The Psychology of Hooking a Reader

Maybe you clicked on this blog post because you figured I possessed some kind of secret to getting readers to be hooked on what you are writing, but really the fact that you are here shows that the title I wrote was enough to get you here.

Now I won’t disappoint.

Recently, I read a fantastic book by Lisa Cron entitled “Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers”. This experienced writer found the book to be eye-opening, and I know that if you plan on writing a compelling story that is guaranteed to hook a reader from the first sentence, then you should go out and grab a copy. I recommend not just checking it out from the library, but owning a copy so that you can highlight and underline. She also offers an online class for around $50 which is quite good and will help you go deeper than the book.

Lisa is not just a random voice on the internet trying to sell you something, but a long-time writing instructor, publisher and speaker. The book is backed by hard research and uses a ton of examples to illustrate the science. I took a multitude of notes, and will be using this method for writing my latest science fiction novel.

From the first chapter, Lisa takes you through several practical steps that any writer can take to utilize basic human needs to drive readers to keep reading…