Posts
 |
| photo credit |
Good question! We certainly don't want to bore our readers. The last thing we want - dare I say our nightmare - is to have the reader put the book down, unread. *shudders*
Here are some tips we can use to keep the momentum going, and the reader hooked!
- Change it up! Take a step back and look at your pages. Are they filled with words, with hardly any white space? That's a clue that you might have overdone the description. We want the white space varied on any given page. We want a mixture of dialogue, description, and action. Does every paragraph start with "I"? Vary paragraph length, sentence structure, and content. It's a juggling act, and you have to keep the balls in the air. The good news? That's what revision's for!
- Make the reader react as strongly as the MC. If you can make the reader empathize with your character? You've done your job. The reader has to be invested. Give them something to feel connected to. Do they recognize a quality in your character that reminds them of themselves? Do they understand WHY the character acts the way they do? Internal dialogue helps here, and we'll go into that more on another post (we have a question about that!) Then when something stressful happens, and we get that reaction from the character, the reader will feel it too.
- Keep up the tension. This does NOT mean dangle the MC by his toes over a vat of piranhas in every scene. It means, present a goal (big or small), put an obstacle in the MC's path or reaching it and or another conflicting goal, and voila! Recipe for tension. Which brings us to my favorite thing: TORTURE YOUR CHARACTERS. I always say if mine came to life I'd be in BIG trouble. But that's what makes for an exciting read!
- Avoid the info dump. We hear it all the time. But we sometimes make excuses like, but I have to tell them this or they won't get it! You're a writer. Be creative! If your MC lives in this world, he's used to it. We don't discuss with each other what coffee cups are do we? No. We don't call someone and say: "Hey! I'm five foot four with red hair!" Um, I hope not. You get the idea. Make it natural and don't overwhelm. A little at a time is all the reader can digest. Don't introduce too many things/characters/plot points at once. Take your time, if you keep that tension going, you can drip the rest in.
Hope that helps! That's my recipe for making sure the reader isn't bored. Can you think of anything I missed? I'm sure I did!! Let's discuss.
And the #1 way to know if you're boring your readers: your beta readers will tell you in no uncertain terms. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome post as always, Lisa.
That's a good recipe, Lisa. It's a difficult balancing act. It takes practice to know where certain details are needed. It's a thing where you read it and must ask yourself "am I talking down to my readers?" or "Didn't I just cover this over on page#?", etc.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Great advice! Upping the tension always seems to be the best way not to bore a reader to me. Plus, torturing your characters can be fun. :)
ReplyDeleteOoh, white space. So true. I use that technique. It's very helpful. Stepping back and then changing it up also works. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI suppose when a friend asked to read and review a manuscript of mine, and didn't respond back for eight months or so, she fell asleep reading it.
ReplyDelete...scratching the piranha scene
I've made so many of these mistakes (and still do!) Starting the sentence with the same word, too much or too little white space. Oy! But yes, revisions are my best friend :D
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the reasons why I love not only editing/re-writing phase, but CP's since they assist greatly with catching those little mistakes of having too little white space, info dump, and not having the info there in order to build the emotional connection between the reader and the MC. Great tips, Lisa, as always!! :)
ReplyDeleteI have been working on making the other characters into characters, too. If your MC is the only real person in the world (Robinson Crusoe and Castaway being the exceptions), it's harder to care.
ReplyDelete"Every story has many characters, but every character should have their own story."
I have one addition. Don't write it if you don't care about it. I've started a couple of stories and come to a screeching stop when I realized I didn't CARE enough about the story. Later I found that I had bits and pieces in those abandoned projects that worked well in another place. If there anything of value to pull from what I've just said, it's no writing is wasted writing and be sure to listen to your writer-brain. It's there to guide you.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of minding the white parts of the paper. It reminds me of negative space, and one of the first lessons I had in art school was that what you leave blank is just as importany as the subject. As always, Lisa, a great, helpful post!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of making the reader react as strongly as the main character, that's brilliant! I'm taking notes...
ReplyDeleteGreat, GREAT post! Yep, torture those darlings. You're so right. Along with making sure every scene counts. That's probably right there w/the info dump avoidance. Great tips--Thanks, Lisa!
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays! :o) <3
Another fab post.
ReplyDeleteI also think as long as each scene contains something of the central goal, motivation and conflict, you'll show the reader that there is a reason for each scene. The reader might not be consciously thinking 'what's the point?' but it will be there in the background.
If you have a lovely scene but . . . nothing is happening . . . then it's a high chance the reader's mind will start to wander.
Think of it as the middle seasons of Lost. I stopped watching because things stopped making sense . . . then it picked up again for the last season - possibly because the creators had a finite amount of time to wrap everything up so it felt like it was all heading towards something.
Keep that in mind - what are you heading towards? Keep moving towards it.
Only a writer could say this... 'Which brings us to my favorite thing: TORTURE YOUR CHARACTERS' and have the rest of us nodding with understanding :)
ReplyDeleteWhat? No piranas? No fair. I enjoy a good toe dangling.
ReplyDeleteAnother great post. I think Writing the Breakout Novel was one of the best books I'd ever read as a newer writer, because it taught me a lot about micro tension. It doesn't always need to be the big Piranha scene...just little subtle elements that put the character off his game. :)
ReplyDeleteHave an absolutely wonderbar Christmas, Lisa! Hope you get lots of reading and relaxing in--you deserve it! :)
Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse
Great post! Hey, I'm 5'4" with red hair (at least this month). I agree with Angela about Writing the Breakout Novel. Even close relationships can have tension - between friends, between family members. "Tension on every page!"
ReplyDeleteHHmm, can't wait for the question on internal dialogue. So many good points here. Off to revise that scene with the coffee cups :)
ReplyDeleteDon't underestimate the appeal of dialogue tags ending in a simple "said."
ReplyDelete"Melodramatically vowed in an exaggerated solemn tone..."
"Furiously hissed..."
"Brazenly gushed..."
How to Annoy the Reader!
Awesome tips! I especially like your suggestion of making the reader react as strongly as the MC. If we can accomplish this, we've snagged the reader. I'm looking forward to that inner dialogue post, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to post this. I used to rush to get the plot out and while the plot may be interesting, my characters either weren't, or they were invisible. At the same time, as you mentioned, creatively getting the details out is very important. I sometimes still have to tell myself to slow down at times, so this is nice reminder of how bad it could be if I don't catch myself.
ReplyDeleteFor a newbie, I learned so much from this post and the comments thread. Thanks heaps!
ReplyDeleteFantastic post! I'm sad I missed it earlier (the xmas break lazies), but it's sure coming in handy now! :) You answered my question and then some!
ReplyDeleteI am late commenting as well--great advice. I should make myself read this once a week as I combat being boring.
ReplyDelete