Need A Little HIP Action?

So what did you really think I was going to write about? LOL ... A dancer, I am not. I like to dance to make my kids laugh, but that's about it. I keep telling my husband someday we are going to take dance lessons, but nah...we never will. We'd laugh too much.

I'm still reading James Scott Bell's book, Revision and Self-Editing and he talks about HIPs. Here is how he breaks it down:

HOOK: This is making your writing hard to put down. It is not just used at the beginning of your book, but all throughout it. You want to give your reader a reason to keep turning the page, so every scene needs to draw the reader into it. This can be done through the opening line, through dialogue, and setting. You want to start your scene at, or close to, the action of the scene. You also want to establish the viewpoint right up front.

INTENSITY: "The greater the trouble, the greater the intensity." You don't want any dull parts, whatsoever. You need to keep tension in every scene. It doesn't have to be high-end tension, but enough to keep the reader in anticipation.

PROMPT: To me, this is like a hook, but only at the end of your scene and/or chapter. This is where you prompt the reader to keep on reading. Here are a few of Bell's ideas: a mysterious line of dialogue, an image of foreboding, a secret suddenly revealed, and a question left hanging in the air.

So have you been putting your HIPs in action? A little rusty from disuse? Or do you have some great moves?


photo credit: Mirian-Fotos @pixabay.com
Article first published at sherrinda.com 11/2009

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Sherrinda Ketchersid is a born and bred Texan, preacher’s wife, mother of 4 children, and works part-time as a bookseller at Amazon. With the children grown and out of the house, she weaves tales of fierce knights and their ladies in a time where men were warriors and women had to be strong enough to keep them in check.

After taking time off from writing, she has returned with a new motto in place to spur her on. “Writers write. Everyone else makes excuses.” ~Jack Bickham.  No excuses this time. She is weaving her love of romance with history to bring joy and the hope of love to those who may one day read her stories. Her first book, tentatively The Lady's Masquerade, will release April 2019.

You can connect with her through:

Personal blog: sherrinda.com

Twitter: @sherrinda

Instagram: @sherrinda