Opening hooks can be simple: when your story is finished, just change the start so it offers a hint of what the story is about.
@solamande
6 жыл бұрын
I'm so glad you're back.
@annaibanez2499
6 жыл бұрын
I love it when you post new videos!! So glad you’re back. Please don’t go! 😭 Your videos are THE BEST videos of the booktube community.
@HarryBillyBobGeorge
6 жыл бұрын
Yo, if you see this, glad you're more active lately! I think "In a hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit" is my favorite hook. Not a huge Tolkien fan, but it just asks so many questions. What the hell is a Hobbit? What's life in this "hole" like? And the next chapter just goes into so much detail about Bilbo's life and the shire and everything
@ClintLoweTube
6 жыл бұрын
DavidtheWavid Simple lines can wield great power.
@michaelpelegrino7936
6 жыл бұрын
I love that you're giving examples from existing books for us to understand better😁
@eleanorthereader
6 жыл бұрын
Thanks for offering your services! Your advice is always valuable and you're super articulate! You also get to the topic point quickly which makes learning/remembering important info easy! Glad you're back:)
@solamande
6 жыл бұрын
Eleanor TheReader I love the quickly part, She doesn't waste time. I keep videos of special interest in a playlist for reference. I think it's great that she's generous enough to do this for free.
@eleanorthereader
6 жыл бұрын
Bruce Kelly my thoughts exactly! I do the playlist thing too, haha:) happy writing!
@javaidakhter4582
6 жыл бұрын
Ellen Brock the best result of an education system working properly. thank you for shearing
@mediaocrity4
6 жыл бұрын
Maybe it’s my penchant for mystery and pulps, but I like it when the protagonist gets dropped into a moving plot machine and has to figure out everything that’s going on alongside the reader.
@quartkneek3670
6 жыл бұрын
I've heard an interview with JK Rowling where she admitted to concentrating on those aspects of her first book when she rewrote the initial chapters. In the interview, she admitted to doing so much world building in her pre-writing that she was giving away too much. In reading the final version that was published it's easy to see all the magical elements that are teased but we discover aspects of the Wizarding World and the plot just as Harry does.
@GeraltOfArabia
6 жыл бұрын
That's how effective mystery should be really, in my opinion. A classic example is HP and Sherlock Holmes - not the BBC tv show. Another example I can think of is Eddard Stark slowly figuring out how and why Jon Arryn was *killed*
@qwertyTRiG
6 жыл бұрын
Years ago, I read a thriller/mystery novel with a really interesting opening hook. It describes a character's rather strange actions in great detail, without giving any clues as to his motivations. You just have vivid descriptions of a man acting oddly, and are really curious to know why. The explanation starts in the second chapter, and takes the rest of the book to resolve. redd.it/9448rt
@ClintLoweTube
6 жыл бұрын
mediaocrity4 They are great, unfortunately it's too scary for many agents.
@mediaocrity4
6 жыл бұрын
Write Heroes I get it. Starting like that is making a big promise, a big check you have to be ready to cash in or the whole ordeal will be a waste
@paulaiello2071
6 жыл бұрын
This was a terrific video. Ellen. Love that you included The Kite Runner. Just a beautiful book that was so well written with an intriguing hook, great characters and twists and a very satisfying conclusion. Keep them coming!
@CraigHinrichs
6 жыл бұрын
So Good! This is the best explanation of hooks. Everyone says you have to have a good hook but doesn't really explain a good from bad hook. Thanks for these examples. I would love more examples of good hooks and even examples of poor hooks and why they are poor. Great job.
@tomoliver2112
10 ай бұрын
Love your videos! Love writing but feel like I don’t have the time to finish my novel but I’m gonna keep on trying! Thank you so much for your help.
@lanatherana157
6 жыл бұрын
Another amazingly helpful video from Ellen, thank you so much!!
@kyosgirl106
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much! I am writing my first novel and your videos have been so helpful for me. I love that you use examples to demonstrate different techniques other writers have used. I had a breakthrough after watching this!
@lucyamclarenauthor
6 жыл бұрын
So excited about the forthcoming boot camp. Your videos are so insightful and helpful - thank you Ellen! I’ve contacted you to get booked in for November, I hope we get to work together ☺️
@demonrulzends777
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much. I finished my first book and im waiting to get it published. I already started on book 2. You were very helpful!
