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"How do I write a good hook for my story? Is it the same as the inciting incident? Do they have to happen at the same time?"
This is a question I see online a lot. There is actually a series by YouTuber Abbie Emmons explaining the three-act-structure, and she answers questions about the hook and inciting incident--and the elements of the story surrounding them--a lot because aspiring authors are so confused by them.
Every story has to have a hook and an inciting incident. They are not the same thing. The hook is what makes people want to read. It's the first thing that catches readers' attentions. The inciting incident is the moment that launches the plot. There are lots of different explanations for the hook, and not all of them agree. Some people consider the hook the idea that interests people enough to pick up the book. Others define the hook as internal conflict. Most often, to me, at least, the hook is something that happens that interests readers while also indicating what type of story this is. As Hello Future Me--another writing YouTuber--put it, "The hook is the very first moment that intrigues your reader and makes them want to know more" while the inciting incident is the first plot point. It is usually when your main character must make a decision that will influence the story.
For example, in Pretty Little Liars, the hook is Alison DiLaurentis going missing. That is the moment that makes people want to keeping watching or keeping reading. The inciting incident would be either Aria's return or the first text from "A". It's important to note that Alison's disappearance happens in the first chapter of the first book and within the first ten minutes of the series premiere, while the first "A" texts--and Aria's return--are not as immediate. That is because without the hook fewer people would make it to the inciting incident.
Another example of the difference is A Song of Ice and Fire. The prologue features the hook, in which members of the Night's Watch are attacked by supernatural beings. That chapter makes readers want to know what will happen next, but it has nothing to do with the main plot of the first book or the main characters right now. The inciting incident is the news of Jon Arryn's death and Robert's arrival at Winterfell. The hook keeps people invested until everything else falls into place. Avatar: The Last Airbender also has a hook and an inciting incident. The hook is the moment when, in the opening narration, Katara says, "But when the world needed him most, he vanished." Now we have to keep watching. What happened to the Avatar? How will the Fire Nation be stopped without him? The inciting incident is when Katara and her brother Sokka find the Avatar, Aang. So, as you can see, the hook doesn't have to connect to the inciting incident directly, but it should come before.
These two story aspects are incredibly important because they can often make a difference between a good movie or book and a mediocre one. But how to write a compelling hook and inciting incident? Well, I think the inciting incident is significantly easier for a lot of people. Most people understand it fairly well. Every story--good or bad--has an inciting incident, even if it's terrible. But not every story has a hook within the story. Something I discovered while researching hooks and inciting incident is that every YA novel has an inciting incident--it's usually in the first chapter--but most of them do not have a hook within the story itself.
