your hook first. It comes first in the paper, right?

In reality, though, you can wait until your entire essay is nearly finished. Then go back and rewrite the very first paragraph. This way, you can have a fresh look at what you’ve written in the beginning.

Here’s a simple plan you can follow.

• First, write a basic version of your thesis statement.
• Then, provide supporting evidence for your thesis in every body paragraph.
• After that, reword your thesis statement and write your concluding paragraph.
• Finally, search for an attention-grabbing fact, statistic, or anything from the list above to serve as an engaging essay hook.

Add this essay hook to the beginning of your introduction. Make sure that your ideas still flow naturally into your thesis statement.

⚠️ Pro tip: choose various hooks and play around, adding each hook to your introduction paragraph. Like this, you can determine which one makes the most impressive beginning to your paper.

Some of your choices may sound interesting but may not lead to your essay’s main point. Don’t panic! Paper writing always involves trial and error. Just keep trying your essay hook ideas until one fits perfectly.

That’s it 😊

Good luck with your work!

🔗 References

• Hook – Examples and Definition of Hook
• How to Engage the Reader in the Opening Paragraph – BBC
• Hooks and Attention Grabbers; George Brown College Writing Centre
• Hook Examples and Definition; Literary Devices
• What Is a Narrative Hook? Video
• How to: Writing Hooks or Attention-Getting Openings-YouTube

Research Paper Analysis: How to Analyze a Research Article + Example

Film analysis: example, format, and outline + topics & prompts.

Watch CBS News

Kevin Hart's journey from stand-up comedy sets in bowling alleys to global tours

By Anderson Cooper , Aliza Chasan , Nichole Marks, John Gallen

April 21, 2024 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News

Kevin Hart, now one of the most successful comics out there, struggled to find places to perform when he first started out as a stand-up comedian, so he picked some very unexpected venues.

The 44-year-old entertainer took gigs wherever he could get them: bowling alleys, cabarets and strip clubs. He doesn't "know who thought that comedy and strippers mix," but a strip club performance led to one of the most heartbreaking moments of his career on stage. Hart remembers hearing a woman say, "Oh, baby" during his set. 

"[She was] so disgusted and heartbroken that this is what I chose to do with my life," Hart said. 

But things turned around for him. Hart is the highest-grossing comedian today. His last comedy tour made grossed more than $122 million and, last month, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor — as close to a lifetime achievement award as you can get.

Becoming a comedian 

Hart has always been confident, friends said. Comedian Na'im Lynn, who's known Hart since Kevin was a teenager, didn't get it at first. 

"I mean, it was perplexing in the beginning," Lynn said. "Like, 'Why does this little ugly dude have this much confidence?'"

Hart grew up in a rough neighborhood in North Philadelphia. Home movies made by his mom, Nancy Hart, show he was always the family entertainer. Hart lived in a in a one-bedroom apartment with his brother and mom, who kept a close eye on him.

She planned every moment of his day, making sure he went to swim practice and did his school work, even quizzing him to make sure he didn't rush through his assignments. Hart credits her with his drive. 

Nancy Hart also kept Hart's dad, Henry Witherspoon, at a distance. Witherspoon was in and out of prison. He was addicted to drugs, which Hart talked about in a 2011 stand-up special called "Laugh at my Pain." Hart describes his dad showing up at spelling bees and debates and treating them as if they were athletic events.

"First of all, you can't cheer for no kid at a spelling bee. It's a spelling bee. It's quiet, I'm focused. I'm in the middle of spelling a very difficult word," Hart said during the special. "My dad shows up late. Busts through the back door high as hell making cokehead noises, alright. Once again, I cannot make this up. Aright, this is all I heard. I'm in the middle of spelling some s–t. Out of nowhere all I heard was: 'Alright, alright, alright. Yeah!'"

The details are heartbreaking, but Hart finds the humor in it. 

"I see it for what it was," he said. "But as a kid, that's dad."

Hart's path to success 

For a long time, Hart struggled to make it big.

Hart had to contend with the sound of pins being knocked over during his early performances at bowling alleys. He would start jokes over if someone bowled a strike while he was telling a punchline. 

Having a strong drive is a huge portion of making it as a comic, Hart said. Comedians who can't get gigs on actual stages need to create their own wherever they can perform. 

"It's one of the most hustled entities that exists today," Hart said.

