Writing Your First Book, the Hook, Build, and Payoff

Writing Your First Book, the Hook, Build, and Payoff

Writing the Hook, Build, and Payoff

If you’re writing your first book and following these posts in order, then you’ve already read about writing the hook. If you haven’t read about it yet, you can find it here: Writing the Hook.

Hook-Build-Payoff-300x300 When your book is finished, it’ll likely have several chapters, maybe groupings of chapters such as “Part One”. It may even have a prologue and epilogue. Regardless of the number of chapters or parts or whatever you include in your work, there are specific sections your story must have. Editor Shawn Coyne, creator of The Story Grid refers to these three sections as; the beginning hook, the middle build, and the ending payoff.

The Beginning Hook

Whatever genre you write in, your story must have these three sections. This is story. What’s in these sections will depend on your genre. The beginning hook should cover roughly the first 25% of your manuscript. It should include the background, setting, world building, character development, and the inciting incident. It should grab the reader and give them a reason to continue. The inciting incident can be what I refer to as the hook in the above-mentioned post. But it doesn’t have to be. It should, however, escalate whatever situation the characters find themselves in, giving the need for a resolution.

The Middle Build

The middle build will be about 50% of the story and will include progressive complications throughout. When a character solves problem A, problem B should arise. As more complications pop up, the degree of difficulty should rise as well. Just not too much. In Star Wars: A New Hope, Luke Skywalker overcomes a few minor complications before his mentor, Obi Wan Kenobi, is killed by Darth Vader. Had Vader killed Obi Wan earlier in the story, the complication would have been too much for Skywalker to overcome or he may not have been emotionally affected by it enough to push through to the end. Skywalker had to become invested in Obi Wan through easier complications, which helped with his Jedi training or he would never have been able to face Vader and the Empire.

The Ending Payoff

The last 25% of the story is the ending payoff. This is where the climax happens, the resolution promised by the inciting incident in the beginning hook. Keep in mind that the climax doesn’t always end well for the protagonist. Sometimes the bad guy wins. In Star Wars, the climax is when Skywalker blows up the Death Star. However, in The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader cuts off Skywalker’s hand in battle, then reveals that Vader is Skywalker’s father. An ending payoff that doesn’t go well for the protagonist is quite useful in a series such as Star Wars as it can set up the next book. Could even be the inciting incident for the next book.

Regardless of your story telling style or what your genre requires; to have a working, successful story you must have a beginning hook, a middle build, and an ending payoff. The percentages mentioned (25, 50, 25) are guidelines, not etched in stone rules. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, J.K. Rowling spent nearly the first half of the book in character development and world building. But, she still had the three core pieces of story structure.

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