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What hooks you in a story?
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The proulouge, the first chapter, the opening theme, the first scene. All of these have the job of hooking you the audience to stay and continue. Sometimes they work and you stay and sometimes they don't and you quit. The first impression is arguable the most important part of a story. People will say "give things a second chance," and I understand that. However a first impression IS our brain on a subconscious level pulling a Sherlock Holmes, the only difference is Holmes can consciously see the details while most people only get the unconscious result of the deduction. Unlike judging based off the cover this is the second step of first Impresions of a story, judgimg the content based on the prologue.
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Insert # of laugh out loud / milk spitting jokes (probably 3 for a volume would be great).
Insert emotion of first character loss. Actually, insert anything heartbreaking that you can relate to or empathize with, and that's a decent hook.
Insert unique quirk here. Have that quirk be integral to the plot and remain interesting and built up throughout the book. Reincarnation stories do quirks a lot.
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It can be a number of thing:
An original idea would probably make me want to read more even if the rest isn't that good,
A good setting even if not much happend at the begining but i can feel that the characters, the word and the little bit of story we get have some solide bases and more to them, it would get me interest.
A theme i like but is rarely explore, like i love story following true psychopath/murder not ruthlless or unforgiving protagonist (for exemple Demiurge rather than Ainz) but those type of serie are quite rare so when i find one i'm more willing to forgive it when it's bad, and keep reading.
The last thing would be difficulty and realism, if a story don't give to much plot armor and limit the number of plot induce actions or "unrealistic" (by the setting law) actions i'm more likely to continue.
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When it comes to TV shows, there are some things I prefer more then others. As a general rule I like Brittish shows or British feeling shows more then American or American feeling shows. For example Doctor who S1-4 and this newest season is very British but Moffats run of Doctor Who just felt very American and Hollywood and I just did not like it. It just kind of lacked that wit, humour and quality (American feels more "business" and "professional" while British has this more homely feel).
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Honestly I would say when the protagonist be it in a movie, show, or book has to struggle to achieve what they want be also love when important characters die. Death is probably one I really need to see in a book not to get bored. I find it plot changing when it happens because of the impact it can have on the characters later on. I don’t like it when there aren’t punishments for mistakes either. But the punishment one can vary.
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I just realized something, I did not neccesarily say what hooks me, just what I prefer in general. Though I guess if the first few minutes exude that sense of britishness then that would hook me. Really the small minor details are what hooks me he most. To name an example Llenn from GGO being a fan of a certain person's music or in say Log Horizon that food has no taste or the players respawn or the main characters are LV 90. There are so many series I love that have small details like why those Giant frogs need to be killed and that also they are they are used for food too. If a story does not have those kind of small details it does not neccesarily mean I will quit but it is more likely, my time is precious and I want tot spend it on good stories so I have no problems dropping a show in like half an episode or even a minute if it is that bad.
Edit: boy that last bit makes me look a bit pretentious and digibro-like.