@ender4344
4 жыл бұрын
I'm curious, what is the name of your book? If you want to tell me, please do lol
@demonrulzends777
4 жыл бұрын
Are u kidding of course I will tell u. Book 1 is call Warrior Women of Superian Island: The legend of the Six Breasted Man. It should be out soon. BOOK 2 is already finished and I'm writing book 3 now. Gosh I feel like a fanboy forgive me. I can't believe u wrote me. I'm flattered and grateful. I listen to all your suggestions, & hope I meet the expectations of greater writers like yourself! Thank U so much U made my day. Hopefully if u read my book it will make yours.
@ender4344
4 жыл бұрын
Ace Johnson I feel like you wrote the reply to the wrong person. Doesn't matter though lol. I'll check your book out! Good luck on your writing journey :D
@demonrulzends777
4 жыл бұрын
Sorry but thanks! Send u an autographed copy😇
@ender4344
4 жыл бұрын
Ace Johnson :)
@danielchadwick3020
5 жыл бұрын
Best vid I've ever seen on this subject. The examples make all the difference. Brilliantly done! I'm a new subscriber!
@Charlie_Toben
6 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much for these new videos. Look forward to learning more about writing a novel. I may never write one, but I find it interesting to read and watch movies and to figure out their structure and predict what is coming next.
@ClintLoweTube
6 жыл бұрын
PHOTOM42 You might surprise yourself. Anyone can do it. You could start with a flash story of less than 1000 words and take it from there.
@Charlie_Toben
6 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the encouragement. I was just thinking maybe I should start with a short story lol.
@JROtoons
6 жыл бұрын
This is very helpful. Thanks to you, reverse engineering my opening scene to find out if there are any questions being raised will be of great benefit.
@kyotaiken
6 жыл бұрын
Finally, youve returned. Im so excited for more of your advice and videos. I hope you get around to making another four or five versions of your 25 ways to spot an amateur author.
@ClintLoweTube
6 жыл бұрын
Kierkegaard Just read my work and you'll spot 37 ways.
@savamorozov6447
Жыл бұрын
Thank you so much Ellen!🌟🦋
@demonrulzends777
4 жыл бұрын
Of course I will tell you the title. It's Warrior Women of Superian Island: The Legend of the Six Breasted Man. I sent your response to someone else I felt like an idiot. Hopefully this gets to u. Thank u so much for reaching out to me. I followed all your suggestions, and pray it resonates with readers. I'm already writing Book 3. Hopefully Book 1 will be out soon.
@marcuspowell7042
6 жыл бұрын
So glad you're posting your videos again, they're so helpful.
@tonyzotz6015
2 жыл бұрын
This is awesome advice! I like to learn by example so just hearing how you break down each one has got the gears in my head turning
@joesjoeys
6 жыл бұрын
Im so glad you're finally back Ellen! I always love your vids!
@ilovewalking513
6 жыл бұрын
So happy to see you active again! Love your channel.
@WriterTrice
6 жыл бұрын
So glad to see you're making videos again! You're one of my go-to channels for learning about writing. Keep going!
@SnowYuzu
6 жыл бұрын
Hello Ellen from Australia!! thank you so much for being so clear when explaining concepts! I've scoured youtube for editing and writing advice and yours is by far, one of the best channels I've watched! thanks so much for your hard work :)
@quahntasy
6 жыл бұрын
I am watching all your videos now. They are too awesome!
@honeyluv32690
2 жыл бұрын
Very helpful. Thank you.
@samanthajungers8442
6 жыл бұрын
Water for Elephants ha a really great hook.
@charliebrown4624
6 жыл бұрын
Please ignore the person that gave it a thumbs down. There's one in every crowd, but it's their right. Personally I want to thank you for your time and effort, it is greatly appreciated. (Also, please ignore the adverbs).
@Megasunami
4 жыл бұрын
in love with your brain.
@mosespray4510
4 жыл бұрын
Another fabulous video that I can put right to work in my writing. Thank you.
@gemmamalo96
6 жыл бұрын
so happy to see a new video from you!
@rosesugarman1372
6 жыл бұрын
I know you are right. Just hearing your examples makes me want to read the books.
@ShesPublished
6 жыл бұрын
This is also a great way to build into the future of your novel - sequels and spinoffs!
@t0dd000
4 жыл бұрын
Kite Runner is so incredibly good. Arguably the best I have read in a decade or more. And a great book to learn how to write better.
@quartkneek3670
6 жыл бұрын
As a reader, I always avoid a self-published book with a prologue. I'm glad you're going to cover it for the next video and I hope you'll steer newer writers away from that structure. Even accomplished/successful writers have a difficult time pulling it off and most just label it as the first chapter with a time-jump or integrate it into a flashback or something. Maybe it's the just the genres I read most, but to me, a prologue screams "heavy-handed Info dumping backstory"
@ClintLoweTube
6 жыл бұрын
Quartknee K I hate prologues, too.
@Leto85
5 жыл бұрын
Those were good examples of how to hook and how to keep them hooked. Quentin Tarantino does this very well himself in his stories by using first dialogue lines that raises questions, adding subtext to his dialogue and creating great suspense over the cours of the scene. You may want to use him as an example as well when you want dive even deeper int this subject in a future video.
@envoyroth
6 жыл бұрын
Can't wait for the prologue video.
@lemonjamz
6 жыл бұрын
I love your videos! Please make more. I watch them all and like them all! 👍👍👍
@NrdCool
6 жыл бұрын
Ellen, your videos are great. Thanks for making them.
@baercub521
6 жыл бұрын
Yay, glad you're back ;)
@janicemacintosh5324
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for your insight and expertise.
@PhoebeWritesFiction
6 жыл бұрын
Definitely something I will think about for the opening of my novel. Thank you so much for sharing :)
@mudcrab3420
6 жыл бұрын
Ellen's ALIVE!!!! :)
@jge8144
6 жыл бұрын
I hope you'll one day make a video about how to write engaging exposition. I still have a little trouble writing it b/c I don't know how to write it without getting too informative.
@aliank9658
7 ай бұрын
Thank you
@InghamL99
6 жыл бұрын
You’re back! (I guess that’s what you’d call a rhetorical comment.) Anyway, awesome!
@sterreb1108
6 жыл бұрын
This is so helpful! Thank you!
@Amanda-dn4ld
6 жыл бұрын
Question: all three of these examples are in first person. Any examples of someone doing this well written in third person?
@rigasatria3221
6 жыл бұрын
Another good video. Thank you miss allen 😆🙏. I'm your big fans. . . May allah bless you with peacefull life 😇
@werelemur1138
5 жыл бұрын
Too bad "My Sister's Keeper" didn't finish anywhere near as strongly as it started.
@AntonioKowatsch
6 жыл бұрын
Yay, a new video.
@1zangelique
6 жыл бұрын
Awesome helpful aids, Ellen! Thanks so much. (I was # 100 in the "likes" though I wish I could like it a 100 times!)
@GreyDeathVaccine
5 жыл бұрын
What a great piece of advice :-)
@Jellofish777
6 жыл бұрын
my goal is to have hooks throughout so the reader always feels that push of curiosity. I imagine the hard part will be striking a balance between new questions and satisfying answers so the reader doesn't feel too lost.
@bozalaysecacarlos
6 жыл бұрын
Exceclent Video, it leaves me thinking about my current on going draft if it is catching enough the interest of the readers. Probably, one of my first self-reviewing process stage, will be the inclution of metter hooks. I missed in your vide some examples about hooks that are written in third person. If I am not worng, all the examples were in first person, that sound more intimate and commited with the reader. Is it harder to create good hooks when your narrator is on third person?. Thanks in advance and I really love yoour videos.
@ClintLoweTube
6 жыл бұрын
Carlos Boza The hooded man fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed - Stephen King. 3rd person. We know there is a man fleeing. And a gunslinger chasing him. And we know they are in a desert. Creates many questions. And sets the scene. All in one line.
@ThePetergate
6 жыл бұрын
Brilliant!
@guywittamic
6 жыл бұрын
Love your channel, love your videos. It would be awesome if you had a mic pack or some other audio recording that would make the video not sound so tinny...
@claudia2431
4 жыл бұрын
Do you have any advice on how to write first person and second and third person? Please explain each one or any advice? Claudia
@Eddie_adi
6 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the video..
@Maldoror2112
5 жыл бұрын
"My Sister's Keeper" sounds reminiscent of the movie Parts: The Clonus Horror, but it's understandable if you wouldn't automatically make that connection because I'm sure it came out long before your time (1979).
@WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs
5 жыл бұрын
The winter of 1975 If you've read The Kite Runner, you'll know why this is important and why it comes up so many times in Hosseini's novel
@matthewakian2
5 жыл бұрын
Thanks a lot!
@Josephthetutor
6 жыл бұрын
Where have you been?
@Thessalin
6 жыл бұрын
Ellen generally only posts videos in August. It's very regular every year. Which is sad for us Sept to July. But this year she started early! Woot woot!
@TheJunkieBox
6 жыл бұрын
How to Clickbait Your Book
@r.brooks5287
6 жыл бұрын
They come from the northern reaches of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland? Obviously dragons from the rest of the British Isles prefer to holiday elsewhere. Helpful vid, thank you.
