Writing Hooks

Some writing thoughts from a diseased mind before they drag me off-stage…

Something I learned today: The “Vaudeville Hook” was not just a cartoon trope, but was used in real life. The “hook” (akin to a shepherds’ hook) used to pull off performers who had gone off the rails, were unpopular with the audience, or had overstayed their welcome. I had suspected that these were not a complete fantasy, having managed my own poetry “vaudeville” in the 90s and having occasion to wish for such a device to move things along for those very reasons.

What I didn’t know was that the hooks were part of the stage equipment, used to pull back the stage curtains at the start of a performance. Huh.

Vivian Locke

First a little update on my serialized short story novelette novella set in the occult noir world of Vivian Locke.

As I was estimating the final wordcount for the series, I realized about a week ago that it went from long short story to novelette (~17,000-20,000 words). Yesterday, as I was considering the story yet to be told and written, I realized I was probably going to finish with 22,500-25,000 words, which is firmly in the realm of novella. On rewrite, I could probably trim it down quite a bit, but not bring it down to the novelette length without damaging the narrative.

Part of the fun has been to stretch those “muscles” that work well on a serial basis, but less well in a traditional novel and involve trying to end on a “hook”. Not necessarily a “cliff hanger”, although those work well as narrative hooks, but just trying to end at a point where the reader says, “Yes, and…?”

I’ve been less successful at constraining each case file to more bite-sized portions of 1000-1500 words. Most of the case files are within that range, however, there are a few that run longer. With the noir genre, however, with its internal dialog, I don’t know that you can move the story AND maintain that noir feel in a shorter space. Noir is just, well, wordier by design. I’m guessing it has something to do with “payment by word count” that drove it to be formulated in such a way.

While only nine of the “case files” have been published, the better part of eleven are now in the final stages of edits and cleanup with a twelfth is roughed out. I currently estimate fifteen or sixteen “case files” will be needed to bring the story to its conclusion. The plotline is roughed out and I just need to backfill the actual narrative to make the story readable.

I don’t expect that all of my regulars are particularly keen on this (or any) noir tale, but I do hope at least some of you enjoyed it. While it was fun to explore this voice and I may return to the style, I am already looking forward and I can promise people that hardboiled noir tales are not the next thing on the horizon. I need a break from that kind of internal protagonist dialog that makes noir what it is.

Looking Forward

I am still enjoying my return to episodic, serial fiction and want to continue exploring it and improving my techniques designed around shorter bite-sized chunks of a longer tale, but need a break from writing another Vivian Locke tale.

There are a few different directions I am thinking of taking the next serial, neither of which will be much of a surprise to regulars around here once the themes become apparent, but both of them are forked departures from better-recognized subgenres (or, at least, there is mention of them elsewhere on the internet; not sure how “recognized” they will be to most folks).

Names of these forked subgenres are not something you’ll find as a standard naming convention online, more just to give you a flavor for the feel.

Cobblestone Macabre

In the borderlands between towns and suburbs (less rural), where folk wisdom and superstition reign. Storylines lean towards controlling wild magic and supernatural entities, or closing forbidden portals. Or, leaning into the macabre and drawing from short macabre similar to MR James, Poe, Bierce, Blackwood, etc. with more fantastic elements. Basically a forked blend of Folk Horror, Urban Fantasy, Penny Dreadfuls and Macabre.

Gothic Western

This theme I am more likely to pursue because it is easier to envision is a bit of a fork of Weird West. Think of it as a mashup of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns (i.e., “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”), Occult, Penny Dreadfuls and old school gothic music. Less of the campiness of common Weird West, which is often leans too much into steampunk, clockpunk and B-type film plots for my liking. More grounded and grim. Focused on the morally grey drifter archetype. No cowboy zombies or walking dead cows looking to saddle up next to the protagonist in a saloon.

Would either tickle your interest more as a reader?

I’m done with my blither-blather. Back to your regularly scheduled posts…