I have been one step away from buying and reading Heart Shaped Box ever since I heard it was coming out. It promised the best kind of thrills and chills and I utterly believed Joe Hill would deliver on the promise. This weekend sent me over the edge and I downloaded it from eReader.com.

Why did I hesitate before? Because I thought he’d deliver on the premise too well, frankly, and that sort of thing can give me nightmares. But in the end I had to see what happened after the heart shaped box arrived and was opened.

A hook can be just that basic; what will happen after this version of Pandora’s Box is opened? It doesn’t matter how simple a hook is, or how old it is. Pandora’s story is ancient. What matters is, does it work? Do you want to find out what happens?

I think this is a question writers benefit from asking themselves. Do you want to find out what happens? Is your hook one that hooks you? Asking what hook will get this agent, that editor, get the series into Target or whatever external goal you can come up with has to be secondary. Do YOU want to know what happens next? Are you hooked?

You’re the one who has to do the daily slog through the book from beginning to end, and that process can stretch out for a very long time from initial concept to galley proofs. Being hooked on the story yourself matters. To sustain you through that long slog, the story should hook you hard.

Just like Heart Shaped Box hooked me until I couldn’t stand it anymore and finally broke down and bought it, the idea that won’t go away and leave you alone is one to pay attention to.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it: think about books or movies that hooked you. What do they have in common? Anything? Can you see an echo in your own story ideas, or can you see an opportunity to intensify the hook until it’s one you can’t wiggle off?

For the complete Left Behind and Loving It workshops, visit PBW. http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/