What’s the difference between a story’s “hook” and the “inciting incident”?

The “hook” of the story is just the opening sentence or paragraph that attracts the reader’s attention and fires up their curiosity to keep reading further. An example would be someone running for their life, looking up at the sky and seeing something unusual, a dead body being found in a boathouse, a huge explosion, or anything that creates an urgency for the reader to want to discover “why.” The actions or emotions create an urgency to find out the backstory or motivation behind what is happening.

The “inciting incident,” is the key event in the main character’s life that gets their story moving forward. It sets them on a journey that continues throughout that character’s life, literally causing them to take some action to try to restore balance or stability. For example, in The Wizard of Oz, the tornado that spirits Dorothy away to Oz is an inciting incident. It motivates her need to do everything she can to return home. In The Mysterious Island, a mega storm causes an air balloon to crash on an island. The passengers are then in survival mode which ultimately motivates them to find a way off the island and back to civilization.

Is it okay to eliminate “he said/ she said” when there are just two people talking in a dialogue?

This is a question that I considered in my writing.  The answer is, yes. If just two characters are talking, the dialogue tag can be omitted. It all depends on whether there is clarity for the reader. If it is obvious which person is speaking, no tag is required. However, sometimes several sentences of narration will come between lines of dialogue (for example, the point of view character’s thoughts). In that case it might be necessary to tag the next person who is speaking. Otherwise, the reader may not be sure which one is resuming the conversation. Clarity is the main objective here because we don’t want to lose or confuse the reader.

Is it a good idea to use a Prologue?

Many bestselling authors do start their books with a prologue – but keep in mind that these authors have established a large readership who will buy their books regardless of style. That being said, if you need to let the reader know information that is not in the novel, set up the main story, or jump into the middle of a story without having to set a scene or explain main events, you might need to have one. If the understanding of your story is not damaged in any way, then you probably don’t need one.

What if I can’t find the genre of my story? Is “literary” a genre?
If your story does not fall into the broad popular genres (Mystery, Thriller, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror) yet is still popular fiction, it is often referred to as simply “mainstream fiction.” 

How long should my book be?

From a publishing standpoint, it doesn’t matter how many pages you’ve written. What matters is word count. Any publisher or agent will want to know how many words you’ve written, not how many pages. Below is a quick cheat-sheet on word count.

Flash Fiction: Generally, up to 1,000 words.

Short Story: 1,000 to 20,000 words

Novella: 20,000 to 80,000 words.

Novel: 80,000 to 100,000 words. This is the sweet spot.

Science Fiction or Fantasy: Can be over 100,000 words, but the content should be strong enough to warrant the size.

While you may come across different schools of thought on these word counts, consider these numbers an average of industry standards.

The important thing is to enjoy writing and flexing your creative muscles. Each of these pieces will fall into place as the process evolves for you. Focus on your work first, then worry about the rest.

Solitaire

www.solitaireparke.com