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will achieve with either triumph or defeat. The "hook" is the viewer's own question of whether the conflict can be resolved, so a screenwriter might want to test the hook by turning it into a question. For example, "Johnny must catch the murderer so that he can get the girl" might become "Will Johnny
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One method of creating a hook, is by explaining the significant impact of a specific detail without explaining the detail itself. This encourages the audience to listen until they learn the aforementioned detail. For example, "The people in Rio have something that New
Yorkers don’t, which is why I
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can contain explicit statements ("This is the most inexplicable thing to happen to me") and explicit promises ("I would never have believed that such commonplace events would result such consequences"), and raise the question why the listeners wish to hear what is told, all of which promise more
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Often, instead of starting the story in the middle, the author will give the reader a taste of an intriguing part of the story and then continue the story from the chronological beginning. This is accomplished by explaining or implying a unique situation without explaining how it was encountered
82:, the opening sentence recounts the first time the protagonist endured abuse from her husband, which is the core theme of the novel. Opening lines that introduce an important event without providing specifics, such as "And then, after six years, she saw him again." from
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in the opening of a story that "hooks" the reader's attention so that they will keep on reading. The "opening" may consist of several paragraphs for a short story, or several pages for a novel, but ideally it is the
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Knowing the importance of a good hook, many screenwriters write their hooks first. Conceivably, the life of a screenplay might evolve from hook to 1-page synopsis, to 4-page treatment, to full
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A narrative hook can also take the form of a short, often shocking passage discussing an important event in the life of one of the work's characters. The device establishes
145:("It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."), can also serve to hook the reader's attention.
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employs narrative hooks in the openings of each book, including a description of a bloody ghost and an ominous exchange between the characters
Callisto and Diana.
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and transitions to a description of the house that serves as the novel's setting, disrupting the reader's expectations of a typical narrative structure.
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In film, the hook is what grabs the viewer's attention, preferably in the first 5–10 minutes, as a reader might expect to find a literary
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One can briefly state a good hook in one or two sentences, introducing the protagonist, the conflict that drives the story, and what the
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catch the murderer? Or will he lose the girl?" In this way, the screenwriter can use the hook as a tool when writing the screenplay.
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technique, where the relating of a story begins at the midpoint, rather than at the beginning, can also be used as a narrative hook.
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119:(e.g., “I once accidentally bought a horse.” or "There is only one person I wish death upon."). In more elaborate form, a
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Opening a novel with startling, dramatic action or an ominous description can function as a narrative hook.
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The Book of
Literary Terms: The Genres of Fiction, Drama, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, and Scholarship
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The
Freedom to Remember: Narrative, Slavery, and Gender in Contemporary Black Women's Fiction
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process, a screenwriter will use a hook to prove the "bankable" quality of their screenplay.
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The Middle School
Writing Toolkit: Differentiated Instruction Across the Content Areas
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Manuscript makeover: revision techniques no fiction writer can afford to ignore
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243:(New ed.). Denton, Tex.: University of North Texas Press. p. 244.
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moved." Here the listeners will want to know what the people of Rio have.
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intriguing events ahead. This can also serve as a form of
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135:A thematic statement, as with the opening line of
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364:. Maupin House Publishing, Inc. p. 63.
237:Myers, Jack; Wukasch, Don Charles (2009).
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72:and introduces a theme of the work. In
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472:"How to Write Your Screenplay's Hook"
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157:in the first chapter of a novel.
358:Clifford, Tim (1 January 2013).
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427:The Creative Writing Workbook
51:Common formats with examples
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392:Mitchell, Angelyn (2002).
312:. Brill. p. 220-224.
240:Dictionary of poetic terms
308:Murgatroyd, Paul (2005).
425:Singleton, John (2001).
274:Lyon, Elizabeth (2008).
453:. Crafty Screenwriting
333:Turco, Lewis (1999).
337:. UPNE. p. 41.
400:. Rutgers. p.
142:Pride and Prejudice
84:Katherine Mansfield
27:Narrative technique
40:literary technique
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287:978-0-399-53395-2
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137:Jane Austen
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451:"The Hook"
224:References
188:web videos
173:scriptment
208:Cold open
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169:treatment
34:(or just
213:Headline
202:See also
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196:MrBeast
149:In Film
111:begins
108:Beloved
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