How Do You Come Up With Good Story Hooks?

[sopelos]

Hello

I am trying to make a new comic; but I am having a hard time finding the right hook to grab readers’ attention. I don’t know if I should start with something funny, mysterious / maybe just a bold character idea.

I have looked at some popular series on Tapas & I can see they all have strong hooks but I still feel stuck. I would love to know what worked for you when you were starting out. How do you usually make a story sound interesting right from the start? Checked https://forums.tapas.io/c/questions forum guide for reference.

By the way; while thinking about tools that help creators, I came across the idea of what is cloud computing and I wondered if a cloud-based dashboard could make it easier for us to track how readers react to our comics.

Thank you !!

[kyupol]

Start out right away with something that grabs attention right away if it happens irl.

For example...

[jwabeasley]

There's really a few questions here all wrapped up together.

For starting a story, I recommend showing the primary draw of your comic as fast as possible, within the first page ideally and definitely in the first scene. Within the first 5 pages, the reader should be able to answer the following questions:
1. What kind of a person is the main character?
2. Why do I care?
3. Is this story likely to deliver on its promises?

Then, in your first story unit (chapter, arc, whatever), address the theme and main point of your story as if you won't get another chance.

The opening chapters of My Hero Academia, Naruto, and Dungeon Meshi are excellent examples.

For page turning hooks, there should be one on every page. There are some cheap ones, like having a character start to say something in the last panel and finish it on the first panel of the next page, or having a character ask a question in the last panel and answering it on the next page. You can do it with action, like winding up a punch but throwing it on the next page. The variations are endless. Again, Dungeon Meshi is really excellent at page-by-page hooks. I want a reader reading my comic to be like a person eating a great sandwich - yes, each page/bite is delicious and satisfying by itself - but that next bite is gonna be good, too! And then before you know it, you've eaten the whole thing.

In all cases, you're posing a question to the reader to which the only answer is to keep on reading, and not only with the big plot questions but also with each little moment to moment.

As far as cloud dashboards, I feel like Tapas has a decent enough dashboard for my purposes. Comments, likes, and so forth are a good-enough metric for reader reactions, short of having a camera track reader's faces as they read.

[powerplantanimations]

For Dream Goddess Chronicles we had to start off with the introduction of the text stuff before showing the illustrated pages.

This is like a "reverse hook".

We wanted to show we had confidence in the text stuff before we go all out with the illustrations; showing that they can stand on their own while also saying "hey be prepared to see these pages often".

It also shows shows how these two formats bleed into each other.

The flipping off is an indicator that this is all going to be a farce and that the goddess isn't who her lorekeeper says she was.

THE INTRODUCTION WAS THE BIGGEST PAIN IN THE ASS OF THE ENTIRE BOOK LMAOOO

Read Dream Goddess Chronicles | Tapas Web Community

[Lensing]

Make something you can´t stop thinking about.

I´m drawing in page format and I try to make every page (ideally every
panel) exciting.
I don´t know / care / think about if a potential target audience will
find it interesting. Thoughts like that would just make it worse
for me. With other words, I only create for myself and then publish
it when I´m done.

What would I want to read/see when I read a comic? That´s the main
question for me. I would like to have something exciting and interesting
happen from the start.

I like comedy, nsfw stories, relationship topics and that´s what I put into
my comics.

Here are the ingredients for a first page of a printed comic I´m working
on right now:
-Establishing shot
-The reader is confronted with a problem:
Priest and groom are in the church, the bride is late
-The amazing looking bride arrives
-The priest says the "speak now or forever hold your peace" thingy
but someone (who we don´t see yet) says "I object!"

Boom, super exciting and makes me want to know more and turn
the page. The bride looks super sexy because 1) I love to draw
women like that 2) I love to read comics like that. Perfect ingredients
for me as a creator and reader.

[sophialyn]

My approach is that if a character is approached with a few options, A, B, or C
OR
A, B, or C Is about to happen to them choose option W

And more recently

Good luck, option W is the best

[jwabeasley]

With other words, I only create for myself and then publish it when I´m done.

Sure, me too. As a reader, when I see an update from a page-per-week comic like my own comic, I want to feel like I've gotten something satisfying from the previous page's setup, have something unusual or interesting happen, and then have a reason to keep coming back tomorrow.

A, B, or C Is about to happen to them choose option W

Good point, your characters should frequently react in unusual ways to keep things interesting.

[marco]

Hello! A strong character in a relatable, high-stakes situation is often a great hook. What's the core conflict your protagonist faces right away?

[GamerPrincessXI]

Years ago I asked what the forum what would make a good character. I got several different answers and compiled them into a spreadsheet from there....I narrowed down my answers. What's makes a good hook isn't what you need. Draw from life experience. I worked in a library for about three years....I've been writing for years. What story would you like to tell. What story would you want to bring to life?