Finding The Right hook for your story

There's an old Copywriting proverb that goes:

Storytelling, no matter how powerful we think it to be, is only an effective marketing strategy —when done right, and by right, we mean when it engages and sparks an emotional response that makes the prospect take action.

Still rings true today

And I'd like to use this medium to point out something important about using stories to sell:

While it's true there's many reasons most stories don't work in marketing — Like:

• The stories are boring
   
• The stories lack emotional punch
   
• No intrigue.
   
• No common grounds established with the reader (reader can't see herself in the hero of the story)
   
• No seamless transitioning
   
• And so on...

The biggest reason for storytelling blunders is the absence of powerful hook at the beginning of your story

You can't get people eager and excited to read your story when you don't have an intriguing opener

That is:

A dramatic, intriguing or suspense-filled sentence that casts a spell on your reader — and makes them want to see where the story is going....

Now, the question is:

"How do I find the right hook for my story?"

It's simple

Simply look at the story you're going to use

And find the action points (where's the drama?)

Or suspense points (what's the stuff that makes people curious?)

Or gossip value points (give people something to gossip about)

Then start with the most powerful one

And by most powerful, I mean the one that instantly hooks your reader the moment they read that first line

Examples:

• If I didn't know this woman any better, I'd say she was sleeping around with the executives at Providus bank....
   
• Trevor was already packing his bags to leave the beachhouse when he got that call from Paris 
   
• The moment I scratched the seal on page 19 of that stolen document, I knew I was a dead man...

What we're doing is teasing our readers to make them want to read on....

They're called hooks

Simple sentences that spark curiosity

And every story has at least one powerful hook that can be used as it's opening line... or in it's first chapter

If you read the first chapter of most great novels

You'll notice they make you want to read the next chapter

And the next chapter makes you want to read the next chapter

And so on...

Each Chapter starts and ends with a powerful hook that makes you want to know more...

That's how you tell stories

Always keep your reader on the edge of her seat

Keep her salivating for more 

And in the end 

Be sure to close with a powerful moral or lesson that triggers an emotional response from her 

Why do you think — after watching certain movies — some people feel compelled to do something they wouldn't otherwise do if they hadn't watched that movie till the end?

It's the power of storytelling done right

Stay frosty

A.