8 Tips for Writing an Attention-Grabbing Essay Hook

It was a dark and stormy night. Well, actually, it wasn’t.

But the “dark and stormy night” opening hook from Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1830 novel Paul Clifford has become the archetypical cliché for the wrong way to open a piece of writing. Grabbing your reader from the very first line is important, not just for novels, but also for your academic essays. Having a great hook brings the audience into the paper and sets up a great start for your paper. In this article, we’ll look at eight tips for writing an attention-grabbing essay hook.

Why Grab Attention Immediately?

Let’s take a minute to discuss why we should start our essays with attention-grabbing hooks. You might say, for example, that your instructor is required to read your essay, so why does it matter? It matters for two reasons: First; it shows that you care—both about the paper and your instructor. Second, it makes the essay more interesting to read and can keep your instructor’s attention, helping you to earn better grades. Now let’s get straight to the powerful tips you can implement while writing your next assignment.

How to Create a Great Essay Hook:

1. DO start with a compelling quotation

One of the most effective ways to open an essay is with a quotation that encapsulates what the essay is all about. A great opening quote is dramatic, compelling, or just plain interesting. Typically, it is also something said by someone famous or uttered in a historically relevant event or situation. The quote should be interesting all on its own without your essay to support it. That said, you will need to tell the reader what they are reading and connect to your topic to show how the quote sets up your paper.

2. DO NOT start with an expository quote

Not all quotes are created equal. An opening quote should be compelling, so avoid using quotes that merely state a fact or offer a summary with no dramatic language or compelling imagery. If you find a quotation to be boring, your audience will, too. Ask yourself: would someone want to read this quote if it weren’t part of your essay?

3. DO use a dramatic statistic

Another great way to bring the audience into the paper is with a dramatic statistic that can shock your readers. The more compelling the statistic and the more it subverts conventional wisdom, the more your audience will be interested in what you have to say. Next, they’ll want to read more about what’s behind the shocking stat.

4. DO NOT open with a definition

One of the most cliché openings for an essay is a definition. An untold number of papers begin with “Webster’s dictionary defines…” or “According to the Oxford English Dictionary…”. Instructors hate reading these kinds of openings. They are boring and often waste space telling the reader things that they already know. Think about it: If you wouldn’t read the dictionary for fun, why do you think your readers would want to?

5. DO seek professional help

Writing a great hook can be hard, but cheap essay writing help from a reliable custom writing service can help you with your papers. When you get help from a professional writer, you’ll see how a pro would approach your topic and interest the reader with a compelling opening that will get them talking. A professionally written paper comes with the expert analysis and approach of a writer who has an advanced degree and years of experience, giving you an insight that you can’t get from most other sources of help.

6. DO NOT start with the thesis statement

Many students try to start their papers with a simple statement about the paper’s topic. Opening with your thesis statement is dull and jumping directly into the main idea of the essay without at least a bit of setup can disorient the reader and lead them to lose interest in what you have to say. Your introduction should gradually ease the reader into the topic, like an on-ramp to a highway.

7. DO use an entertaining anecdote

A well-told story that relates to your topic can help to develop a connection between your reader and your paper. It’s a fact that audiences remember more about stories than they do naked facts. Telling a compelling—but true—story about your topic can intrigue the reader and help them to better remember the points you’re making in your essay. One word of warning: an opening anecdote should be illustrative but also brief. If an anecdote goes too long, it can become overwhelming, take up too much space, or confuse the reader.

8. DO ask an intriguing question

Another effective way to lure the reader in is with a question that can spark curiosity or arouse the reader’s interest. To do so, you’ll need your question to be more than a simple yes-or-no. A good opening question could, for example, set up a moral dilemma, ask the reader to imagine a counterfactual or prompt the reader to think about how they would react to a situation. The question doesn’t have to have a definite answer, but it needs to connect to the essay, and the essay should discuss—if not outright answer—the question.

Why Is It Important Yet Difficult to Write an Essay Hook

Most students treat essay writing just like an academic assignment, not thinking about professors like members of a real audience — “They just have to read our essays, why bother making them catchy.” Well, it is a mistake. You cannot simply count on your professor being obliged to read your work and make your essay stand out among others. One way to do it is to write an attention-grabbing essay hook. Don’t neglect such hooks as they make your paper shine. Think about your audience all the way when writing an essay — think about it commercially, as if you need to sell some idea here and now. This way, you will write simple but effective paragraphs that will logically connect and help your story flow. Mind that professors have to read an endless number of essays every semester, and it would be nice to make your work at least a little less boring compared to others. Next up, you may want to explore a list of the top flash fiction publishers.