• Kevin Hart's daughter on her dad's embarrassing jokes

He thought he'd made it when he shot a sitcom for ABC called "The Big House" in 2003. The network flew him out to what's known as the Upfronts to present the show to advertisers and the media. As he waited backstage, the "guy with the microphone" who was directing everyone told Hart his show wasn't being picked up. No one from the network told him — just "a guy named Barry in the back, holding the curtain." 

That rejection pushed Hart. He didn't want his career determined by people he didn't know. 

"I might be sitting here all day if I don't go grab it and I don't go make what I feel should be mine," Hart said.

And that's what he did. He started a small production company, now called Hartbeat, and began developing his own stand-up specials. Hart also marketed himself relentlessly through social media — and Hollywood studios took notice, hiring him for a slew of movies.

From highpoint to controversy 

When Hart was picked in 2018 to host the Oscars , it seemed like a highpoint in his career.

"I am blown away simply because this has been a goal on my list for a long time. ... To be able to join the legendary list of host[s] that have graced this stage is unbelievable," Hart wrote on his Instagram at the time. "I know my mom is smiling from ear to ear right now."

But then comments he made about LGBTQ+ individuals years earlier onstage and on Twitter caused controversy. 

Hart stepped down as the Oscars host. He initially didn't apologize for his comments, but then posted an apology the next day on Twitter.

Hart said he spoke with comedian Wanda Sykes and said she explained to him that there were people hurting because of comments like the ones he'd made. 

"It was presented to me in a way where I couldn't ignore that," Hart said. "So in those moments of despair, great understanding and education can come out of it if you're given the opportunity."

Bouncing back and developing material for an upcoming tour 

Hart has since bounced back. He seems to be constantly in motion, starting with a daily pre-dawn workout. Hart owns a nutrition supplement company. He's also got a fast-food chain, a tequila brand and a $100 million venture capital fund. His entertainment company, Hartbeat, is now worth more than $650 million.

"I'm no longer just the comedian. I'm an investment. I'm a studio," Hart said. "I'm a partner looking for partnerships. Work for hire is not in my best interest if it's a one and done situation."

He's also working on new material for an upcoming comedy tour called "Acting My Age." He doesn't work with his team in a room to develop his ideas; Hart takes them to small comedy clubs to try them out. Friends and collaborators Harry Ratchford and Joey Wells act as his writing consultants.  

Hart doesn't write down his material, instead sticking to bullet points on his phone. He said he wants to make sure the story he's telling is understandable and focused on relationships, friends and aging. 

"All things that, no matter where you are and who you are, you can go, 'Aha,'" Hart said. 

60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper watched Kevin Hart work out his notes on stage in front of 3,000 people in Pasadena, California. Everyone had to hand over their phones so the material wouldn't leak.

"Like 90% of what I'm going to do tonight I feel like is really good," Hart explained to the audience. "The reason why I took your phones is because of the other 10%. Right? Like just in case. Just in case some of it's not, you don't have no proof."

Wells and Ratchford took notes as Hart performed. Ratchford focuses on structure, where jokes should go in the set, Wells said. Wells focuses on how to make Hart's set just a little bit funnier. 

"He might get a standing ovation. I'd go 'That was great. That was great. What if you tried this?'" Wells said. 

Hart's sets include embarrassingly revealing stories about his wife and four kids, his insecurities and his many shortcomings. 

"It's talking about the things that you aren't afraid to laugh at about yourself," Hart said. "I'm really confident that the laugh that I'm getting, you're not laughing necessarily at me, as if I'm a joke. You're laughing at the experience."

Anderson Cooper, anchor of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," has contributed to 60 Minutes since 2006. His exceptional reporting on big news events has earned Cooper a reputation as one of television's preeminent newsmen.

More from CBS News

Tiny piece of technology roiling U.S. tensions with China, Russia

Girl, 7, starts lemonade stand to raise money for mother's headstone

Researchers examine painful history of Nazi camps built on British soil

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on microchip production, sales

Local News | Retired NASA astronaut visits Orange, recounts…

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Orange County
• Things to Do

Local News | Retired NASA astronaut visits Orange, recounts his journey from farm fields to outer space

José hernández recounts his journey.

By Larry Urish, contributing writer

A source of many life-affirming benefits, a quality education can inspire students to succeed, providing them with a clear sense of purpose. As German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said: “If you give a man a ‘why,’ he’ll always figure out a ‘how.’ ”

One starry night in 1972, 10-year-old José Hernández found his “why.” And all he had to do was gaze toward the heavens.

Throughout his childhood, young José traveled with his migrant farm-worker family throughout Central California, performing backbreaking labor. However, through decades of hard work, focus and persistence, the dirt-poor farm laborer became a space traveler. Today, retired NASA astronaut José Hernández ’s main purpose in life is simple: “To inspire, to help people reach their maximum potential in whatever they do.”

José Hernández gives a talk March 27 at Santiago Canyon College about his path to the stars. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, contributing photographer)

Hundreds turned out to Santiago Canyon College on March 27 to see former NASA astronaut José Hernández. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, contributing photographer)

Jose Hernández’s visit to Santiago Canyon College on March 27 included a screening of “A Million Miles Away,” the feature film based on Hernández ’s life, as well as his evening talk about his journey from the farm fields into outer space.

Santiago Canyon College President Jeannie Kim introduces former NASA astronaut José Hernández to the audience on March 27, 2024. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, contributing photographer)

Hernández ’s visit to Santiago Canyon College on March 27, presented by SCC’s STEM Success Team and its College Assistance Migrant Program, included a screening of “A Million Miles Away,” the feature film based on Hernández ’s life, as well as his evening talk about his journey from the farm fields into outer space.

Along with his stargazing, Hernández was originally inspired by his love of “Star Trek” and his fascination with NASA’s 1972 Apollo 17 lunar mission. However, twinkling stars, Captain Kirk and moon milestones could take a poor farm worker only so far. Reaching his lofty goal was a daunting task. “I didn’t do this alone,” Hernández continually emphasized. “It involved a lot of people. … My mother taught (my siblings and me) good work ethics and study habits, and my father made us realize that school was a priority. He’d often gesture to the fields and say, ‘This is your future unless you get an education.””

His father, Salvador, also provided the Hernández children with his five-step “recipe to success”: “Define your purpose in life,” José Hernández related. “Recognize how far you are from that purpose. Draw yourself a road map from where you are to where you want to go. Prepare yourself according to the challenge. And develop a work ethic that’s second to none.”

Hernández earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of the Pacific and later garnered a master’s in signals and systems engineering from UC Santa Barbara. Hernández worked for 15 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, starting in 1987. During his tenure there, he helped develop the X-ray laser technology used in President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed “Star Wars.” He and a colleague later applied this technology for use in the early detection of breast cancer, which has saved many lives.

“That is my proudest professional moment,” Hernández said of the digital mammography technology. “It’s a greater accomplishment than even going into space.”

Going into space, however, remained an elusive dream. Hernández applied to NASA’s Astronaut Candidate program on 11 occasions — and was rejected each time — before he was finally accepted in May 2004. “The 12th time was a charm,” he quipped.

This persistence points to his own sixth “ingredient,” added to his father’s five-step recipe to success: “Persevere. Never give up on yourself.”

Again emphasizing how his success wasn’t a solo effort, Hernández explained how one day he crumpled up his sixth NASA rejection letter and tossed it toward a wastebasket. “My wife found the crumpled letter, because I missed the garbage can, and she encouraged me to persist,” Hernández said.

Had the tossed rejection letter made it into the wastebasket, he said, “She would’ve thrown the letter out, and I would’ve given up. … My wife was critical. She was a cheerleader throughout the whole process.”

After years of rigorous training, Hernández’s lifelong dream was realized on Aug. 28, 2009, when he and his STS-128 crewmates aboard Space Shuttle Discovery blasted into orbit and docked with the International Space Station.

Blasted, indeed. “We went from zero to 17,500 miles per hour in 8½ minutes,” Hernández told his Santiago Canyon College audience. Over the course of 14 days, he and his NASA compatriots transferred 7 tons of new equipment to the ISS and orbited Earth 217 times, traveling more than 5.7 million miles.

Although he retired from NASA in January 2011, Hernández is anything but the retiring type. He noted that, in addition to being a governor-appointed member of the University of California Board of Regents, he’s the founder and CEO of Tierra Luna Engineering, author of three books — including his 2012 memoir, “Reaching for the Stars” —  and owner of Tierra Luna Cellars vineyard and winery. And, as hundreds at his SCC visit last month will attest, he’s also a supremely effective motivational speaker.

“It’s OK to dream big,” Hernández stressed to the audience as he wrapped up his talk. “With education and hard work, you can reach the stars. I’m living proof of that.”

