I've been browsing self-help books for writers. There are dozens of these -- pure fantasy entertainment on rainy March evenings.

In The Lie That Tells the Truth John Dufresne begins "I'll assume that if you're reading this introduction, then you must want to write. Why else would you be loitering around the Writing/Publishing section of the bookstore when all the really interesting and dangerous people are over in the Self-Help/Addiction aisle?"

Me, I'm just looking for a few good suggestions. A writer writing about writing for the benefit of writers will write well. At least that's the hope.

One of the best of the how-to-write books is also the shortest: Some Writers Deserve to Starve! by Elaura Niles, "31 Brutal Truths About the Publishing Industry."

Niles has coordinated many writers' conferences, perhaps too many, yet she remains studiously upbeat about setting words on paper: "It's wonderful. It's painful. It's hard work," she notes.

She is realistic: "Truth #31 -- Many of Us Won't Make It."

The section "To Lie is Wrong; to Embellish, Divine," quotes Cary Grant: "I pretended to be someone I wanted to be, and finally I became that person."

Niles says "Developing your... dynamic story telling ability (even if you have to fake it) is the key to sparking the interest of the people who can set the wheels of your writing dreams in motion.

"Fortunately, pitching your story is a lot like fishing. You need to hook your audience, play them a little, and then land them."

After the professionals are properly hooked, they turn around and try to hook you. When you are caught, you'll know it. You'll even brag to your friends that you stayed up all night trying to shake off a particularly wormy hook.

There are "character hooks" and "action hooks", "phraseology hooks" and "specific hooks," even a "fictional consequences hook." (Example: "Mother Teresa had a great love for all people, especially one -- her husband.")

Let's test this on a novel for young adults coming out this spring:

My name is Moon. Fletcher Moon. And I'm a private detective. In my twelve years on this spinning ball we call Earth, I've seen a lot of things normal people never see. I've seen lunch boxes stripped of everything except fruit. I've seen counterfeit homework networks that operated in five counties, and I've seen truckloads of candy taken from babies.

I will read Eoin Colfer's new book Half Moon Investigations. After that hook I will expect subtle humor and arch satire and adventures.

Noah Lukeman addresses 'hooks" in his book The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile.

Lukeman reports that "Agents and editors often ignore synopses and plot outlines; instead, we skip right to the actual manuscript. If the writing is good, THEN we'll go back and consider the synopsis. If not, the manuscript is discarded. A great writer can produce an amazing piece of writing with virtually no plot at all."

I leave you with this exemplary story, from the book Rotten Reviews, quoted by Lukeman:

In 1969 Steps, a novel by Jerzy Kosinski, won the National Book Award. Six years later a freelance writer named Chuck Ross, to test the old theory that a novel by an unknown writer doesn't have a chance, typed the first 21 pages of Steps and sent them out to four publishers as the work of 'Erik Demos.' All four rejected the manuscript. Two years after that, he typed out the whole book and sent it, again credited to Erik Demos, to more publishers, including the original publisher of the Kosinski book, Random House. Again, all rejected it with unhelpful comments -- Random House used a form letter. Altogether, 14 publishers (and 13 literary agents) failed to recognize a book that had already been published and had won an important prize.

Aired Sunday March 5, 2006 at 10:55 am and Monday March 6, 2006 at 8:40 am

Orders/Information:

Some Writers Deserve to Starve! by Elaura Niles. Writer's Digest Books paperback $14.99. ISBN 1582973547.

The author's website: www.elauraniles.com

Half Moon Investigations, first in a new series by Eoin Colfer. Miramax Books/Hyperion Books for Children hardcover $16.95. ISBN 0786849576. Publication date April, 2006. Colfer is the author of the wildly popular "Artemis Fowl" series.

The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman. Fireside paperback $13.00. ISBN 068485743X.

The author's website: www.lukeman.com/thefirstfivepages/

The Lie That Tells A Truth by John Dufresne. W. W. Norton paperback $14.95. ISBN 0393325814.