1. Memoir: Creating a hook and pacing the events

2. Objectives Learn and utilize techniques to a) create an appealing lead and b) sequence events in an appropriate and interesting way.

3. Directions Open your Writer’s Notebook to the minilessons section. Title the first blank page Hook, Line and Sinker. List this titled entry in your table of contents. Take notes during the presentation. Remember, you don’t have to write every word. Just make sure you get the main idea.

4. Creating the Hook Why do people read? Why do people write? How do you get your audience to read what you write? The first paragraph of your piece should introduce a problem, situation, or observation to pull your reader in. This is called the HOOK.

5. How do I create a great hook? Start with Action "Action" doesn't necessarily mean a fist fight or an explosion or a sky-dive gone wrong. Action means starting your story at a compelling place, with a scene, with something at stake for your characters. Find the right moment If you feel that your readers need some huge "information dump" to understand the story, then you're not starting in the right place. The first scene in your story needs to be a scene that will make the reader want to keep reading.

6. Strategies to begin writing a hook Begin with a simile or a metaphor. My life has been a carnival. My family is like an open book. Begin with a question. Who is the greatest athlete of all times? Begin with a quotation. “Learn to laugh” is something my kindergarten teacher told me after Ralph Thorsen spilled paint on my daffodil picture. Begin with a dilemma. Deciding to attend Hampton Roads Academy, a private school, was one of my most difficult decisions.

7. Strategies to begin writing a hook Begin with a scene. The day of my birth began with Hurricane Charlie pounding at our door in Charleston, South Carolina. Begin with the best advice you have ever received. “Butch, did you practice the piano?” Since I was six years old, this has been a daily reminder from my dear mother. “Be all you can be” has been my inspiration from my grandfather who is a retired Marine Corps colonel and my mentor.

8. Writing your own hook Let’s read my introductory paragraph to see if there’s a good hook. What do you think? What could I do to make it better? Now, take out your memoir and read your first paragraph. Is there a strong hook? Use one of the strategies we have discussed to create an introductory hook that pulls your reader in. Remember, it’s okay to start over if you feel unsatisfied with what you wrote last class.

9. Mrs. Izzi’s memoir example excerpt I was starting over at 22 years-old. It also seemed that I was so far away from what I always considered home. Now, this upheaval from my hometown was a good thing; it removed me from the harsh and cold memories that I was fighting to leave behind. They say that if you truly want to change, you have to find new people and places with which to make new memories. Part of me felt like I was running – running away from a life of bad decisions and poor choices. But the other part of me knew that if this was going to work, I had to run, not from myself, but toward a better self. So that’s what I did. It was a dark, winter evening when I packed my bags into my 1995 Neon. I didn’t have a lot of stuff, just the necessities. My grandpa bought me the car after I destroyed my previous one. He was always bailing me out, trying to save me from myself. As I sat on the gray seats with a cigarette in my hand, the musty aroma of the vanilla air freshener mixed with the thick smell of smoke. I drove, anxiously and unsure, under the black clouds of winter. The bitter air hit my hand and face through the slight crack of my window. I extended my hand to the radio, a balancing act between DJ and driver, and found solace in the heavy, hard-hitting beats of techno music. The bass was loud and the beats were fast, but nothing drowned out my racing thoughts. The blurring red lights and city traffic on Michigan Avenue were an overwhelming culmination of sensory overload. I was not entirely sure where I was going, but this day would truly mark the beginning of my new life.

10. Pacing Playing with time Shrink Time - If you want to jump forward in your story to skip some unimportant events, you can simply summarize (c0ver a long period of time in a short passage) or flash- forward (a week later…). Use this strategy sparingly. Explode the Slow-Motion moment - In order to build suspense and tension, slow your reader down during a crucial or crisis moment. What could take only a few seconds in real time might be covered in paragraphs or even pages. Why would we use this strategy? What effect does it have on the reader?

11. Pacing – let’s give it a try! Writing in slow motion In your Writer’s Notebook, go to the Quick Writes Section and title the next blank page Slow Down! Describe your room as if you had just won the lottery. Don’t mention the lottery or how you feel. Just describe. Describe the same room as if you just witnessed a murder. Don’t mention the murder. Just describe. Now, look for a place in your story where you can slow down and tint a moment with feelings. Use your five senses to describe the scene.

12. Review Make sure your hook draws the reader in. When sequencing your events, slow down at crucial moments. Speed up time only when absolutely necessary to “get to the good stuff.” Live in the moment and make an emotional connection to each scene in your piece. Don’t forget to include your thoughts and feelings while you are telling your story. Don’t forget about your unifying theme.