That thread was interesting to me because in my country a hook is not something usually used in a book. The moment I see a book in my own language that does have a hook, I will know it was either translated or the writer imported the hook from Anglo-American literature.

In my country, hooks are often considered as a cheesy attempt to manipulate the reader by giving them an adrenaline shot and promise them more if they remain loyal. It is considered as an insult to the reader's intelligence to be bated in such a manner.

Known writers (I didn't use the word famous on purpose because in my country you have to be dead to be a famous writer) are posh and arrogant and they don't consider readers as someone whose attention they need to attract. It's rather like you as a reader should be honored to be allowed to read their work.

So now I ask myself: should I write in my own language or in English? Because if I write in English, I write for the English-spoken market and that means using hooks and everything else I need to succeed among the thousands of other upstart and professional writers.

But when it comes to language, I consider myself a patriot. I like my own language. I like writing in it. But I know I will never become a professional writer if I remain a patriot. If I write in English, I will never be considered as my nation's writer.

Do I sell my national identity for a chance of success? I've been writing only in English for six months now but it was a fan fic I did for practice. Now I want to go back to my own writing and I don't know if I should write in English or not.

Any thoughts?

[This message has been edited by MartinV (edited February 25, 2009).]
 

I think that is a question no one else can answer for you. It depends very much on _why_ you want to write in the first place. If it is to reach the widest number of people with your ideas, then English offers clear benefits. On the other hand, if you write, at least in part, as an expression of your nationality (I see in your profile that you are Slovenian), then writing in Slovene will be a more natural form of expression.

You could consider doing both, and seeing how your writing is received in both markets.

Tom
 

Only you can say whether it would be 'right' for you to try.
 

Don't get too concerned with the idea of a "hook". It is not a precise thing in the context we generally use it here. While a hook could include the blatant, formulaic tricks (aka cheesy tricks), in a more general sense it refers some aspect of the story that engages the readers mind and interest in the story. On this site, we put a lot of emphasis on achieving that early in the story: in the first thirteen lines.

From my perspective, and it's just my personal opinion, the most effective "hook" is to immediately provide the reader a character to become interested in, and identify with. To become interested in that character we should see him/her doing something--striving to reach a goal or solve a problem. See if perhaps the fiction writers in your language do that.

It can be done in a splashy Hollywood-esque fashion with blazing guns and explosions and all that. But it can also be much more subtle. One of my favorites opening lines is "The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed." (Paraphrased from Stephen King).

The key to a "hook" is simply to give the reader something to make them want to turn the page, no need for it to be a gimmick.
 

[This message has been edited by MartinV (edited February 25, 2009).]
 

As per my contribution to the "hook" thread (and agreeing with everyone else on the thread), the panel of editors at the big (pro and semi-pro) markets implied that they don't think of a hook as an adrenaline shot or something "dramatic" in the 1st 13. Rather, they're looking for something interesting to happen in the 1st 13. More often than not, the hook is an interesting character, situation or use of prose. What they don't want is the wrong starting point or a run-of-the-mill situation.

I think this is something that is universal among good writers, regardless of the language. The only language I can read in comfort is English, so perhaps my sample is biased, but I still want to be hooked by something in the opening. The fluency of the prose is obviously influenced by the skill of the translator, but leaving that aside, I want to read about an interesting situation or character. If you can provide an interesting situation or character in your 1st page, then you've won the battle, regardless of which language you're writing in.

As for writing in your second language, I'd recommend against it unless you're extremely confident in the fluency of your English. Your written English is excellent, but if you have a viable market in your native tongue, then why not go for it? I think the "voice" of your prose will be much more natural sounding and you avoid the risk of sounding stilted or making small errors.

Regards,

Nick

 

As to my English: like I said, I've been writing a fan fic for the past six months (it stopped being a fan fic long ago, but it's still placed into someone else's universe and I don't intend to publish it). The question is: is it good enough to be published in an English-spoken market? I've posted in on the appropriate forums and they loved it there. But it is not a writing forum.

I need someone to take a look at it, but I can't post it on this forum.
 

In my critiquing experience, I've seen quite a lot of stories that start out with an ordinary character, doing his everyday ordinary routine, and the prose itself is good but nothing out of the ordinary. With many stories I suggest starting the story at the time when the protagonist's life changes. Starting with a day like any other makes it very hard to draw the reader in.
 

