Writing Paranormals -- The Basic Rule of the Hook
The Basic Rule of the Hook
Tie your world EMOTIONAALY to the here and now so readers can identify with it. Your protagonist MUST experience the same emotions as we all feel. Their goals must be human and easily understood. In that respect, hooking your reader is no different in paranormal than other genres. Later you can branch out...building your world from little to big. My "telepathic cat with an attitude" who appeared on the top of page 4 sold HeartMate. Celta expanded in the viewer's vision from the relationship between hero and cat to a whole different world.
This is a whole lot harder than it seems, really get into your hero or heroine's emotions in the Ordinary World -- just before Things Change.
May all your hooks work today (and that means at the end of chapters, too).
Robin
posted by FantasyAuthor RobinDOwens | 7:18 AM
3 Comments:
Heart Mate was the first book of yours that I read and I bought it purely from the cover - I'm a Crazy Cat Lady and I'll usually try books with cats just to see what I think.
I loved Zanth and got hooked on his relationship to T'Ash, despite their beginnings.
That sense of familiarity of emotion and loyalty to what I feel for my own cats is what drew me in and made me a loyal reader of your work.
Of course, my cats still don't seem to want to talk to me and they do NOT appreciate me draping them in the jewelry I make. I must have defective Fams.
This is a great lesson, Robin. One for the "keeper" file. And it is so very basic, that it can be overlooked.
Sometimes, we can be so involved with "writing" that we forget to tap into that universal flow of emotion. Emotions equalize us. Whether we are dealing with creatures alien or fae, emotion is what makes the reader invest in a story.
And though I don't have any cats, I loved Zanth too. But T'ash was pretty kewl in my book. One of my favorite "Heart" heroes.
Maura, my "Queen of the World" cat has decided her collar is declasse and won't wear it anymore (it gets "lost" she slips out of it). At one time my cat household knew that a collar meant they belonged.
Moon, thanks, yes, this lesson is a reminder, even for me.
Robin
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