The Hook By K. M. Weiland, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The hook of a novel is arguable the most important element. It catches the reader’s attention and makes them interested in the story. Without a hook, there is nothing for the reader to connect to, which leads to them becoming uninterested and putting down the book. Based on “The Hook” by K.M. Weiland, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of “The Sign of the Four” has successfully written a good hook. Doyle opens the novel with the main character, Sherlock Holmes, and then he immediately makes the reader ask themselves a question while simultaneously setting the tone. His approach to the novel leaves enough mystery to make the reader want to continue reading to get answers to their questions. In “The Hook”, Weiland gives the characteristics of a hook that she thinks is successful. She gives a set of guidelines to follow, along with writing techniques to help you meet her criteria. In her opinion, a successful hook “...perfectly introduces your story’s character, plot, setting, theme, and voice.” (Weiland 341). …show more content…
Unlike an explicit question, which clearly gives the reader a question to ask themselves, an implicit question gives the reader enough information to make the reader come up with questions for themselves. Weiland states that “We’ve created a hook only when we’ve convinced readers to ask the general question, “What’s going to happen?”...” (Weiland 338). In the very first sentence, Holmes is getting a bottle and a hypodermic syringe. This automatically makes the reader ask themselves “What is he doing?”. Right after this, it is revealed that Holmes is doing drugs. Even though the reader now knows what he was doing, they still want to know exactly why. This makes the reader want to continue the novel so they can find the answers to their questions. Instead of giving everything away right at the beginning, Doyle entices the reader with mystery and unanswered questions so they will keep