10 Writing Hooks to Catch Your Reader’s Attention


  • Home
  • About
  • Sites
  • Join
  • Subscribe

bringing together the best tips, advice and information from a network of trusted sites – to help writers write right

Join and help us develop readers into writers
Subscribe to our daily updates

10 Writing Hooks

by Ana @ The Writer Today

Writing Class Notes: Beginning Hooks – Strategies to use to catch your reader’s attention

1. Begin with a simile or a metaphor.

My life has been a carnival. My family is like an open book.

2. Begin with a question.

Who is the greatest athlete of all times?

3. Begin with a definition.

Amiable is the best way to describe my personality: I am friendly and caring. Perfect is the best adjective to describe me: I am flawless in every aspect of my life.

4. Begin with a quotation.

“Learn to laugh” is something my kindergarten teacher told me after Ralph Thorsen spilled paint on my daffodil picture.

5. Begin with a comparison to a well-known person or celebrity.

I am as photogenic as Tyra Banks.

6. Begin with placing yourself in the future.

In the year 2012 I see myself as a supreme ballerina performing in Camelot at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

7. Begin with a dilemma.

Deciding to attend Hampton Roads Academy, a private school, was one of my most difficult decisions.

8. Begin with a scene.

The day of my birth began with Hurricane Charlie pounding at our door in Charleston, South Carolina.

9. Begin with the best advice you have ever received.

“Butch, did you practice the piano?” Since I was six years old, this has been a daily reminder from my dear mother. “Be all you can be” has been my inspiration from my grandfather who is a retired Marine Corps colonel and my mentor.

10. Begin with an anecdote.

As my cousin and I pedaled our new bikes to the beach, 6 years old, suntanned and young, we met an old, shaggy-haired man weaving unsteadily on a battered old bike.

What other beginning “hooks” have you used?


The Write Network brings together articles from a network of trusted sites – to help writers do things write.

Please visit the original by Ana @ The Writer Today to see the article it in its intended format, including any videos, images, bonus content, and extra links, and to add your thoughts and comments on the article.

Similar posts
  • Dear Literary Ladies: Isn’t there an easy road to writing success?
  • Rewriting: Its All in the Plan
  • How to Write a Business Letter

Join the write network and help writers do things right write

Help us spread the word download the write network banners for your website

The Write Network brings tips, advice and information from a network of trusted sites across the blogosphere which help writers do things right write.

The Write Network is an ad-free service by MeeQi to help support and inspire writers.
thewritenetwork.com©2009

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *