Flash Fiction: Fishing With The Muse

Tannille and the Muse fish for story ideas. The prompt picture: a picturesque house by shimmering ocean waters.

“You know there’s a body in there?”

“Of course, there’s always a body in these places. ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ vibes,” said Tannille, watching the boats.

“Look in the window. There’s a bloody hook hanging from the ceiling.”

“Or maybe it’s a quiet place for writers to meet.”

The muse snorts and screws up her nose.

“Careful Muse, you don’t want the wind to change and look like that forever.”

“Every story needs a hook to reel the reader in,” said The Muse, ignoring the insult.

“Hook again? Why don’t I put you on the hook? Now, there’s an inciting incident.”

~*~

Story Notes

This week’s bite-sized fiction: The Muse made a return obsessed with hooks. Why? Why does my brain conjure up anything?

Story hooks are literary techniques that grab the reader’s attention, enticing them to stick around for more of the story. The inciting incident is the event at the beginning of a story that triggers a chain of events and nothing will be the same again for the protagonist. For example, a murder, or meeting the porn star love interest.

‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ is a 1997 slasher film set in a coastal town. The villain’s weapon of choice is a hook.

See, all about hooks this week. Did I hook you in? Lie to me.

~*~

More conversations with The Muse can be read here.