• Newsroom Guidelines
• Report an Error

More in Local News

Local News | Runners celebrate first-generation immigrants with a color run

Local News | Bravo! to these achievements in sports, service

Local News | Anaheim receives $3 million state grant to address homelessness near 91 Freeway

Music + Concerts | Coachella 2024: Doja Cat closes out festival in style

Recommended

New state budget bites nyc: on the hook for migrants, schools.

• View Author Archive
• Get author RSS feed

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

Over the weekend, lawmakers put the finishing touches on this year’s three-week-late state budget.

New York is leading the nation in out-migration, an influx of migrants, taxes and crime and quality-of-life worries — and this smoke-and-mirrors budget, billed as a victory, only makes it all worse.

The $237 billion budget, a 35% increase from the state’s last pre-COVID budget of $175 billion in 2019, institutionalizes what was supposed to be a temporary surcharge on high-income earners.

Lest we forget, that surcharge was enacted in 2021 mid-crisis to close the staggering state deficit the pandemic caused.

Now, having fully recovered from the crisis, rather than find ways to lower taxes and rein in spending, Albany has continued running up the state’s spending tab like drunken sailors on leave at port.

While it appears every donor and interest group are getting their taste, Gov. Hochul and the Legislature — ironically dominated by New York City Democrats — found a way to financially screw over Gotham, the state’s cash cow.

Shifting the burden

Despite the city being a subdivision of a self-proclaimed sanctuary state, Hochul and the Legislature abdicated their responsibility on New York’s migrant crisis.

Left on the hook are New York City residents and taxpayers, who must bear 100% of the burden of housing and feeding more than 180,000 migrants who have arrived since August 2022.

With cost projections at $12 billion, Mayor Adams went to Albany, hat in hand, asking to split the cost and provide $6 billion. Albany gave the city $2.4 billion. Adams bizarrely claimed victory, while Hochul took credit for delivering for the Big Apple.

Meanwhile Hochul and Albany lawmakers continued to chip away at critical cost-saving reforms to how pensions are calculated.

Keep up with today's most important news

Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update.

Thanks for signing up!

Please provide a valid email address.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy .

Never miss a story.

Under the new law, a Tier 6 employee’s pension will be based on the top three years of earnings instead of five years, enacted during the last budget crisis with massive long-term savings.

According to the Citizens Budget Commission, Hochul’s rollback adds roughly $4 billion to the state’s pension liabilities, with nearly $400 million next year alone.

Approximately half that cost falls to New York City with no additional funds to pay for the giveaway.

This builds on a troubling pattern started when Hochul quietly tucked her first pension rollback into last year’s budget.

Lack of control

In 2021, the state legalized cannabis sales by licensed distributors. Due to botched state management and enforcement , legal shops were slow to open, while nearly 2,000 illegal storefronts popped up, seemingly on every corner.

For two years, neither the city nor state effectively closed these illegal stores, each blaming the other.

Now the governor and mayor announced New York City sheriffs can commence civil proceedings against these unlicensed shops and levy fines. What? Civil proceedings will take time, allowing these operators to open new storefronts in the meantime.

While the NYPD has 36,000 officers, the Legislature gave this authority to the sheriffs, of which there are only 150. Selling marijuana without a license is already a crime — either a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the amount.

Why can’t the NYPD have the authority to enforce it and hold those who violate the law accountable? Do we enforce any laws anymore?

In another blow to the city’s self-governance, Adams wanted four years of mayoral control of city schools, which Hochul endorsed until she was rolled by the Legislature. Despite all the backslapping, the governor delivered Adams only two years. But that’s not where the real loss comes.

The two years came with two major caveats. One is a mandate on class size — one that’s specific to New York City alone. It will force the city to spend an additional $1.9 billion on teachers and space.

The second caveat completely undermines the concept of “mayoral control” by giving state legislative leaders and the Board of Regents (controlled by the teachers union) the authority to select the chair of the Panel for Educational Policy, which approves policy and contract decisions.

These changes are an affront to the progressive reform of mayoral control that Mike Bloomberg first achieved. It’s a major setback for accountability and once again makes the city education system a political fiefdom.

How did this happen?

Yes, Hochul is dominated by the Legislature, but as governor she was in the driver’s seat of the budget process as governors before her proved.

And yes, polls show a politically weakened Adams, but he would have been strengthened if he fought for the people of the city, rather than rolling over.

