Comments on: More Musings on Hooks http://writerunboxed.com/2006/02/01/more-musings-on-hooks/ About the craft and business of genre fiction Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:09:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Ray Rhamey, Flogging the Quill http://writerunboxed.com/2006/02/01/more-musings-on-hooks/#comment-444 Mon, 06 Feb 2006 19:10:00 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/02/01/more-musings-on-hooks/#comment-444 Your points on hooks and openings are excellent. If you want another take on openings for novels, check out my Flogging the Quill post at http://www.floggingthequill.com/flogging_the_quill/2004/12/open_your_novel.html Best, Ray Your points on hooks and openings are excellent. If you want another take on openings for novels, check out my Flogging the Quill post at http://www.floggingthequill.com/flogging_the_quill/2004/12/open_your_novel.html

Best,

Ray

]]> by: Therese Walsh http://writerunboxed.com/2006/02/01/more-musings-on-hooks/#comment-443 Thu, 02 Feb 2006 15:39:00 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/02/01/more-musings-on-hooks/#comment-443 Elena said: <I>It's not really "less is more", it's figuring how much is right for this character/this story.</I> I agree with you, Elena. I also think that what's <I>finesse</I> for one person might not work for another. It's a good thing there are a lot of books to choose from! Elena said:

It’s not really “less is more”, it’s figuring how much is right for this character/this story.

I agree with you, Elena. I also think that what’s finesse for one person might not work for another. It’s a good thing there are a lot of books to choose from!

]]> by: Elena Greene http://writerunboxed.com/2006/02/01/more-musings-on-hooks/#comment-442 Thu, 02 Feb 2006 14:40:00 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/02/01/more-musings-on-hooks/#comment-442 Yes, finesse is important. And difficult to pin down, too. Maybe it's editing. Like that old advice about accessorizing: after you get dressed up to go out, take off one piece. (But for me on a typical day, that might involve removal of...a sock?) Hmmm... Maybe instead it's a matter of voice and what is natural for the POV character. Your examples are so different--the first so sparse, the second full of sensory detail. It's not really "less is more", it's figuring how much is right for this character/this story. Elena :) Yes, finesse is important. And difficult to pin down, too. Maybe it’s editing. Like that old advice about accessorizing: after you get dressed up to go out, take off one piece. (But for me on a typical day, that might involve removal of…a sock?)

Hmmm… Maybe instead it’s a matter of voice and what is natural for the POV character. Your examples are so different–the first so sparse, the second full of sensory detail. It’s not really “less is more”, it’s figuring how much is right for this character/this story.

Elena :)

]]> by: Therese Walsh http://writerunboxed.com/2006/02/01/more-musings-on-hooks/#comment-441 Wed, 01 Feb 2006 17:45:00 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2006/02/01/more-musings-on-hooks/#comment-441 Speaking of finesse--here's the opening graph from <B>The Secret Life of Bees. </B> <I>At night I would lie in bed and watch the show, how bees squeezed through the cracks of my bedroom wall and flew circles around the room, making that propeller sound, a high-pitched zzzzzz that hummed along my skin. I watched their wings shining like bits of chrome in the dark and felt the longing build in my chest. The way those bees flew, not even looking for a flower, just flying for the feel of the wind, split my heart down its seam. </I> Love it! Speaking of finesse–here’s the opening graph from The Secret Life of Bees.

At night I would lie in bed and watch the show, how bees squeezed through the cracks of my bedroom wall and flew circles around the room, making that propeller sound, a high-pitched zzzzzz that hummed along my skin. I watched their wings shining like bits of chrome in the dark and felt the longing build in my chest. The way those bees flew, not even looking for a flower, just flying for the feel of the wind, split my heart down its seam.

Love it!

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