How to hook readers BEFORE your first sentence

Analysis of "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown

C.S.M.

Mar 14, 2024

📖 The Da Vinci Code is the definition of a page-turner.

💰 Dan Brown’s second installment in his Robert Langdon thriller series became a global sensation when published in 2003. It’s one of the best-selling books of all time.

✍️ I studied The Da Vinci Code and discovered the page-turning techniques that you can apply to your own writing.

My analysis is broken into five posts:

Part 1: How to hook readers BEFORE your first sentence
Part 2: Why you should start in the middle
Part 3: The trick to creating a compelling supporting character
Part 4: The power of short chapters
Part 5: How to make readers feel like they’re IN your book

Here is Part 1:

Most books try to hook readers from the first sentence of the narrative.

The Da Vinci Code hooks you before that.

Dan Brown does this by opening his best-selling thriller in a rather unconventional way: with a fact page.

The fact page claims the real-life existence and accurate depiction of three key components of the ensuing narrative:

The Priory of Sion
Opus Dei
Artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals.

The fact page instantly catches the interest of readers by its appearance alone.

But once they start reading, it really serves it’s page-turning purpose.

Because how do we get readers to keep reading?
By creating questions in their minds they NEED answers to.

A number of questions come to mind as you read through the fact page:

“Wait, are you really telling me Newton, Botticelli, Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci were all part of a secret society? A secret society with what goal?”
“Is ‘corporal mortification’ what I think it is? And if this ‘Opus Dei’ is able to build a $47 million headquarters in New York City, how powerful are they?”
“I can appreciate the art depictions being accurate, but exactly what kind of ‘secret rituals’ do you mean?”

Dan Brown has readers eager to start turning the pages for answers before the story even properly begins.

And by establishing the reality of certain people, places, and objects within The Da Vinci Code, reader interest is held across two dimensions:

To find out what happens to the characters (like any other story)
Because readers feel like the events of the story have real-world ramifications

Dan Brown expertly blurs the line between fact and fiction, a key reason why his novel became such a global phenomenon.

How to apply to your own writing:

Instead of diving directly into the first chapter or a prologue, try using different openings to hook readers in unorthodox ways.

Here are 7 ways to hook readers BEFORE your first sentence:

Your own fact page claiming the real-life existence or accurate depiction of certain components of your story.
A map of your fictional world.
A quote that relates to the theme of your story.
- The Razors Edge by W. Somerset Maugham opens with a verse from the Katha-Upanishad, an ancient Hindu text:
  - “The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard.”
A music playlist for the main character (I’ve done this).
A lyric from a song that relates to your story (the novel I’m currently writing does this).
An image or symbol.
- You could have illustrations above your chapter headings like in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or the Harry Potter series.
Instead of writing the names of family or friends on the dedication page, dedicate your book to your main character. Apologize for what you had to put them through.

Can you think of any other ways to hook readers before the first sentence?

Let me know in the comments:

How to hook readers BEFORE your first sentence

Analysis of "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown

Here is Part 1:

How to apply to your own writing:

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