The challenge of introducing fantastical genres into a region without them are twofold, at least: is there an audience, and what does the audience want fantastical-wise. Appealing to local interest is paramount. What is it that's unique about being Slovenian, unique about the Slovenian mindset. What is unique about Slovenian cultural mythology that is of interest to Slovenians. Many less-than-especially-talented authors reach an audience through local color and interest. What about the circumstances, places, and situations in Slovenia are unique. Barring apparent uniqueness, what fresh and novel perspective might be made of the unique trials of Slovenian life.

When an author rises above the fray in one localized region, interest might diffuse into other regions and can go global. Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006) comes to mind.

[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited February 25, 2009).]
 

Ironically, I've found a LOTR fan club in Slovenia and asked them if they would be willing to help me publish if I write something elf/dwarf-like (they even claim so on their web site). I've achieved very little response and nothing but symbolic support.

There is only one serious Sci-fi fan club in Slovenia (their members happily writing fan fics of Star Trek and Star Wars.) I have yet to contact them.

So here I am. A one man army, so to speak.
 

A keyword search on "Slovenian science fiction" resulted in 14 hits, "Slovenian fantasy" 3. One counterintutive conclusion might be that there's not much competition and the marketplace is ripe for the plucking. Of course, the other side of that is maybe there's little interest. However, I doubt that's so or would remain so if an accessible clearing house existed. Contrarily, creating consumer interest for a product is the whole point of promotion. Web sites are the emergent workhorses of promotion.
 

I was thinking about getting a prophile on MySpace. Or would a plain HTML page be better?

Anything else I should think of? Give me advice.

(1) You could try writing both in English and your native language. Writing in one language doesn't preclude writing in another---but it's possible you might wind up mastering neither.

(2) If the "hook" doesn't exist in works in your native language, you might try introducing them as something new.

And a maybe-better piece of advice:

(3) I'd recommend a web page with at least some of your unpublished work. At least if somebody asks about your work, you could refer him to your page for examples. (I did that last year, not that it's gotten much reaction, actually.)
 

The benefit of posting stories on your own site is you maintain exclusive rights control over them. Posting content on a social networking site invariably exposes it to draconian terms of use that effectively give away rights control. But I understand; they're basically protecting themselves from rights infringement litigation because content usage is unpredictable.

Plain HTML is anything but plain. Dynamic interactive content is one way to make a Web site interesting. A short, catchy domain name that's not too specific but specific enough to say what the site is about is ideal. SlovenijaSciFi.si?

E-mail acquaintances with site notices and periodic updates. E-mail selected targets of interest. Unsolicted mass mailings can be annoying and frustrating, but a few here and there won't be too great a nuisance. If the body of the e-mail contains an active URL trigger, someone might take a look.

Getting the word out through in-person contact that you have a Web site is another step in the promotional process. Passing around callng cards with name and URL listed are an inexpensive method. Calling cards are an old-style formal social networking practice that's effective and still has potential benefits, and is endearing from the quaintness of it. The last time I did my own name cards, recently, several hundred cost me less than a used paperback book. Passing calling cards out at random is as effective as targeted distribution. If at least one in ten results in someone taking a look at the site, all to the good. The other nine might wind up in someone else's hands, or as likely as not, wind up in the trash. No great loss, though. C'est la vie.

Postcard mailings to selected targets are another method, a little more expensive than calling cards, though. I've done postcard marketing with good results. I printed the postcards on commercially available die cut stock with an inkjet printer. I lightly sprayed the cards with aerosol lacquer to fix the ink.

Calling card and postcard designs should be simple and legible, but professional appearing and eyecatching.

Any serial publication, online or in print, underground or traditional, that accepts contributions, contribute: opinion editorials, review books, movies, music, live perfomances, whatever; and always include the Web site URL with your byline, whether they publish it or not. Someone in the publication's firm might take a look out of curiosity.

[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited February 26, 2009).]
 

I just tried to find the web site of the man who published my novel a few years ago. I can't find it; it looks like the man gave up on it and that was basically the only (private) publishing company that was publishing SFF in Slovenia.

I'm not much of a businessman. I just want to write and live from that.