Fantastic hooks and how to write them
Hint: spend a lot of time on them
Hope you had a fantastic break!
I took some much needed time away from writing, but I am back and more fired up than ever to deliver something valuable to you daily.
Today, I’m gonna teach you the key elements that make up a legendary hook.
You already know what a writing hook is (I’m assuming), so let’s skip right to the how-to…
What makes a great hook?
For a hook to really work, it has to fulfill at least one of the following requirements (and the more you can stack in a short sentence, the better):
It captures attention
It clarifies your offering
It gives a portion of truth
It creates a desire to know more
It drops readers in the middle of the action
It jolts an emotional connection
It takes the reader by surprise
It leaves the reader with questions
It meets the reader where they are in that moment
Above all, a hook needs to instill curiosity.
Your goal for the hook is to be interesting enough that the reader wants to move on to line 2.
And the goal of line 2 is to get them to line 3.
So on and so forth.
Some bonus tips for great hooks would include:
Use numbers to get a point across
Use emotional words
Make a cray promise that the rest of the content can live up to
Spend 90% of your total writing time on the hook.
I know, this seems like a ton. And it is.
But think about this logically…
What do you want people to do with your content? Read it.
How do you get them to read it? Get them interested.
How do you get them interested? Write a great hook.
Fact of the matter is that if you don’t have a great hook, no one is reading your piece. And your time is largely wasted.
Most writers begin with the body content and work on the finer details (like the title and hook) later.
Instead, start with the hook.
This will give you supreme context as you write the body content on how to live up to the promise of the initial hook.
Your writing will be much better received.
What are some examples of great hooks?
Here are a few favorites:
That’s all for today!
What did you learn about writing hooks here? I’d love to know your thoughts and what you’re gonna try first.