New York City residents are a lot of things. Stupid isn’t one of them.

Despite the lack of other media coverage and analysis of what the state budget really means and Hochul’s and Adams’ inexplicable happy talk, the message from the state to New York City residents is clear: Drop dead!

Melissa DeRosa is former secretary to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and author of “What’s Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics & Crisis.

Share this article:

Olu Fashanu wasn’t supposed to play football. Soon he will be a top draft pick.

As he raised his children in Nigeria, Chief Adewale Fashanu often repeated a lesson. “It’s better to have a good name than all the money in the world,” he told them. Adewale fought for Nigerian independence and served as the political secretary of the country’s first president. His access to power offered him many chances to enrich himself through corruption, and at every opportunity he refused.

“When he died, he died with a good name,” his son Anthony Fashanu said recently. “If I go back to Nigeria, I introduce myself to a lot of people. They say, ‘Oh, you are the son of Adewale.’ They always respect that name. So it’s something I try to instill in my kids, too: Having a good name is better than having all the money in the world.”

A few decades after he moved to the United States and settled in Waldorf, Md., Anthony will hear his family name announced to a broad American audience. His son, Adewale’s grandson, will be selected early in the NFL draft Thursday night, perhaps among the first 10 picks and the first offensive lineman chosen.

Olu Fashanu did not try on football pads until he arrived as a freshman at Gonzaga College High in the District, and he played a year longer at Penn State than most anybody outside his family expected. Over eight years, Fashanu turned himself from a burgeoning basketball prospect into a team captain at a college football powerhouse. He was named an all-American, became a finalist for the academic version of the Heisman Trophy and graduated from business school a semester early.

“He did everything right,” Penn State offensive line coach Phil Trautwein said. “He’s not a kid who the money is going to change his work ethic or change who he is.”

Anthony Fashanu moved to the United States in the early 1990s, living with his uncle on Long Island. Shortly after he moved to Maryland, he met his wife, Paige, settled in Waldorf and had two children. Their son, Olumuyiwa, had the athletic genes that had helped Anthony play semiprofessional soccer. He sprouted above his peers and gravitated toward basketball. Fashanu’s parents spent between $50,000 and $60,000 so he could travel around the country to camps and with AAU and Elite Youth Basketball League teams. “Was he going to get a basketball offer? I don’t know,” Anthony said. “But I know that he was very good.”

During those basketball trips, football coaches often approached Anthony in the stands and pleaded for Fashanu to play their sport, for their team. Anthony declined every overture without telling his son. He was a college football fan, but he worried about football’s physical toll and the threat of brain injury. He had twice signed up Fashanu for Charles County youth leagues, but both times he changed his mind and wouldn’t let him play.

Fashanu enrolled at Gonzaga intent on playing basketball. He had grown to nearly 6-foot-6 by eighth grade. At a summer welcome picnic for incoming students, Eagles football coach Randy Trivers spotted Fashanu walking around, towering above his future classmates. “Of course, Olu looks a little different than the other freshmen coming in,” Trivers said. “You could see: ‘Whoa, man, this is a good frame. This young man may possibly be interested in football.’ You’ll welcome anybody into the program. But that one raised your eyebrow a little bit.”

In Anthony’s recollection, Trivers called him every day for a month. He ignored every call. On the first day of school, Trivers found Fashanu in class, handed him football equipment and instructed him to report to practice after school. Fashanu relented, seeing a means to keep in shape and add toughness for the winter.

“At that point in my life, I was a basketball player,” Fashanu said. “The thought process was, try out football, see if I like it, but at the end of the day, at the very least, I’d be conditioning myself for the basketball season.”

“I was worried,” Anthony said. “His mother was worried. But we prayed about it. We said, ‘Okay, we’ll just take it as it goes.’ ”

Fashanu started with the freshman team, “learning what the heck’s a stance and how to get lined up,” Trivers said. He quickly came to love football. His basketball background gave him advanced, agile footwork. Fashanu had almost always been the biggest kid on the court, and using that advantage often came with punishment. In football, physicality became an asset. He loved how grueling practices and extensive preparation built intense camaraderie.

“I knew 110 percent he was going to put all his effort into that sport,” Paige said. “Because that’s what he does.”

At lunch, Fashanu would eat quickly and retreat to Gonzaga’s film room to study NFL offensive linemen he modeled his game after. During the offseason, he set his alarm for 5 a.m. so he could drive to the District in time for early-morning practices. He stayed after school in the weight room until 6:30 some evenings. He would remain at Gonzaga for 12 hours, not counting about an hour commute on both ends.

“It takes a real mature, committed, tough human being to do that consistently,” Trivers said. “He could roll up the sleeves with the best of them. It wasn’t easy. He may have made it look easy.”

“I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I was super excited waking up at 5 a.m. every day in the offseason,” Fashanu said. “I knew in order to get where I wanted to go, that was the stuff that was required. A large part of that comes with my parents teaching me discipline from a very young age.”

Self-motivation permeated Fashanu’s upbringing. His father constantly told him and his sister, “Whatever you do, always be the best in it.” Trivers sensed it didn’t matter what task was in front of Fashanu — a practice drill, math class, community work. He wanted to excel and focused himself to do so.

“In most West African households, the relationship between the family is definitely built upon respect, discipline and love,” Fashanu said. “That was something that was really emphasized in our household: treating everyone with respect, showing appreciation for those who helped you get to where you are in your life and discipline, just taking care of business.”

By Fashanu’s sophomore season, even though he had not become a full-time starter, Trivers believed the lineman was on track to play at a Power Five school. College programs started to notice his ideal size and athleticism at camps. He received his first major scholarship offer from Rutgers before his junior year.

“We were shocked,” Anthony said. “I mean, I can’t describe how we felt.”

In his junior season , Fashanu blocked for quarterback Caleb Williams — now projected to be the first pick in the draft — and became “the dude,” Trivers said. Scholarship offers flooded in. He chose Penn State.

Fashanu arrived at Penn State a “raw” player, said Trautwein, Penn State’s offensive line coach. Trautwein constantly saw him in the film room, taking detailed notes on opponents he would face. He improved his flexibility. He focused on where to place his hands on a defender. He refined his pass-blocking technique.

“He just worked,” Trautwein said. “He worked, and he made sure his weaknesses became his strengths.”

Fashanu made his first start as a sophomore in the Outback Bowl and dominated. He started the first eight games of the 2022 season, becoming one of the Big Ten’s best linemen and attracting notice from NFL evaluators before an injury ended his season. After only nine collegiate starts, Fashanu had become a prized prospect. He learned he would be taken in the first round, possibly among the first 10 picks, if he left school early.

The outside world expected Fashanu to enter the draft. Who passes up a year of NFL money, risks injury and delays a lucrative second professional contract by a year?

Those who knew Fashanu best, though, believed he might stay. He had gone to Penn State armed with one certainty: He would leave with his degree. Paige’s mother, whom Fashanu and his sister called Nana Fawehinmi, was an educator. When she visited in the summer, from the time Fashanu and his sister were in kindergarten, they had to finish a school activity before a trip to the zoo. His parents would remind him he was a student-athlete and student came first.

Fashanu majored in supply chain management and information systems, an atypically challenging course load for a football star. “I definitely had my hard days,” he said. “I just did what I was supposed to do.” He envisioned working in the pharmaceutical division of a huge corporation and maybe starting his own company one day.

Fashanu also felt a pull to finish a season healthy and to lead Penn State to a championship. He wanted to play another season with teammates he called “my brothers.” So he called a meeting with Penn State’s coaches and began by telling them: “I’m coming back. I came here to get a degree.”

“That meant more to him than the money,” Trautwein said. “In the world we live in right now, it’s crazy that he stayed. It told me what kind of person he is. He wanted the chance to win a national championship. It’s all about the team. We need more guys like that. I don’t know how many kids in the next 10 years are going to do that.”

In 2023, Fashanu didn’t allow a sack, and as a returning starter, he made it his mission to be a more vocal leader.

“Being transparent, I’m a really introverted person,” Fashanu said. “I try to stay in my own lane. That was a really big emphasis of mine to improve on, just being that type of guy that guys can look to, be a guy that other people can rely on at times when stuff might be hectic. I wanted to be the guy where I could step up, talk to the team, let everyone know everything is going to be all right.”

Penn State lost to Michigan and Ohio State, but Fashanu got everything else he had wanted out of his final season. He graduated a semester early. Fashanu and his family have never regretted the choice. “It was a no-brainer,” Paige said. “I knew he was going to finish his education. I really think he wasn’t ready mentally.”

“Now he’s ready,” Anthony said. “He’s more mature. And he’s ready for the NFL.”

