The hook

In fiction writing, every plot has a "hook" or something unique that makes it different from anything else. For instance, you could say that John Grisham's "The Firm" is a legal thriller. But the hook is "Young lawyer gets what he thinks is dream job only to find out the firm is in cahoots with the Mob."

In reporting, even though you're dealing with non-fiction (well, at least some news organizations still are) you still need a hook, something to make the viewer glance up from a Sudoku puzzle and think, "Hey, I've gotta see that."

Sadly, about ninety percent of what I see on local news doesn't have a hook. The stories have become so similar that it's all video wallpaper. Thirty minutes go by and I can't even remember what stories I just saw, because they're exactly the same as the ones I saw yesterday and the day before. (And you wonder why I keep watching Seinfeld at six o'clock.)

If you as a reporter have fallen into this trap, you need to learn how to recognize a good hook in order to make your stories more interesting. I'm not saying you have to change any facts, you just have to develop that third eye which can spot those little hidden details that can turn an average story into a great one.

(I know, at this point you want an example.)

Right now economic stories are dominating the news. But every single layoff package I've seen lately has these elements:

-Video of cars driving away from a business.
-Sound bites with people who lost jobs saying, "I don't know what I'm gonna do."
-Video of restaurant across the street from closed business with no customers.
-Sound bite with restaurant owner saying, "I don't know what I'm gonna do."
-File tape of the business during its heyday.
-Sound bite with realtor saying, 'I don't know what I'm gonna do."

Get the picture? If you've done this story, you've done it without a hook.

Now, let's say someone got a decent severance settlement from the company. That someone is going to take that money and start a small business... and probably would never have done so without the severance check or the lack of security. The story might look like this...


Reporter: "For twenty years Joe Lineworker assembled cars. But when he found himself on the unemployment line, he turned to his first love... fixing cars.

Sound bite: "My dad was a mechanic and I still love working on cars. I took my settlement and bought a one-bay garage."

Reporter: "Business is already good. With people not buying cars, they need someone to fix them... and you know how hard it is to find an old fashioned mechanic."


Get the idea? Here's a guy who, back to the wall, turned his situation into a blessing in disguise.

Of course, you have to look for those stories. Too many of you just "show up" and shoot what's available.

That's not what a reporter does. Your job is to dig, to talk to everyone, to find the hidden nugget of information that will turn your assignment into something special.

Great stories are out there. But you'll never find them unless you do some old fashioned reporting and find the hook.