Story Hook in John Buchan’s “The Thirty-Nine Steps”

    “I returned from the City about three o’clock on that May afternoon pretty well disgusted with life.”

    — The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan

    Technique

    In The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan opens the story with a voice-based hook that immediately piques the reader’s interest, which is the goal. Hook’s should cause readers to lean forward and wonder where the book will take them.

    In the above opening line, Buchan piques the reader’s interest by not providing context. He doesn’t tell us why the narrator is “pretty well disgusted” with life, leaving us to find out only by reading further. Those same words, “pretty well disgusted,” are also uniquely the narrator’s voice and tone, which give the story authenticity.

    Use

    • Step back from the details of your plot and open the story with a wide scope. It forces readers to stay engaged with the story to learn more.
    • For first-person writing, capture the narrator’s voice or the general mood of the story.
    • For third-person writing, create imagery that’s symbolic of the overall plot or setting where the story takes place.