Early Thursday night, an NFL team will draft Fashanu. It will get a player who is still improving, an offensive lineman with rare athleticism and power. It also will get a young man who was given a good name and has done everything required to uphold it.

• Olu Fashanu wasn’t supposed to play football. Soon he will be a top draft pick. 3 hours ago Olu Fashanu wasn’t supposed to play football. Soon he will be a top draft pick. 3 hours ago
• How will the top of the NFL draft go? Even veteran GMs have no idea. April 19, 2024 How will the top of the NFL draft go? Even veteran GMs have no idea. April 19, 2024
• The NFL needs kickoff returners again — and it could impact the draft April 18, 2024 The NFL needs kickoff returners again — and it could impact the draft April 18, 2024

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

A Remote Island Draws Thousands of Turtles Each Year. Could It Attract Tourists?

Green sea turtles swim hundreds of miles to nest on a spectacular West African archipelago. Getting there is quite a journey for humans, too.

By Ricci Shryock

Ricci Shryock is a writer and photographer based in Dakar, Senegal.

Each year, thousands of baby green sea turtles clamber across a beautiful, white-sand paradise that is one of the largest hatching sites of this species in the Atlantic, adorably making their way to the sea. There’s one noticeable absence: people.

The spectacular hatching events take place between August and December on Poilão Island, a tiny, uninhabited speck off the coast of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. It is the southernmost island of the 88 that make up the Bijagós archipelago, a UNESCO biosphere reserve . Last year, turtles laid more than 44,000 nests on its 1.4 mile-long beach.

While the masses of turtles seem to have little trouble finding the spot to lay their eggs — some swim more than 600 miles across the North Atlantic — it’s hard to imagine somewhere more challenging for human turtle-lovers to reach.

The country’s tourism minister, Alberto Demba Touré, said that access is a main challenge. “We want to increase the tourists who go to the Bijagós,” he said. Last year, UNESCO declared its support for the Bijagós Islands to seek World Heritage List status , which, if successful, would increase its visibility and strengthen its environmental protections.

Turtle conservation programs have become a staple of resorts in many popular destinations, including in Hawaii, Mexico and throughout the Caribbean. Guinea-Bissau may like to capture a meager sliver of that pie, but it would be with steep challenges.

Politically fragile Guinea-Bissau has very little infrastructure and is one of the world’s poorest and least touristed nations. Most flights to Bissau, the country’s sleepy capital on the mainland, require a connection in Lisbon or Dakar, Senegal. Then, from Bissau, it’s a bumpy one-hour drive to the coast, and five to seven hours in a speedboat (depending on the route) to Poilão Island.

A limited number of tourists, usually no more than a dozen at a time, are allowed to visit the Poilão Island, which is part of the João Vieira and Poilão Marine National Park. The island is considered sacred by the archipelago’s residents and no construction is allowed on it.

A plane, to a truck, to a speedboat

Last fall I traveled to Poilão at the height of hatching season to witness the baby turtles make their way from nest to sea, and to see how the local workers monitor and ensure the survival of the tens of thousands of hatchlings each year.

I started in Bissau, a riverside city of half a million, after flying there from my home in Dakar. A few blocks from the presidential palace, people sat at plastic tables under mango trees, listening to music and eating grilled oysters plucked from the roots of the nearby mangroves. Women walked by selling cashew fruit, which has a sour, fermented aroma.

Visitors to Bissau might visit the war museum, in an 18th-century fort and an active military base, to see the mainly Soviet-sponsored weapons used by Bissau-Guinean fighters during the independence war against their Portuguese rulers that ended in 1974.

The next morning, another visitor and I climbed into a truck that took us to the coast. I had booked my Poilão trip with a hotel on one of the islands, Orango Parque Hotel, which arranged boat transport, park fees, meals, a guide and simple accommodations for three nights. The whole arrangement cost about $1,470.

We left the capital’s main paved avenue for potholed small lanes. An hour later, we reached the dock, near an abandoned hotel among the mangroves, where I climbed into a white speedboat.

For three hours, we sped through the open ocean, passing small, mostly uninhabited islands of the Bijagós. We occasionally passed fishermen — half a dozen men in brightly painted, long wooden boats — who waved as we buzzed by.

A stop to meet the priestesses

Eventually, we landed on a beach at the hotel on Orango Island, the largest in the archipelago, where we would spend two nights before continuing the journey. We were shown to our small round houses that contained a single comfortable room, and given a lunch of fresh fish and rice.

