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Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers on Page One and Never Lets Them Go
 
 

Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers on Page One and Never Lets Them Go [Kindle Edition]

Les Edgerton
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Print List Price: £9.99
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Product Description

Product Description

The road to rejection is paved with bad beginnings. Agents and editors agree: Improper story beginnings are the single biggest barrier to publication. Why? If a novel or short story has a bad beginning, then no one will keep reading. It's just that simple.



In Hooked, author Les Edgerton draws on his experience as a successful fiction writer and teacher to help you overcome the weak openings that lead to instant rejection by showing you how to successfully use the ten core components inherent to any great beginning. You'll find:



Detailed instruction on how to develop your inciting incident

Keys for creating a cohesive story-worthy problem

Tips on how to avoid common opening gaffes like overusing backstory

A rundown on basics such as opening scene length and transitions

A comprehensive analysis of more than twenty great opening lines from novels and short stories



Plus, you'll discover exclusive insider advice from agents and acquiring editors on what they look for in a strong opening. With Hooked, you'll have all the information you need to craft a compelling beginning that lays the foundation for an irresistible story!

About the Author

Les Edgerton is a novelist and author of Finding Your Voice (Writer's Digest books). His short fiction has appeared in Best American Mystery Stories 2001, Kansas Quarterly, Arkansas Review and many others. His honors include an Edgar Allen Poe Award nomination, and an Indiana Arts Commission Fellowship

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 353 KB
  • Print Length: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (29 Mar 2007)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0033ZAVV2
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #189,954 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've read and studied around twenty writing `how-to' books. This excellent little book is one of the best. It gives insight into modern story structure and the all-important beginning ( incuding why it's important, as seen from an agents/editors point of view .)

The author Les Edgerton is an experienced and successful writer. ( See 'lesedgerton.com' .) He explains how an `inciting incident' turns the MC's world upside down, and shows how this and other surface problems link to a deeper `story-worthy problem'.

His style is encouraging but not patronising, and topics are well explained with reference to current books and films. He gives two levels of explanation: the topic and why it's important, then examples and tips on applying the topic to your own work.

In one chapter agents and editors describe mistakes writers make with story beginnings, and offer examples of strong beginnings, but the book is not just about beginnings, it also covers: set-up and back-story, introducing your character, how to use active description, trusting the reader's intelligence, openings to avoid, and offers tips on foreshadowing, transitions and jump-cuts.

He explains about `BookScan' ( a global system which tells booksellers and publishers the titles that readers are buying right now ) and how it influences the type of stories publishers will buy.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve her/his chances of getting a novel accepted. ( See also the excellent 'Lights! Camera! Fiction!' by Alfie Thompson )
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful 3 Nov 2007
By Clarke VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Hooked is a wonderful book about the art of writing novels. Wonderful and practical. I can't tell you how much I am enjoying it and how much I've learned from it. The book focuses on the first sentence, the first page, and the first few pages of the book - because that's where you "hook" the reader - but the lessons are important for the whole book.

Of the half dozen books on writing books that I've read ... this is my favourite.

If you like to think and you like to read both non-fiction books and novels (however literary or trashy) then you'll enjoy this book - even if you have no intention of ever writing a novel .
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Very useful indeed 12 Dec 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
At the beginning I thought the author was saying nothing I hadn't already read on many other books, but I must admit I was wrong, because this book really left me with a clearer image in mind of the importance of opening and many practical suggestions on what is to be avoided and what to be achieved. All this taught in a very pleasant voice. One single fault, in my opinion: many things are repeated twice, three times. Maybe less pages would have been enough.
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Popular Highlights

 (What's this?)
&quote;
Jack M. Bickham's Scene and Structure from Writer's Digest Books. &quote;
Highlighted by 88 Kindle users
&quote;
Stability + Inciting Incident = Instability + Struggle to Resolve Instability = New Stability. Very succinctly, a story is a movement from stability to instability to a new stability. &quote;
Highlighted by 85 Kindle users
&quote;
An opening scene has ten core components: (1) the inciting incident; (2) the story-worthy problem; (3) the initial surface problem; (4) the setup; (5) backstory; (6) a stellar opening sentence; (7) language; (8) character; (9) setting; and (10) foreshadowing. &quote;
Highlighted by 83 Kindle users

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