Planted hook (tteokbap)
떡밥
한국어로 읽기Tteokbap, literally fishing bait, is an unresolved clue thrown out on purpose to hook the reader's curiosity; every hook thrown must eventually be reeled in.
Also written as: 떡밥 회수 · 떡밥 투척 · bait · mystery hook · 미끼
Meaning
Tteokbap comes from fishing bait: an unresolved clue thrown out on purpose so the reader asks "what is that?" A character with no known identity, an unexplained scar, a name mentioned once and dropped, a rule the protagonist does not understand either. Where foreshadowing is placed so as not to be noticed, a hook is thrown so as to be noticed. "Throwing bait" is the act; "reeling in" is giving the answer; bait never reeled in is condemned as "abandoned bait".
Why it matters
Hooks are a serial's fuel. Half the reason a reader opens the next episode is this episode's event; the other half is the hooks still unresolved. Well-managed hooks come in layers: small ones resolved within two or three episodes, medium ones carrying an arc of ten to twenty, and large ones running to the finale. Small hooks must keep getting resolved so the reader trusts the large ones will be. When only large hooks are thrown and nothing small is ever answered, comments start asking whether the author knows the answer. From that point the hooks stop being fuel and become debt.
Example
Handing over the sword, the old man said, "This blade betrays its master three times. Two of those are already spent."
Jihoon took it. The old man never explained what he meant, and the next day he was gone from the village.
One line, three hooks. How does the sword betray (medium: show the first instance within twenty episodes). Who were the previous two masters (large: tied to the old man's identity). When is the third time (the payoff just before the finale). Each goes in the story bible with a planned resolution episode.
Common mistakes
- Throwing and forgetting. Past a hundred episodes the writer forgets too. Keep a separate hook list.
- Every hook is a large one. Without small resolutions, trust never builds. Regularly include hooks that resolve within three episodes.
- A payoff smaller than the throw. If forty episodes of waiting end in one line of dialogue, readers feel empty. Spend a whole episode reeling in a large hook.