Have you ever picked up a book that looked fascinating, but once you started reading it, you immediately lost interest? Let's face it: to have a successful book, you first have to get people's attention and then keep them interested. A flashy cover or intriguing title can do the first job, but even a great story won't keep readers interested unless you follow one important rule.
Reading the title of this blog post, you were probably asking yourself, "What is the trick to grabbing and keeping readers' interest?" And if you've read this far, it's probably because you're hoping to find the answer. Well, that's the answer right there.
The trick to getting people interested in your story and keeping them that way is to make them ask questions.
Sounds simple, right? But it works. If you've ever quit reading a book because it was boring, chances are it wasn't triggering questions you wanted to find the answers to, or maybe it wasn't triggering any questions at all. It might have given you too much information up front, leaving no mysteries to be cleared up later in the story.
Quick side note: Getting your readers to ask questions is a great way to get them interested in your story. If you want them to be invested in your story, you'll need to use other methods as well. Being interested means you're involved mentally, while being invested requires emotional involvement. For now, I'm just going to talk about how to pique your readers' curiosity and make them want to find out what's going to happen in your story. In a later blog post I'll discuss how to get readers attached to your story on an emotional level.
So for starters, you want people to ask themselves a question about a book--a question that makes them want to read your book to find the answer. If I pick up H. G. Wells's novel, The War of the Worlds, I might ask myself "What worlds?" and "Why are they at war?" and especially "Who wins?"
That's the first step, and the second step is actually the same thing. As people read your story, keep them asking questions. As your story unfolds, some questions will be answered and new ones will appear. From the beginning of The War of the Worlds, I discover that the worlds are Earth and Mars, and this knowledge makes me want to know even more why they're fighting and who's going to win.
The important thing is to avoid answering all the questions at once or within the space of a few chapters. If you give a long and exhaustive account of your main character's backstory in the opening chapters, readers won't feel compelled to keep reading so they can discover your character's motivations or his dark past. Likewise, if you answer all the questions in the last few chapters (a popular method for mystery novels), your readers will be bored long before they get there, because they aren't getting any answers to their questions in the meantime.
The best way to go is to scatter questions and answers throughout the story. The truth behind why your character is so afraid of sharks may need to be told before the climax of the story, but you probably should tell it at some thematically significant moment and not in the opening chapter. You can allude to a question throughout the story, reminding readers that the question is still unanswered, and even drop clues or gradually reveal the truth. This is a great way to generate suspense.
I discovered this trick while revising the first chapter of my current work in progress. I realized that I was telling too much backstory to explain why my character was trying to prove ghosts are real. (Too much backstory all at once is an easy trap for any writer to fall into--especially on a first draft.) Giving only the immediate, external reason (it's for her school science fair project) gives readers enough information while leaving them wondering what the deeper motivation is (which I will allude to so they know there is one).
Doing this adds a layer of mystery which (hopefully) will compel people to keep reading to find out why finding a ghost is so important to my character. A few chapters into the story, readers will discover that my character needs to prove ghosts are real so her best friend will no longer be branded as crazy for claiming to have seen one. And even later in the story an even deeper motivation for belief in ghosts is revealed... but if you want to know what it is, you'll just have to wait and read the story to find out!
What questions are you making readers ask? Share your thoughts in the comment box!
The trick to getting people interested in your story and keeping them that way is to make them ask questions.
Sounds simple, right? But it works. If you've ever quit reading a book because it was boring, chances are it wasn't triggering questions you wanted to find the answers to, or maybe it wasn't triggering any questions at all. It might have given you too much information up front, leaving no mysteries to be cleared up later in the story.
Quick side note: Getting your readers to ask questions is a great way to get them interested in your story. If you want them to be invested in your story, you'll need to use other methods as well. Being interested means you're involved mentally, while being invested requires emotional involvement. For now, I'm just going to talk about how to pique your readers' curiosity and make them want to find out what's going to happen in your story. In a later blog post I'll discuss how to get readers attached to your story on an emotional level.
So for starters, you want people to ask themselves a question about a book--a question that makes them want to read your book to find the answer. If I pick up H. G. Wells's novel, The War of the Worlds, I might ask myself "What worlds?" and "Why are they at war?" and especially "Who wins?"
That's the first step, and the second step is actually the same thing. As people read your story, keep them asking questions. As your story unfolds, some questions will be answered and new ones will appear. From the beginning of The War of the Worlds, I discover that the worlds are Earth and Mars, and this knowledge makes me want to know even more why they're fighting and who's going to win.
The important thing is to avoid answering all the questions at once or within the space of a few chapters. If you give a long and exhaustive account of your main character's backstory in the opening chapters, readers won't feel compelled to keep reading so they can discover your character's motivations or his dark past. Likewise, if you answer all the questions in the last few chapters (a popular method for mystery novels), your readers will be bored long before they get there, because they aren't getting any answers to their questions in the meantime.
The best way to go is to scatter questions and answers throughout the story. The truth behind why your character is so afraid of sharks may need to be told before the climax of the story, but you probably should tell it at some thematically significant moment and not in the opening chapter. You can allude to a question throughout the story, reminding readers that the question is still unanswered, and even drop clues or gradually reveal the truth. This is a great way to generate suspense.
I discovered this trick while revising the first chapter of my current work in progress. I realized that I was telling too much backstory to explain why my character was trying to prove ghosts are real. (Too much backstory all at once is an easy trap for any writer to fall into--especially on a first draft.) Giving only the immediate, external reason (it's for her school science fair project) gives readers enough information while leaving them wondering what the deeper motivation is (which I will allude to so they know there is one).
Doing this adds a layer of mystery which (hopefully) will compel people to keep reading to find out why finding a ghost is so important to my character. A few chapters into the story, readers will discover that my character needs to prove ghosts are real so her best friend will no longer be branded as crazy for claiming to have seen one. And even later in the story an even deeper motivation for belief in ghosts is revealed... but if you want to know what it is, you'll just have to wait and read the story to find out!
What questions are you making readers ask? Share your thoughts in the comment box!