Ray Dario
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2000
- Posts
- 529
Hey guys I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
What makes a good title or tagline or for that matter a good hook?
Okay, I know the old cliched answers.
It has to grab your attention and make you want to read farther.
It has to pull the reader in.
It has to be honest to not piss the reader off.
But HOW do you make it grab the reader's attention and make him want to read farther?
How do you pull the reader in?
The last one is a no brainer so I'll leave it be.
Since I'm starting this thread I'll go ahead and give you my thoughts, jumbled and incoherent as they are, on the subject.
Titles: Short, sweet, relevent but something that isn't seen everyday. I think the title should hold some connection to the story but it should also be something you haven't heard ten times that day.
Taglines: Here I fall down. My taglines are NOT effective and I know it. How do you tell the reader, in 20 words or less, what the story is basically about without giving it all away and still make the reader want to read your story? I think that this is the toughest of these to come up with.
Hook: Ah... an entire book could be written on just this. Oh wait they have been! Creating just enough mystery and intrigue in your first paragraph is the single most important part of writing any story. It is also the most failed at, especially here at Lit, but even in published books and short stories.
I like hooks that start with some oddball, dramatic phrase and then quickly pulls me into the story. I hate melodramatic cliche's. And please leave the throbbing members out of the hooks.
Mystery is good in hooks if the story can back it up but I don't like stories whose hooks don't pertain to the story. Then I feel cheated and used.
Well okay, I've said my piece. What do ya'll think?
Ray
What makes a good title or tagline or for that matter a good hook?
Okay, I know the old cliched answers.
It has to grab your attention and make you want to read farther.
It has to pull the reader in.
It has to be honest to not piss the reader off.
But HOW do you make it grab the reader's attention and make him want to read farther?
How do you pull the reader in?
The last one is a no brainer so I'll leave it be.
Since I'm starting this thread I'll go ahead and give you my thoughts, jumbled and incoherent as they are, on the subject.
Titles: Short, sweet, relevent but something that isn't seen everyday. I think the title should hold some connection to the story but it should also be something you haven't heard ten times that day.
Taglines: Here I fall down. My taglines are NOT effective and I know it. How do you tell the reader, in 20 words or less, what the story is basically about without giving it all away and still make the reader want to read your story? I think that this is the toughest of these to come up with.
Hook: Ah... an entire book could be written on just this. Oh wait they have been! Creating just enough mystery and intrigue in your first paragraph is the single most important part of writing any story. It is also the most failed at, especially here at Lit, but even in published books and short stories.
I like hooks that start with some oddball, dramatic phrase and then quickly pulls me into the story. I hate melodramatic cliche's. And please leave the throbbing members out of the hooks.
Mystery is good in hooks if the story can back it up but I don't like stories whose hooks don't pertain to the story. Then I feel cheated and used.
Well okay, I've said my piece. What do ya'll think?
Ray