Comments on: Hooking the reader (and hopefully the editor) with the first 13 lines

By: scottmarlowe.com - When To Stop Reading, Part 3: Short Stories

scottmarlowe.com - When To Stop Reading, Part 3: Short Stories — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:28:14 +0000

[...] people say you have thirteen lines in which to hook the reader of a short story. I found this to be more or less true as more often [...]

By: Story Cookies, Part 2: Seeding the Beginning : Spontaneous Derivation

Story Cookies, Part 2: Seeding the Beginning : Spontaneous Derivation — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 07:12:29 +0000

[...] Hooking the reader (and hopefully the editor) with the first 13 lines by Kevin Andrew Murphy [...]

By: Beth S.

Beth S. — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:21:47 +0000

Also–

No matter what technique is used, the opening must impart a sense of building momentum. Of a wheel starting to roll. One of the most frequent mistakes made by beginners is to make the opening a static snapshot. Or to choose a moment that’s not inherently interesting, dramatic, or tense. Or to start with a reaction instead of an action. And this applies equally to novels or shorts, IMO.

By: Beth S.

Beth S. — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:12:06 +0000

I don’t think there is a difference. Short work or long, the same rules apply for those first few paragraphs. They have to draw the reader into the story.

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:45:30 +0000

If I know the author, I may buy a book I don’t like the look of on the strength of his/her previous work.

If I don’t know the author, I will read the blurb and then randomly open the book to see if the book ‘thinks’ in a way I like. I never read the first page to decide. It’s too easy to be swayed by all the hooks!

I am interested to know, if anyone cares to comment, when writing a novel as opposed to a short story, what the main differences are in terms of beginnings. I presume you write in just the same way as for a short story but you carry on for longer, and this naturally leads to a more complex story, either in depth or events or both. It still grows like a bush from a single stalk at the bottom to a single leaf at the top. I can’t see why you would start differently.

Adam

By: Mitch Wagner

Mitch Wagner — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 19:39:43 +0000

David Louis Edelman - As I understand it, word verification doesn’t really work. The spammers get around it, and it inconveniences legitimate users.

By: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 17:16:54 +0000

*Whew* Okay, I’ve cleaned up the porn and gambling spam from this thread. I’m surprised the anti-spam plug-in didn’t catch these. You’re right, Harry, we may need to add word verification if this persists. %$@$!#@ spammers….

By: Katharine Kerr

Katharine Kerr — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 20:53:45 +0000

Dave the sysadmin is off this weekend. I’ll email him to come take these out when he returns, because I would have to do it by a very laborious process, and the messages, at least, are garbled. Gads. I suppose it’s the “hooking” in the post title that made them spam here. Obviously they can’t read well.

By: Harry Connolly

Harry Connolly — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 02:30:56 +0000

Looks like it’s time to add word verification or something before people can post.

By: Katharine Kerr

Katharine Kerr — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 09:46:47 +0000

Editors of novels read the first 10 pages, unless the first page is really awful. However, editors also only read agented submissions, these days, so the agent is expected to weed out the really awful and only send the sellables.