How to Write a Hook For Your Story

How do you write a hook that grabs your reader's attention and pulls them through the first few pages (or first chapter) of your story? That's what today's video is all about! Comment below and tell me: what's YOUR favorite story hook?

GRAB THE 3-ACT STORY STRUCTURE TEMPLATE:

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✨ V A L U A B L E R E S O U R C E S✨

MORE VIDEOS YOU WOULD LIKE:

→ OUTLINE MY NOVEL WITH ME

→ PLOT DRIVEN VS CHARACTER DRIVEN STORIES

→ HOW TO MASTER PACING AND DESCRIPTION

→ HOW TO DECIDE WHAT TO WRITE NEXT

✨F O L L O W ✨

✨ A B O U T ✨
My name is Abbie Emmons I teach writers how to make their stories matter by harnessing the power and psychology of storytelling, transforming their ideas into a masterpiece, and creating a lifestyle that makes their author dreams come true.

Story isn’t about “what happens” — it’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters. I believe that there is an exact science (a recipe, if you will) behind a perfect story. And if you know what ingredients you need, you can create your own perfect story with ease and confidence. That’s what we talk about every week on this channel – and if it’s something you’re into, be sure to subscribe and join this community!

✨C R E D I T S ✨
All movie clips and soundtracks used for educational purposes under the Fair Use law. Moana (2016) Frozen (2013) Tangled (2010) The Little Mermaid (1989) Beauty And The Beast (1991) Mulan (1998) Brave (2012) copyright Disney Animation Studios. Passengers (2016) copyright Village Roadshow Pictures and Start Motion Pictures.

[emmamichelsohn]

I heard a suggestion from someone that if you don't like your first chapter, write the rest of the book and go back at the end. Since the more you write the better you get, and the more you write the story the better you understand the characters and events. The first chapter in my WIP is a wimpy little place holder, and now that I'm about 2/3 through my WIP I do feel like I have more insight into how to make it work better. But to top it all off, now I can pair what I already have, and my new ideas, with the stellar advice from this video. I'm actually not dreading it at all, which is exactly the feeling I like to have before rewriting a difficult chapter. :)

[kayeherl]

What does every disney movie have in common to make you care about the character from the beginning?
Me: dead parents?

[r.i.p.]

Abby: "There's a secret ingredient to Disney movies, come on what is it?"

Me: "MONEY!!!"

[lylaiscooler]

I know this might sound dumb but I am 10 years old and I love to write story’s. I want to be an author, and this video helped me a lot! I have like 20 pieces of papers with beginning pages that totally flopped. But this made my characters feel more genuine. This is such a helpful video and I’d like to see more 😄

Edit: Thank you guys for your support! Its been a while and I’m still writing the introduction to my book. With me taking my time I feel like I get better results with my work. Also, instead of using this, I’ve kinda come up with my own method for hooks that’s more suit to me. Anyways, have a good day❤️

[hannahbyssainthe]

I am 16 years old and I have 15 book ideas, all different plots. I am really glad that I found this channel, because I never know where to start. I'm like a newborn baby when it come to the writing world.

[noahlee]

I honestly thought an ad started playing at 1:49 because of how it sounded... Geez that's how you know this is professional level quality.

[dion]

'Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.' Doesn't get any better than that. There are not many books whose first sentence is engraved in my mind.

[stevenboxleitner]

I am in writer heaven right now - I have been crossing my fingers for a series like this :D Thnx! You're a real inspiration to me :)

[RocketJo]

Your video just made me realize something about an old story of mine. I wrote it back in middle school and never really lost interest in it. I like the characters and the world. But the more I learned about writing, the more distant I grew. I tried to edit it, re-write it, even re-plan it, afraid of cliche and stuff and ended with a monster of a story that I felt was even worse then what I wrote way back. I never really got why. Because my craft definitly was getting better, my experiences had grown - I KNEW how to write technically at least.
But with watching your video I realized one point: In trying to avoid cliche, I decided not to have my protagonist watch his father be murdered. But that what defined him. My middle grade story actually had a great hook with my protag awakening from a nightmare and remembering his father's dead. That he died to rescue him and his brother. That conflict - could he as a five-year old at that time, have prevented his father's dead if he behaved correctly - is what drives him from the very start of the story. It's what makes him accept the king's proposal to become an army officer and what leads him to take revenge on the man behind his father's murder. I kept the plot points in every iteration of the story. But I lost my protag's internal conflict COMPLETLY. Thanks for making me realize it - probably rescuing that old piece of my soul ^^

[dragonartz]

I've discovered that the name of Chapter One can also make me want to read it more. Rick Riordan has mastered this, especially in Book One of Percy Jackson which is entitled:
"I vaporized my pre-algebra teacher"
This single sentence made me laugh so hard.

[TimRG]

The best advice I have heard about the blending plot and character came from Brandon Sanderson. He says you are a master when you can advance plot, character, and setting (worldbuilding) all in a single sentence. He gave credit to Ursula K. Le Guin for being able to do this marvelously.

[passantamreltarek]

I just LOVE your passion for writing and psychology, and I very much relate! I'm 15 and I just found your channel (and literally watched every single one of the 97 videos you have), and I like how all your videos are related to each other, and the fact that you're just teaching the same writing method starting simple, going into more details with every video! Your videos just gave me an understanding of literature and why I love the books that I love and hate the ones that I hate. You're such an INSPIRATION, Abbie and please never stop what you're doing. You deserve to be heard by all the writers out there, because everyone should learn from you!

[syberyah]

"Rules? I've always thought of them more like guidelines anyway"

[ruriva]

I like to think of the first chapter as a short story with an open ending.

[JoleCannon]

I think I wrote a good introductory hook for my debut novel (still in draft). A professional editor read the first 3000 words (for a charge of course), and she gave me a lot of great advice, critiques, etc. What I remember and loved is she said she cared about my main character and what is happening to him. She wants to learn more about his life and where it's going. That warmed my heart.

[dddud]

When Abbie mentions the part about rules not being constricting all I can think is: Rules are made to be broken. The apprentice learns the rules so they know why each rule is there. The master who knows all the rules knows which ones to break and how in order to accomplish the same goal the rule was in place for, but in a creative and different way.

[tophat]

The Three-Act Structure

This formula was used by ancient Greeks, and it’s one of Hollywood’s favorite ways to tell a story.

It’s about as simple as you can get.

Act I: The Set-Up

Introduce your main characters and establish the setting.

Brandon Sanderson, a popular fantasy writer, calls this the “inciting incident”— a problem that yanks the protagonist out of his comfort zone and establishes the direction of the story.

Act II: The Confrontation

Create a problem that appears small on the surface but becomes more complex. The more your protagonist tries to get what he wants, the more impossible it seems to solve the problem.

Act III: The Resolution

A good ending has:

High stakes: your reader must feel that one more mistake will result in disaster for the protagonist.
Challenges and growth: By the end, the protagonist needs to have grown as a person by overcoming myriad obstacles.
A solution: All the trials and lessons your character has endured help him solve the problem.

Suzanne Collins’s bestselling young adult trilogy, The Hunger Games, uses the three-act structure.

[zm]

I've been trying to develop healthier sleep habits and yet I still stayed up way too late last night reading the first third of your book! How dare you! 😂

[stoppickingurnose]

Dang, I was just editing my Prologue when this popped up on my phone.

[Quietcloud]

This was the best explanation of a story hook I've ever heard! I get it FINALLY. Internal conflict.