Get the Hook

On the Vaudeville stage they used to bring out the hook when an act was bad and yank them from the stage. This was a great attention getter and made the audience react with hoots and hollers.

When writing, a hook is also an attention getter. You need to write something that catches the reader's attention and doesn't let them put the book down. Each chapter, each scene needs to have two hooks. One at the opening and one at the ending. Your job as a writer is to keep your reader up all night because they HAVE to know what happens next. It doesn't matter if you write short fiction (40-60,000 words) or long (90-100,000). In today's market there isn't time for long passages of description unless it has hook. Unless the reader has to know what is around the next corner or what Billybob is going to do when confronted with the truth.

A hook can be action. It can be emotion such as regret, or guilt or fear. It can be confrontation or impending doom. Look for the punch in your scene and start there. Here's an example: Evil preferred the cover of darkness. So it was no surprise when Detective Ryce Alden found himself behind crime scene tape at 3 a.m.
This example sets the tone of the book and invites the reader to wonder what happened and read on.

I'm judging a contest and am surprised by the lack of hook in the entries. It's not about word count, my friends, it's about hook. When working on a partial or contest entry, don't look at page count, don't think that the more words you can squeeze in the better--it isn't. An entry or partial can be short. The goal is to leave the reader/judge/editor/agent wanting to read more. If you can do that, you will be successful in all that you do.