4 Simple Ways to Hook The Reader to Your Story

Hint: Give a snippet.

I met a killer…in person.

Three killers actually. They smiled with guns in their hands as I walked closer to their vicinity. I dreaded every second of that walk. My life flashed in front of me 1,000 times reminding me of how fatal these last seconds will be.

As my footsteps inched closer, the killers held out their arms to me. Almost as if they intended to suffocate me to savor my death. It happened.

3…2…1…

CHEESE!

The cameraman snapped the photo of me with the trio of Mandalorian hunters from Star Wars.

Then, I continued about my awesome day.

Now THAT’s how you tell a story.

But it wasn’t always like this for me.

I’m still not proficient at hooking the reader to my story yet. Every time I start a piece, I always get a brain fart. I think way too much about how to hook the reader to the point where I lost track of thought.

It took a lot of practice, but I’ve figured out how to hook the reader quickly after writing 800+ articles online and countless threads on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn posts.

So let’s get into it.

I collaborated on this topic with my good friend Arica at Dare to Fail! Check out her perspective on this below:

How to get readers hooked on your stories

Here are 4 Simple Ways You Can Hook The Reader to Your Story

1. Give a snippet of the best part—Notice what I did at the beginning of this article here. I started by saying “I met a killer.” It was more than enough to jolt you out of your seat right? That was the climax of my story. Now, you don’t have to go for shock value all of the time—just enough to make the reader pause when they read the first sentence. You can also use a crazy quote that someone said in your story at the beginning.

2. Show and tell your journey—It’s hard for most writers to write about an authentic, life-changing journey they’ve had without social proof. I get it. We don’t need to document everything. However, providing social proof is a great way to show authenticity and build trust with the reader. What do I mean by social proof? Let’s say you’re writing an article about your 2-year weight-loss journey. I’m sure you’ll have tons of awesome stuff to say, but providing a before-and-after picture from your weight-loss journey can say even more than words can describe. Most humans are visual learners. I tried this when I wrote an article about my 2-year writing journey of publishing every single day on a platform called Medium—it became my most viral article of all time.

3. Say it in a different way—Let’s face it. Authenticity is a buzzword nowadays. Nothing is “original”, but we have social media now. While nothing is brand-spanking new, there are always new perspectives. I’ve told the same three stories hundreds of times in my writing career. Heck, sometimes I get tired of them lol. But I always find ways to make those stories fresh by developing a different perspective on them. Actionable tip: Think of your opinion and write the opposite of it. Try developing new perspectives. Check out the comments you get from others. I love it when people disagree with my opinions. It allows me to view everything from a new lens and with each new lens I gain, the more ways I can convey my story. Instead of something like “Everyone should eat burgers because they’re good for you”, try something like “Everyone should eat burgers because the produce we get from local markets is artificial”. Put a different spin on things.

4. Start with a stand-alone sentence—Always make that first sentence as short as possible. If you want to hook the reader, you must do it with minimal wording. Try to put a hard cap on the amount of words used in the first sentence. Mine is seven.

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To Recap

• Give a snippet of the best part

• Show and tell your journey

• Say it in a different way

• Start with a stand-alone sentence

I hope this gave you some insights not only on how to hook the reader to your story, but to keep them engaged throughout. These tools saved my writing career. I’d be hopeless without them.

I know they can help you as well.

Write on.

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