Or what I want to call the, “Hook ‘em Dano!” Competition! Hey all! Last week we talked about what makes a great HOOK – using the SHARP elements (Stakes, Hero/Heroine Identification/Anchoring/on the Run/Problem or Story Question.) I hope you’ve been honing all your hooks last week – if not, head over to Voices, and Rachel has started a HOOK discussion loop to post our hooks and work on them. THEN, when you’re ready, post your entry HOOK here, in the comments section. Deadline is SUNDAY at Midnight. You can enter as many different HOOKS as you’d like. (But only once per hook!) FYI: A hook consists of the first sentence, or the first FIVE sentences of the first paragraph, whatever is stronger. We (as in the MBT team, as well […]
Read the RestArchive | March, 2008
HOOK ’em Dano Examples (Okay, I’m in a Hawaii 5-O mood since I’m going somewhere warm!)
Stirling McRae should have known he couldn’t escape his duty, even deep inside the forests of northeastern Alaska, a hundred miles from civilization. No, it found him in the form of a grimy terrorist in an orange hunting vest and cap. Only, said terrorist hadn’t a prayer of escaping the McRae brothers. At least that’s what Mac told himself as another branch slapped him across the face and he plowed through a bramble of thistle berry. So much for having some hang time with his brother. Brody would probably deck him the next time Mac suggested they go fishing together. ~~ That’s the HOOK paragraph of my book Expect the Sunrise. It’s in the prologue, so I have another powerful hook in Chapter 1, but this sets the tone of […]
Read the RestHow to Hook your reader!!
“One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. In the first paragraph, you solve most of the problems with your book. The theme is defined, the style, the tone. At least in my case, the paragraph is a kind of sample of what the rest of the book is going to be.” Gabriel Garcia Marquez…who won the 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature (100 years of solitude which sold over 10 million copies.) wrote that. I have it taped to my computer monitor, to remind me of the impact and the importance of that HOOK paragraph. Today, briefly, we’re going to talk about the HOOK. What do you do when you pick up a book? Probably read the back cover blurb, and then open to the first page. Then, […]
Read the RestWhere in the World are we on the Journey?
Happy Monday! This week we’re going to do something a little different at MBT – Rach and I are both going to run away from home this week (in fact – we’re going to run away together, with three other authors to a booksigning in hardy, AK. If you want to stop by, you can find the deets at http://www.wordsafterwords.com/) ANYWAY, we thought we’d take this blip in time to catch us all up to where we are in our Year with a Hero! We’ve spent the last couple months learning: Premise Elements of a heart-stopping hero Elements of a strong heroine The Greatest Devices (Greatest Dream, Greatest Fear) to construct the black moment and the Happily Ever After Storyworld And…Inciting Incident So, here’s where I let you in on […]
Read the Rest
