You Get One Page to Hook a Reader. Yes, Really.

By Janice Hardy

Many readers decide before the end of the first page if they’re going to keep reading.

A lot of pressure is put on the opening page of a novel, and for good reason. It’s the first impression the reader gets, and if that reader isn’t hooked in some way, they won’t move on to the second page. 

As unfair as it seems, 250 words (roughly one page) are often all you get to convince readers to stay with your story and read your book. It might be tempting to pack the entire story into that first page, but that's absolutely the wrong approach.  

All you have to do is give readers something that promises them that your novel will be worth reading. 

Which is much easier to do than you might think.

In the Beginning: Which Type of Opening Works Best in a Novel?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Opening lines are your novel's first impression on a reader. As long as it's a good impression, how you get there doesn't matter. 

The opening line of your novel is probably the most important line you'll write (no pressure). How you start your novel determines how many readers (or agents and editors) will keep reading it. And there are a lot of opinions about what that opening line should be.

Do you start with dialogue, description, or internalization?

Each one has a horror story associated with it about the dangers of using that type to start your novel. "Don't open a story with dialogue," or "Never start with description," or "Opening with internalization is just navel gazing."

Truth is, the type of opening line doesn't matter. It's how you start the story that's important. 

How to Hook Your Reader in Every Scene

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Everyone knows how important the first line of a novel is, but in truth, every opening line in the book matters.

As the saying goes, “Well begun is half done.” This is particularly true in writing, where we often get a single line to hook our readers and convince them to give our novels a try.

But it’s also true for the rest of the novel—not just that critical opening sentence.

Tension Starts with a Scene’s Opening Line

Every time we break a scene or end a chapter, that’s a chance for us to lose our reader’s attention. If we end at a low-tension moment, the odds of them putting the book down go way up.

How Much Really Needs to Be in Your Novel’s Opening Sentence?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Writers hear it all the time—your opening sentence has to be perfect. It will make or break your novel. It must contain [random writing technique or aspect that supports whatever point the article is trying to make]. If it doesn’t, your writing career is over.

For new writers, this can be terrifying. That’s a huge amount of pressure to put on a dozen or so words. Even for established writers it can be intimidating. They might wonder, “Is that why I keep getting rejected?” “I that why my e-book isn’t selling on Amazon?”

If you’ve worried about this, you can relax. Yes, the opening line of your novel is important, but the only thing it has to do is this:

Make someone want to read the second line.

That’s it.

Setting the Stage: How I Hook Readers From Page One

By Stafanie Gaither, @stefaniegaither 

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Hooking a reader is a vital part of any story--if they don't care, they won't read, so as writers, we need to make our readers curious about our stories. Please help me welcome Stefanie Gaither to the lecture hall today to share some tips on how she hooks readers from the first line.

After owning and co-managing a coffee shop for several years while simultaneously earning her BA in English, Stefanie Gaither left the small-business world behind to focus on her author career instead. Now, in addition to penning YA novels, she also works part-time as a copywriter for an advertising agency. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and an incredibly spoiled Shih Tzu. Visit her at StefanieGaither.com.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indie Bound

Take it away Stefanie...

On Your Mark. Get Set. Go! Writing the First Line of Your Novel

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

A while back I talked a bit about openings and shared an experience I had at a conference concerning first lines. First lines are critical to me, because I'm the type of writer who just can't get off on the right foot (or is that, write foot?) if I don't have a strong opening line. I admire folks who can jump in and write away and go back and edit those opening lines. Once I get past the first few pages, then I can go back and edit, but those first lines need to be more than placeholders for me to really get anywhere.

There's a lot of pressure on the first line of a book. We've all read the terrifying articles and posts about how agents never get past the first line or paragraph when going through submissions. I wish I could say this is a myth, but your opening line can make or break you.

It's a Start: The First Line

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Several years ago, I was sitting in a room with a bunch of other writers at the Surrey International Writers Conference. We were all waiting for agent Donald Maass to begin his workshop on creating tension in our writing. He walked in, asked someone in the audience for the first page of their manuscript, and read the first line. Then he asked one of the scariest question you can ask.

By show of hands, how many people want to hear the second line?