Well, folks. It was fun while it lasted.

As you can see, not much has been happening on this blog lately.

There are several reasons for this, but I will only hit on a couple:

First: It's amazing how much can change in a couple of months--both in our personal lives and on the writing front. A couple of us have signed publishing contracts, and so the need to write, edit, market, promote HAD to take preference over this blog and the services we were providing.

Second: Running this blog, critiquing submissions, providing feedback...well, that's a LOT of dang work. We weren't getting paid for this service. We had a concept and we went with it--for free--not realizing how much time it would involve with very little (nothing) in return for our effort.

Third: Probably the biggest factor that made us come to this decision, was the fact that a good portion of the submissions we received just weren't ready. They needed more revision. We were wanting to give out reviews on AMAZING, fully complete, well edited novels. 90% of what we received didn't come close.

So we've shut it down. We've moved on.

If you liked our comments and our posts, you can check us out on our individual blogs:

Angela Scott: www.whimsywritingandreading.weebly.com or @whimsywriting on twitter or http://www.facebook.com/AngelaScottWriter

D.S. Tracy:

Kacey Mark:

Monday, June 20, 2011

The Hopeless Romantic in Your Hook

Posted by Ready, Aim, Hook Me at 6:09 AM
I've been a romance novel junkie for most of my life. It's a vice I suppose, a delicious method for escaping reality. But it's a healthy vice. Promise.
What do I love about these books? I love how they embrace the basic human need to connect with another person on a deep, emotional level. And the best part?
No, it isn't the musclebound hero of yumminess. He helps, he's fun, but he and the heroine offer something even better than smoldering glances and stolen kisses. They offer the potential for a happily ever after (HEA).

And what woman from age sixteen to sixty doesn't want that?

I'm here to tell you every good hook has a little hopeless romantic ready to experience it. Varying degrees of romanticism, I'll admit, but it's still there.
Don't believe me? Let me explain.

What is it buried in the hook that keeps your reader turning pages?
My opinion?
No matter how dire a character's situation gets, no matter how much the writer chooses to abuse him/her, the reader wants to hang in there, gunning for the character's ability to triumph over what his/her world has been busy shoveling at them. Why? Because in a good hook, the reader connects with the main character and wants to believe they will earn their HEA. Because they sympathize or form an emotional connection with the main character. They want them to succeed.

In the majority of romance novels, the HEA's are guaranteed, but this isn't the case with every story. Some are prone to mirror the tragedies of real life, but keep in mind that your reader is still hoping that in the end the character will win somehow. Learn something.

You can use that in your hook by:
Forming a connection with your reader
Heaping the characters full of conflict
And above all, give your reader hope that in the end they will find their HEAs. However small that shadow may be, make sure you get it in there.
Oh, and if you could throw in a few musclebound heroes of yumminess that's good too :-)

5 comments:

L.L. Muir on June 20, 2011 at 1:35 PM said...

Nice reminder. Thanks!

Kerrigan Byrne on June 20, 2011 at 1:47 PM said...

Great blog, dear! You hit it on the head!

Crazy Life of a Writing Mom on June 21, 2011 at 9:26 AM said...

I LOVE the masculine heros :0)

Marc on June 22, 2011 at 8:31 AM said...

Absolutely! No matter what my subject matter and how far I take my works into the worlds of sci-fi, fantasy or horror, and as much I shy away from formal love stories, a strong romantic subplot works great to complicate an already dangerous and unsteady situation, ;-)

Trick is...to make it unique. I hate really typical love interests that have been done over and over. :-D

Unknown on June 23, 2011 at 6:40 AM said...

In my WIP book two young people meet in chapter 2. She is attracted to him right away. He is indifferent. He thinks she's bossy (and she is). I'm hoping they'll get together by the end of the adventure, but who knows?

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