@11gingin
6 жыл бұрын
cool vid, i watched it twice
@honeymartin9120
6 жыл бұрын
Great
@louisewhite5663
5 жыл бұрын
Hi Ellen! You once said something about staying consistent with verb tenses. I'm not sure if this qualifies as inconsistent verb tenses. "The four young Ulbing children were bewildered at the things taking place around them." Can you tell me whether "were bewildered" and "things taking place" count as inconsistent?
@DeusExMachina50
4 жыл бұрын
I'd like to hear examples of third-person narrative opening hooks.
@Grifiki
6 жыл бұрын
Now I have my Ear Phones, so I can tune in. Hi Ellen! Love Grifiki
@Grifiki
4 жыл бұрын
Looking for the Thread loop
@yeshwhistle2515
5 жыл бұрын
I love you!
@stocks4bt
4 жыл бұрын
Are hooks used in regular books? Or only novels
@teisonedwards7111
6 жыл бұрын
You live!!
@HaploidCell
6 жыл бұрын
Hi, very interesting video. I have a question, since you focus on story hooks that start at the beginning of the book. Are there other story configurations that are structured like a chain of hooks? I think that your story hooks set up interesting scenarios that apply to the whole of the book, to a story that runs from the beginning to the end. I am trying to think about books that are more adventure-based, so in order to get from A to B, to C, etc. until you arrive at the end of your story (Z), you'd need multiple hooks, right? I am coming up empty here, except for some pulp fantasy books from the 90s, and those kinda do not count because the overall quest (A-Z) IS a story hook presetented by the prologue.
@shantimindproductions5585
2 жыл бұрын
This is a good question. You'd probably call this kind if book a "page turner", or maybe the author purposely put in cliff hangers to pull the reader forward.
@hawaiiansmith15
6 жыл бұрын
yeah but these are all 1st person examples would it look the same if it was in 3rd person
@Grifiki
4 жыл бұрын
"Authors Hook readers, by working at Libraries. And they never even wrote a Book."
@ar4203
Жыл бұрын
Hm i dont get it.
@johannhohenberger5518
2 жыл бұрын
oh
@cosmicprison9819
Жыл бұрын
Another one similar to the types of hooks presented here is: “At age 11, I broke my piggybank and went to see the hookers.” -M. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran
@AgMak
6 жыл бұрын
Resurrection
@TheCrochetCritters
6 жыл бұрын
Should the opening hook be in the first sentence?
@pandabear7042
6 жыл бұрын
Merel Verhulst No. You will need a good opening line, but the opening hook is just fake English teacher writing "rules". The earlier the better, but anytime in the first chapter is normal.
@jesuschristsonofgod9709
5 жыл бұрын
Yes
@Gevito236
6 жыл бұрын
I was forced to read The Kite Runner in highschool...
@henkman00
6 жыл бұрын
DOGS
@11gingin
6 жыл бұрын
lol that first example qoute was bordering pretentious, sorry if i sound pretentious
@CoolExcite
6 жыл бұрын
"Who is John Galt?"
@PeterMacansky
10 ай бұрын
@cosmicprison9819
Жыл бұрын
Honestly, as effective as they are, some of these hooks sound suspiciously reminiscent to clickbait… 😁
@zebulynnhanson791
6 жыл бұрын
Great video but why are you sweating?
@mobhandholder7741
6 жыл бұрын
Zebulynn Hanson the lighting probably
@HomeAtLast501
4 жыл бұрын
You're illustrating ATTEMPTS at a hook. I don't think any of these attempts would hook me --- they'd actually repulse me.
@HomeAtLast501
4 жыл бұрын
They almost sound like non-native writers who watched videos and are rotely following formulas for writing a novel.
@GWoodward29
2 ай бұрын
Can you please give examples of hooks that DID hook you? I'm curious
@turbo6266
4 жыл бұрын
who here is American
@CharlieTV
6 жыл бұрын
Jesus christ you're good looking.
@Docsfortune
2 жыл бұрын
Girl I love your videos and your content, but please get a decent pic lol
@ashirahelat4749
2 жыл бұрын
Hooks are over rated Smart writing works best
@davidbridges870
4 жыл бұрын
Hi Ellen You don't look altogether comfortable standing while making your presentation, perhaps you should make your self a bit more comfortable. Try recording while seated in your favorite stool or chair.
@yamiffer5084
6 жыл бұрын
i love your videos because not only do i learn writing tips and gems, but because i get really interested in the books you give as an example. So it's a great way to get reading recommendations!
@joshuahenderson3345
6 жыл бұрын
I am also glad you're back. Your recent videos have improved, but have always been truly excellent.
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