Hooks: Assign. #6

http://www.davidbordwell.net/essays/hook.php
There are four main types of hooks in movies. 1) A sound can hook to another sound. A line of dialogue at the end of a scene connects to the line at the beginning of the next scene. 2) A sound can hook to an image. A line of dialogue is answered by an image. 3) An image can hook to an image. An image from once scene will lead to another image in the next scene. 4) An image can hook to a sound. An image of something can be connected to a sound that means something. The last two are much rarer than the first two.

http://authormarketingtools.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/writing-the-introduction-how-to-hook-your-audience-and-keep-them-reading/
Start by asking the readers a question, or giving them a challenge. Then follow up with a good thesis that's got the basis and point of your work. And the rest of it should be stories and stuff that readers can relate and connect to. Following these things will create a great hook that will reel readers in.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/print_article.php?articleId=10699
When trying to write a good hook to your writing, there are some things that really help. When you can't really think of what to write for the beginning, just write out the other ideas you have and fix it up later. Also, analogies provide great hooks. Sometimes stupidity will be enough to gain a reader's attention. Putting together an unusual combination of words can create a really great hook too.

http://www.literature.org/authors/poe-edgar-allan/tell-tale-heart.html
The Tell-Tale Heart has a good hook because it starts with an exclamation. It makes you wonder why and what's going on that there would be an exclamation. And then he talks about being nervous, and that also makes you wonder what he's doing that would make him nervous. For these reasons a reader is interested enough to read on. A hook in reading should be short and interesting. If it takes a long time to be interesting, it's not a hook. Readers will start reading and lose the want to read it. Movies can also have just one short moment create the biggest hook for the beginning: a question about the characters, or just a clip of one scene that comes later in the movie. Extreme action could hook us to know why there would be that action. But movies need a little explanation sometimes for the hook. First comes a little bit of the hook, then some explanations, and then the rest of the hook.

Example 1: Transformers 2: Revenge of The Fallen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcz6yAYDT4g
There were questions posed at the beginning. "Why are these people hunting down Decepticons, what is all this running and fighting for, and what does this have to do with Sam Whitwicky?" I kept wondering what this was all about, and so I wanted to see the rest. The trailer does a good job catching your attention too. Shows the main character, your favorite Camaro, and humor. (Hah I laughed so much at that part!)

Example 2: Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html (there's a link for a pdf file if you scroll down.)
The beginning starts with something interesting: the fact that he can't sleep. So if you don't know the Twilight series, you start to wonder why, and what exactly the main character is if he can't sleep. There's some humorous bits like " If there was any way to atone for my sins, this ought to count toward the tally in some measure." And, if like me, you didn't realize the main character is talking about not being able to sleep instead of wanting to sleep in school, then the purgatory line about high school's kinda funny :]

Example 3: Valiant by Holly Black
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Valiant/Holly-Black/9780689868221/excerpt_with_id/10292 (link to prologue)
The prologue of the story creates a great hook. There's so many unanswered questions in just 2 pages. The whole fact that someone is dying, that she's a tree, and she's been poisoned, creates this big mystery of what this book will be about. Oh, and who exactly IS Ravus? That's definitely something your mind says "Yeah, I wanna find out who that Ravus guy is."

All three of these hooks contain something in common: the mystery factor (yeah I made up the name for it). The mystery factor is how much it makes you curious and ask questions about it. Maybe I should've called it the curiosity factor. Anyway, all these hooks make you wonder why and what and who and how. Transformers takes the action approach, Valiant by the bookish action approach, and Midnight Sun with the pure curiosity approach. In both Midnight Sun and Transformers, there are bits of humor along with the hook, but Valiant went with a serious way. It's the kind of serious that's scary but intriguing. Either way, they all captured my attention and hooked me to the rest.