Book writing styles to hook your audience and write better books
Successful authors are aware that a well-written story will capture the reader's interest right away. Readers will be drawn in and motivated to keep reading if the introduction is strong. Many different writing styles may be employed to generate an effective hook, and knowing which one best fits your voice is crucial to honing your skills.
Some of our preferred methods to start a story are as follows:
Posing a query: Where's Papa going with that axe? is the simple first question in the classic children's tale Charlotte's Web. Readers are immediately captivated by this statement and are left wondering what will happen next. How far is Papa traveling? Why would he require an axe? Will Fern attempt to thwart him? A question used as a hook encourages readers to continue reading by getting them to think.
These opening questions can be intriguing and offer the readers a hook to read further and understand the multifold story as it narrates itself gradually. One could also start with something simple yet with a definite motive to answer the question later in the story, to provide your readers a resolution, a sense of connection, and stitch the story in a manner that captures the readers' attention in the first few lines.
Defining the setting: A well-designed environment gives any story depth and fascinating features. By reading your words, readers should be able to picture the environment of the story. Setting the scene at the beginning of your story will pique the readers' curiosity and provide them with immediate context for the action. This is expertly done in the opening sentence of Michael Ondaatje's "The English Patient": "She stands up in the garden where she has been working and looks into the distance." The initial clue and some of the locations are revealed to the readers without giving away too much, assisting them in visualizing the scene. Similarly, you can provide imaginary visual geography or the mise-en-scene of your story for the readers to visualize the set-up of the story and the time it belongs to. Paint a clear picture of your setting for the readers to be able to enjoy your story in depth, along with the creative weaving of the words alongside the surroundings. Words can be used creatively not only to define the setting of your storyline but also the characters in it.
Plan a surprise: Strange events can keep readers interested and wondering what will happen next. The first line of Nick Hornby's novel "Juliet, Naked", "They had flown from England to Minneapolis to look at a toilet" creates a surprise. Readers will undoubtedly be curious as to what makes this toilet so unique. This is an unexpected and surprising tidbit that gets readers to think. Writing a unique opening for your story can establish the tone for the entire piece and draw readers in right away. BriBoo helps plant such surprise elements by suggesting open-ended questions and sentences. The surprise element must not only be placed randomly but with a clear point of view as to what significance this element holds, where a certain event is happening in the story, and, more importantly, why? Answer a few simple questions about the situation and give more depth to your story for the readers to enjoy.
Character Introduction: Giving readers a character to identify with in the first sentence will lure readers into a story. This works particularly well if the character is distinctive or unexpected. The first line of the beloved children's tale "The Iron Man" is simply "The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff." This takes readers out of their everyday surroundings and to the cliff where Iron Man is standing. Most readers will keep reading because they want to learn more. Even though this is a very straightforward example, it would be simple to develop and add fascinating details about the individual. Your story can even begin with “I woke up on an alien planet” or “I ran into a wall and jumped out the other side into a different world”. Ideas can be as creative as you like them to be, including the invention of your own creative words, while introducing bizarre characters such as aliens, a cartoon character, a pet, or anything you can think of.
Starting with a turning point in the narrative: By introducing a turning point in the narrative, you can entice readers to continue reading. They'll be curious as to why you chose to open with this specific scene and want to find out what occurs next. Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner” first phrase is a great illustration of choosing a crucial moment to start with. “On a chilly, dreary day in the winter of 1975, when I was twelve years old, I became what I am today." The reader would probably want to discover the specifics of what transpired on that cloudy day to profoundly alter the main character's life. BriBooks offers you a platform to express your creative ideas in the form of a book and publish it online for readers to read and order your books. With the help of BriBoo AI-Assistant, you can get a chance to become a Globally Published Author and an Entrepreneur. Be the Young Author and live your dreams with BriBooks!