Starting Your Essay with a Hook/Attention Grabber

Starting Your Essay with a Hook/Attention Grabber

1. Start with a Personal Anecdote • “I kneel in the muskeg, bucket between my legs, cushion of sphagnum moss crimson beneath my rubber boots.”(from Aleria Jensen’s “Gathering Berries,” Orion Magazine, September/October 2007)

2. Inform Your Reader • “In 1993, life began to change for the young women of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.”(from Teresa Rodriguez’s “Why Speak Out?” Skirt! Magazine, February 2008)

3. Appeal to a Universal Experience • “It is not easy to love people when they’re lovable. It’s harder when they’re not.” (Yep, I know. This author uses two sentences here to hook readers. But the two are a team. See how they work together?)(from Patti Digh’s “Loving Unlovable People,” Skirt! Magazine, February 2008)

4. Make Your Readers Go “Huh?” or “You’ve got to be kidding!” • “‘Honey, could you please bring me the tissues out of my bag?’ I called from the bathroom in the rundown backpackers’ hostel.”(from Nicole McClelland’s “Sitting Pretty,” Orion magazine, November/December 2006)

5. Offer a How-To Tip • “First, fall apart.”(from Kelly Love Johnson’s “How to Fall Out of Love,” Skirt! Magazine, February 2008)

6. Start with a Quote • “IN THE BEGINNING God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”(from Roger Pinckney’s “The Bare Boughs of Winter Trees,” Orion magazine, January/February 2007)

Your Turn – Pick one type of hook and write it on the lines below: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Starting Your Essay with a Hook/Attention Grabber