Your hook is how your script’s central conflict is played out in action. A strong hook suggests the story and engages the reader’s imagination immediately.
Most spec scripts have a very weak hook: Two friends go on a road trip to Vegas for Spring Break after one of them has a bad break up.
This is not a hook. It’s a set up. The hook happens when you take a setup and add a second act and a final conflict.
Add definition to the setup by creating an interesting situation as a framework for their emotional journey: Two friends on their way to Vegas unwittingly pick up a hitchhiking criminal.
Okay, now there’s some shape. The story is about a specific situation. You’re already waaaaaaaaaaaaaay ahead of the game. It’s almost a hook.
Now find some high contrast to suggest the nature of the conflicts: Two high school cheerleaders pick up a hitchhiker on the way to Vegas, only to discover he is an escaped psychopath intent on the Mexican border.
It’s not a hook yet. A hook is what sets a story like this apart from all the others in its genre.
Do some character development. What unlikely thing about the young women arms them to do battle for their lives in a punishing wasteland?
Who’s the guy? Is he a Dexter psychopath or a Hannibal one ?
This is where it’s up to you to take your setup about the road trip and find the fresh story in it.
Keep doing these reps until your hook pops out, fat-free and ripped as those underwear model abs.
Perf.
The above picture makes sense if you read the whole thing–don’t be swayed by the potential pun. There’s sound writing advice here.
