It's all in the hook.

Last Saturday I went to a screenwriter's meeting.  The group meets once a month to share pages from our screenplays and receive feedback.  I've missed several meetings and almost didn't go this time since my day was already crammed full.  Then I realized that I will always be busy, so if I wait for elusive "free time" I will never go again.

I arrived late and sat down next to a guy I've seen there once before. During a lull, he leaned over and asked, "Are you the one who was writing..." and went on to describe the beginning of my completed screenplay Sister of the Bride.  I shared the first 15 pages of that script a loooong time ago.  I'm talking 8 or 10 months ago.  Yet, he still remembered it, and more important, he told me ever since reading those pages he's been wanting to know the rest of the story!

To quote again... "If the opening scene captures the reader's interest in some unique way, it is called the hook.  Otherwise, it's just the opening scene" (The Screenwriter's Bible, 5th Edition by David Trottier, p. 11).

Oh yeah, mine has the hook!