I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go
by
Les Edgerton
business in Paperback edition that was published by Writer's Digest Books on April 12, 2007 and has 242 pages.
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A nonfictional exploration and exposé of creating a hook to drag your readers in and keep them fascinated.
My Take
This was excellent!! Every single page has useful information on starting your story and fascinating your reader — whether they’re a just a plain old reader or…an editor or agent! Edgerton dives into “what agents, editors, and (ultimately) readers expect.
Learn how to avoid that starting red flag that will cause an editor to toss your manuscript aside. Edgerton defines beginnings: opening line, opening paragraph, opening scene, opening page, and the opening chapter. If that isn’t enough to terrify you!
How stories are structured, the grammar, whether you show or tell, how much of the backstory is told as well as when and where, and more go through fads. The current fad is for as little backstory as possible, instead editors like it when you plunge right into the “action”. No, it doesn’t have to be — and it’s better if it’s not — guns blazing-cars crashing type action. Just something happening.
Really, he’s brilliant. My one caveat is the organization of it. He goes into the surface of that opening scene, the scene which must hook your reader/editor and discusses it. Then he goes on to another angle and discusses it, going over the same ground but in a different way with a different focus. And he does this over and over. In some respects, it does seat the information into my brain. In terms of taking notes from it…eeek…
At the end, he includes a group of agents and editors with their views on what they want and don’t want to see in a story opening.
I do recommend you pick this book up and read it.
The Cover and Title
The cover is clever with a pretty colonial blue background and a goldfish peeking out from the side. Oh, yeah, it’s one hungry fishie checking out that fish hook that’s grabbed the “O” in Hooked.
