 Mystery: October 26, 2011 Issue [#4687] |
  Mystery
This week: High-Interest Hooks Edited by: Jeff  
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"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
-- Carl Sagan
Random Mystery Trivia of the Week: Faye and Jonathan Kellerman are quite the accomplished married couple. She has a doctorate in dental surgery, while he has one in psychology. Both are also bestselling mystery novelists, and in fact are the only married couple to have appeared simultaneously on the New York Times Bestseller list for separate books. They have four children, the oldest of whom (Jesse Kellerman) is a novelist and a playwright himself.
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HIGH-INTEREST HOOKS
A hook (sometimes called an inciting incident), is the moment at the beginning of your story that draws the reader into your story. If you've ever watched a procedural television show like Law & Order, CSI, Criminal Minds, or NCIS, the hook it easy to spot... it's the even that happens in the opening teaser before the show's title sequence starts Sometimes it's like Criminal Minds, where the audience actually sees the crime unfold. Other times, it's like CSI or Law & Order, where the audience (and the characters) are introduced to the crime scene after the crime has already taken place. Whatever the particulars may be, it's essential that this hook draw the audience into the story, otherwise they're putting down the book, changing the channel, etc.
With all the mysteries and crime stories out there, it can be difficult to come up with a good hook. Just your regular 'ol murder isn't going to cut it anymore. We've seen too many shows and read too many other stories that just the simple fact that there's a dead body in the room, or that someone's been shot doesn't excite an audience's sense of curiosity like it used to. In many cases, there needs to be another layer to it... something to make it stand out and seem unique when compared to all the other crime stories that are fighting for the same market share.
When trying to come up with a unique or interesting hook for your story, consider a few of the techniques that have worked in the past:
 The Gross-Out. Sometimes, just making an opening particularly grisly or gruesome can make a story stand out. Criminal Minds is particularly adept at coming up with hooks that just make you want to squirm in your seat (and in most cases, keep watching to see what happens). Eli Roth also made use of this technique in his movie Hostel, as did the filmmakers of the now infamous Human Centipede movie. Few things leave more of an impression on us than those scenes that make us squirm and sick to our stomach.
Humor and Perspective. Jerry Orbach in Law & Order had a great ability to toss out these one-liners as they were investigating their crime of the week. Sometimes it's not the crime itself that's the centerpiece, but how the characters react to it. A character with an interesting perspective, humorous offhanded comment, or an unusual approach to the scene can really engage your audience in the story... not necessarily because of the details of the crime, but because they're interested in seeing how this unique character handles the situation.
Bizarreness. Throughout its history (but especially in recent years), CSI is the gold standard when it comes to bizarre crime scenes. In the show, it's not usually the murder, or the rape, or the kidnapping that makes the story interesting; it's the unique circumstances of the crime. In the Las Vegas (original) series, victims have died by shark bite in a casino pool, by bursting into flames while in police custody, and by puncture wounds inflicted with dinosaur teeth. Each of these isn't necessarily gruesome or gross (like the above technique), but definitely gets the audience to sit up and pay attention, if for no other reason than to find out how the heck that could have happened and what the real explanation is.
Victim Selection. Sometimes, the simple choice of who the victim of the crime is makes a story interesting. Breaking and entering into any old house isn't all that unique... but what about a story of breaking and entering into the White House? Murder may not sound all that interesting by itself, but what about the murder of a well-known movie star or business mogul? If the victim is unique or interesting, that can sometimes be reason enough for the audience to want to keep reading and figure out what happens.
Extenuating Circumstances. If all else fails, maybe it's not the crime at all that's the real hook in your story, but rather the events going on around the crime. What about a murder on stage at a concert hall, fifteen minutes before people start arriving for the performance? Or a kidnapping where the perpetrator seems to be the ex-husband, who everyone thought was dead? Sometimes just the circumstances surrounding the crime can make it interesting to follow, if there are restrictions on the time, location, or other particulars of actually solving the crime.
The opening of a story is one of the most important moments in the entire narrative. It's the moment where the audience decides whether they want to keep reading/watching, or to give up on something that isn't holding their interest in favor of finding something else that does. Knowing that, it's important to make sure that your stories hook the audience early and don't give them an opportunity to put it down and move onto something else. Your hook, therefore, must be interesting, unique, and memorable; it has to stay with the audience long enough to get them to read further and have the chance to really get into the story and engage with your characters.
Give your stories every opportunity to hook your audience and maintain their interest by coming up with a hook that makes them sit up and think, "Wow, I really want to know how this situation is going to play out!" 
Until next time,
-- Jeff
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What are some of the best story hooks you've read?
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This week, I would encourage you to check out the following mystery items:
I do not know any more when I became suspicious that something was wrong. Perhaps it had already started with the Stephen King novel Bag of Bones about the haunted house which I had read a couple of months earlier. I am not in the least superstitious or easily drawn into unrealistic fiction but when I read that book, I immediately removed the fridge magnets, as I was concerned that they would also convey creepy messages.
As she drank her morning coffee, and perused the Facebook pages on her computer, she suddenly stopped and realised the latest update was from Dave’s niece Kate over in the U.S. and it was quite upsetting. She was staring at a distraught photo of Kate with a blazing inferno in the background and the status update said “Everything’s gone, Brian’s dead”. Brian was Kate’s brother, Dave’s nephew, of course. They lived in the same apartment building in Tucson, Arizona and Liz now recognized that the fire in the background was that building.
It’s been an hour since her body was taken to the morgue, but to her husband, John, it seemed like just moments ago. As the vision of her lifeless body lying on the bed permeated his mind, he stood at the entrance to the bedroom he shared with Sara.
Flashes of the worst went through his mind. What if he lost his arm after this? He was lucky it was just his left arm—he’d still be able to write and do most things. But he could never hold his wife again. That is, if he could see her again.
For the fifteenth night in a row, Isleen found herself trapped in a barren landscape and unable to leave at her will. She was conscious, but she could not control her movement. Slowly, her feet carried her forwards through the terrain, walking down the same path like they had done fourteen times before.
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In response to my last newsletter on whydunits and howdunits (the question was regarding favorite why- and howdunits):
Thank you so much for featuring one of my stories in the newsletter. I am so honored. My favorite stories are by P J Parrish, a sister team who write whodunnit how and where. Love all their books. Some are a series, some stand alone. If you haven't read them please do. They have been nominated for Edgar and Shamus awards on more than one occasion. -- Sandy~HopeWhisperer 
You're very welcome, and thanks for the read recommendation. I haven't read anything by them yet, but I'll add them to my list! 
Family is crazy. -- BIG BAD WOLF Feeling Thankful 
You'll get absolutely no arguments from me! 
Hi. I have been wrestling with a mystery for the past couple of months. I have the story line down but it seemed to be turning in such a predictable direction that I became bored with it and left it alone. "Whendunit"? "Wheredunit"? These two "dunits" opened my mind to a new possibility. It seems to be the key. I will try to get at the story with these two aspects and see if it works. It feels like it will, I'll give it a try. Thanks for the inspiration. -- bertiebrite hoping for peace
Happy to hear that a new perspective inspired you again!
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