Eduardo da Silva, a boat captain and guide at the hotel who grew up on the island, said tourists can learn a lot from the way Bijagós residents interact with nature.

“On Orango, we have always been conservationists,” he said.

One day during my stay, Mr. Da Silva took me to meet the local priestesses . Orango is a matriarchal society; today the priestesses still make decisions about when certain harvests take place and what is allowed to happen on sacred grounds. I offered the women two unlabeled, neon-green bottles of cana, alcohol made from sugar cane, which I had bought for this purpose from a roadside stand when leaving Bissau. After a short ceremony with the cana, the priestesses spoke about how they base their community decisions on what will ensure a continued balance with the environment.

“Conservation can protect what is ours, so that we don’t lose it and so that our children who are born tomorrow can know it,” said Nene Ecane, one of the priestesses, in the Bijagós language via a translator.

Landing on Poilão

When it was time to leave Orango, another speedboat — smaller than the one the day before — drove us through clear waters for two hours. We spotted dolphins and Mr. Da Silva banged his hand on the side of the boat. The dolphins came closer and jumped alongside us.

While most of the speedboat journey from Bissau had been smooth, near Poilão the boat hit rougher waves. It was just before sunset when we landed. Occasional patches of volcanic black rocks, vital for green sea turtles, dotted the small beach.

As we unloaded the boat, a half-dozen workers from the João Vieira and Poilão Marine National Park greeted us, including Tumbulo Garcia Bamba, the park’s adjunct director.

“It’s good for tourists to come and learn and see how we work here for the turtles,” he said. He said he hopes that more attention to the turtles of Poilão will lead people outside of the region to respect the environment.

Mr. Bamba said he had noticed more trash washing up on the island’s shores; the Orango hotel scheduled a clean-up crew for the following week, which is not normally needed. Workers on the islands said many of the products seen among the trash — including bottled water and cosmetics — were not available in Guinea-Bissau and may have come from other parts of West Africa.

“The ocean knows no borders,” said Mr. Bamba.

A mad dash to the sea

Other than our individual tents, which were set up a few dozen feet from the beach, there were few other signs of human life. There is no cell reception.

But we were not alone. All along the beach lay thousands of buried turtle eggs. Every few steps there was another underground sea turtle hatchling family, the park workers told us. Many nests had markers, but not all. We walked gingerly.

The workers, many of whom are from the Bijagós Islands, not only count and monitor the hatchlings, but also help them make their way safely to the sea.

Even though the nests are just 20 or so feet from the ocean, the two-inch-long hatchlings are susceptible to many threats during their brief journey to the water — specifically birds, which wait in the nearby trees ready to snatch them.

We followed the workers throughout the early evening as they dug up nests — sometimes they were chest-deep in sand. They gathered dozens of just-hatched turtles into buckets and held them at the campsite until nightfall and high tide, when it was safer to release them.

A few hours later, in the darkness, the workers took the buckets of turtles back to the beach and let them go. All at once, a few hundred small hatchlings made their mad dash for the safety of the sea. Under the starlight, they used their small front flippers to quickly — and adorably — push their way through the sand to the water.

After the sea turtle release, we sat down for a fresh fish dinner, grilled over an open fire by the hotel staff. The park workers ate next to us, all of us using headlamps and flashlights in the dark.

A laptop, powered by solar panels, blasted a playlist of ’90s and early 2000s love ballads as our dinner soundtrack, giving the evening a surreal feel. It was just us, Usher, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and, beneath a few feet of sand, thousands of baby turtles waiting for their first swim through the waves.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024 .

Open Up Your World

Considering a trip, or just some armchair traveling here are some ideas..

52 Places:  Why do we travel? For food, culture, adventure, natural beauty? Our 2024 list has all those elements, and more .

Mumbai:  Spend 36 hours in this fast-changing Indian city  by exploring ancient caves, catching a concert in a former textile mill and feasting on mangoes.

Kyoto:  The Japanese city’s dry gardens offer spots for quiet contemplation  in an increasingly overtouristed destination.

Iceland:  The country markets itself as a destination to see the northern lights. But they can be elusive, as one writer recently found .

Texas:  Canoeing the Rio Grande near Big Bend National Park can be magical. But as the river dries, it’s getting harder to find where a boat will actually float .