If any of them try to introduce any explicitly sci-fi terms anywhere but the end of those first 13, I get immediately put-off.
In my opinion, one should be let gradually into this new world you're creating, not pushed in head-first. Introduce us to the world by showing us what's the same first, and slowly pull back so that when we see the new world you're creating for is we can see it in a much more impressive and dramatic way.
For example, aside from the first little teaser of what's to come, the opening of the Matrix focuses on the boring and familiar life of a hacker. It takes a while for all the strange and subtle hints to peak through and for Neo to follow the white rabbit into the real world.
Not only does this build suspense, but it also keeps us from feeling alienated. You have to let us accept the characters first before we can accept the situation.
Thoughts?
I can wait for world-building, I can wait for some explanations. But I still need to know what the characters are doing, at the very least in the most physical sense. However, i think it gets harder to hook people if you hold off on the speculative element for too long. Ideally, it would be integrated throughout, and you want to tease a bit of it in the beginning to expand later on. But you always have to balance it with clarity.
Even the Matrix, if I remember correctly, starts off with Trinity fighting off the agents... so at least there's hint of some other-worldliness.
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited November 28, 2007).]
The publisher's philosophy of "You've gotta hook me in the first 13 or I'm not reading any further because I'm that important." is very arrogant. Unfortunately, it seems to be one of the rules you have to play by or else you lose. Because it's something they had to go through, they now impose it on others regardless of how illogical it is.
I enjoy reading Dean Koontz, but some of his books in my opinion don't have a "hook" in the first 13. The books were great after that and I'm very forgiving - about 3-4 pages - of not having a hook that early. I can be interested in something without having to be "hooked".
I personally like a little background and I think some stories deserve a good setup initially rather than a hook, even if it takes several pages. I usually buy a book based on reviews and what the back cover says. I may scan the first few pages, but I'm looking more for the impossible-to-pronounce fantasy names or anything that's going to annoy rather than a hook.
Just my opinion on the whole First 13 thing.
[This message has been edited by KPKilburn (edited November 28, 2007).]
[This message has been edited by ArCHeR (edited November 29, 2007).]
quote:
...if they don't find it interesting (not if they don't find a hook) in the first 13 then there's no sense in wasting more time.
What's the difference between "hook" and "interesting"?
The first 13 is used because it's usually what fits on the first page of a submitted manuscript to a publisher or an agent, and often, all they read before rejecting it. If they read past it, the chance for acceptance goes up dramatically.
But this applies more to short stories than to novels. While the first page for short stories is the rule, for novels it's more like two or three pages worth (if the writing is good and professional), and you definitely don't want to go an entire chapter without something of interest. Still, even with more pages, it doesn't hurt to interest a first reader right up front with at least a hint of a promise in the first 13, because that's what an opening is, a promise to the reader.
In the publishing world of today, with the Internet and computers, it is very easy for a person to attempt to write for publication. Because of that, the number of submissions publishers and agents receive is enormous. Along with that is the increase in the number of submissions that don't meet the minimum requirements for submissions. Because of that, first readers at these places often don't go past that magical first page, so you better get that one right.
[This message has been edited by luapc (edited November 29, 2007).]
It is important in almost every case to establish point of view, beyond that there are no solid rules, in my opinion.
"Why the problem with the 1st 13 isn't that it's too short"
Overcooked is a bad thirteen. Stuffed full to bursting is a bad thirteen. In neither of those instances would you have succeeded in crafting a good first thirteen. It is a fine line to walk, between good and bad, but it is a necessary one, or at least a helpful one for writers who already have a part of the deck stacked against them. If you're an unknown, and have limited writing credits, why allow yourself to have a sub-standard first thirteen? Why give the slush editor more reason to reject your stuff? Fighting against the idea of a solid first thirteen doesn't lessen its importance.
Jayson Merryfield
[This message has been edited by Wolfe_boy (edited November 29, 2007).]
I thought of an exercise that might be educational, and possibly even fun. Every week I'll post 13 lines from some published story (we can do that without violating copyright law, right?), and then we can let 'er rip. I'm curious how many of us are actually hooked by whatever hook the editor found (and granted, many are disgruntled with recent fiction).
I won't limit selections to those I like; I'll select something by random. I'll go far and wide for these, too, not limiting myself to any genre, magazine, or time period.
I hope others will join in the critiquing. I've long thought the "published hooks" section was underused.
And my original point was not that there shouldn't be a hook in the first 13, but that there shouldn't be too strange and/or cliche'd sci-fi jargon. I think that it alienates the reader too much, unless of course it's a comedic piece.
[This message has been edited by ArCHeR (edited November 29, 2007).]
As to the Scifi bit, I prefer to know what kind of world I'm looking at right away. It's important to know just what can happen. I don't enjoy looking at a 'normal' world for a few pages and then suddenly realizing that there are rampaging robot monkey ninjas all over the place. (Unless the character experiences the realization as soon as I do.) I agree though that there shouldn't be any un-defined jargon right up front, you don't yet trust the author to define it later.
I say just write what feels right, write the story. Edit out errors, typos, bad grammar, contradictions. But be true to the story.