Hooks
Two weeks after I got knocked out with what I'm fairly certain was the flu, I'm finally feeling more normal. Still coughing and have a little bit of a sore throat sometimes, but my brain has (mostly) un-fogged, so I feel like I'm getting something accomplished.
Since I've barely been able to write the last couple weeks, I've been thinking a lot about story in general terms, and one of the things I keep coming back to is hooks. Actually, what I keep coming back to is that I rarely start out with one. Every novel I've ever written has been based around characters for me, which is great for writing, but not so great for pitching. So I've been thinking about attempting a new project, one where I'd try to start with a hook.
Might as well give it a shot, right? Problem is, I don't think in terms of hooks. Never have. So while I have a multitude of characters floating around that could easily be pulled into a new story, I don't know where to put them.
The hookiest idea I have right now is something that's been done: a modern Cinderella retelling. I like it, but I'm not sure that my hook (it's mostly set in a haunted restaurant) is strong enough to withstand the groans of "another Cinderella? really?" My other WIP is my Alt-World Futuristic Historical Mystery with Bonus!Magic, which is fun to write but not exactly a "hook."
Of course, maybe my problem isn't lack of hook or inability to pitch, but that my framing is off. For example, I have a lot of trouble telling people what ACCURSED is about. I hem and haw about ghosts and curses, when I really should be telling people it's a modernized Snow White re-imagining, where Snow's a sarcastic hard-headed 17YO who steals cursed objects from haunted houses.
Yes, I see this:
Source: google.com.au via Kathleen on Pinterest
and turn it into this girl:
Source: fanpop.com via Kathleen on Pinterest
who does things like this:
Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Kathleen on Pinterest
And then there's the idea that maybe my flu-brain hasn't really gone yet and I'm just rambling. Which could totally be the case.
Either way, what are your thoughts on hooks or changing up your methods?
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This is really interesting! I do think it's an easier go if you have a strong hook - but you'd need the characters/world-building/plot/writing to back that up of course. I've never thought of myself as someone who thinks of hooks first, but both this series & next do have pretty strong ones. And Garolass didn't, and was much harder to sum up in a pitch...I wonder if it can be a matter of FOCUS as much as a hook - really knowing what it is your story is about and being able to synthesize it into a sentence or two?
That's really interesting. The idea of focus is a good one, though I worry that with my current writing methods I don't know my story quite that well until years after I start it, you know? Like, the Snow White pitch is something I've come up with nearly 3 years after starting Gen's story. Maybe it's kind-of like synopsis writing for me-- hard to get that kind of distance. I wonder how I work on finding that kind of focus. Hmmm....
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