Hooks and friends

Who are our friends? They’re the people we have an emotional connection with. The stronger the connection, the stronger and more resilient that bond is. Hardly rocket science.

 

Take the example of two school bullies, swaggering and scanning the yard for a victim to harass (their favourite pastime). “Look at that dumb bastard,” one mutters, flicking his head in the direction of the small boy, playing alone. “Yeah, hate his f***ing guts,” the second sneers.

 

The bullies might deny it, (“Emotions? Pppht” I can hear them snort at the mere suggestion). But they share identical motivations and emotions. In their case, they despise anybody who differs from them, and have an urge to feel powerful by giving somebody a hard time.

 

It’s what binds them and makes a point of difference between them and everybody else. They’re hardly likely to feel a connection with, say, a teacher who tells them how nasty they are being, and nags about 'what was that poor boy doing to you?' The teacher doesn’t get it, does she? And their shared contempt for the teacher strengthens their connection.

 

It’s those who ‘get’ us, those whom we ‘get’ in return, that we choose to spend time with.

 

(It operates at many levels We pick out those we want to get to know. We identify them before they’ve even opened their mouths. Cues such as their clothing, body language, facial expressions and the company they keep. All tiny signs that scream volumes about the sort of person they may be... decisions made within about 15 seconds)

 

It’s exactly the same with fiction. We choose books on the basis of visual cues on the cover (all strategically placed there by marketing folk who have researched all of this) and on recommendations (ie, the company these books keep).

 

But it’s the emotional connection we have with the character determines whether  we want to read on, whether we care enough to feel their journey is important enough for us to want to read on.  

 

When the reader ‘gets’ the character, relates to their dilemma enough to want to know what happens next is when the story hooks them. And this is meant to happen within the first few pages or so.

 

So the challenge for the writer is to provide enough cues about the characters’ motivations and personality early enough so the reader can relate.

 

So... what hooks you as a reader?