The reaction I want when I read a story is Ooh, possibly Ah and maybe, if I’m lucky, Woo
hoo! What I usually get when reading
a WIP is Meh, maybe Blah and more often than not, Huh?
It’s all very well advising writers to write something
interesting, but how do you do that? It’s all subjective isn’t it? When you
read a good book it holds your attention — sometimes it’s obvious why,
sometimes it isn’t.
So, here’s a list of the types of story elements that are universally
attention grabbing. 100% guaranteed or your money back.
(subject to terms and conditions, excuses apply, time does not equal money, anyway I'm skint so good luck trying to redeem this offer)
Struggle
You’re walking along the street and a man is walking the
other way, do you pay him much attention?
What if you’re walking along and there’s a man hanging
from a fifth storey window ledge?
We’re hard-wired to be interested in trouble. The more
difficult the problem, the higher the stakes, the more absorbing we find it.
This is the reason for rubber-necking, gambling, sporting events, gossip, and
whole host of other human activities.
The temptation is to think you have to have life
threatening situations to make the most of this, but struggle can come in many
forms. I could be trying to stop an atomic bomb going off, or I could be trying
to resist eating that slice of cake I
know is in the fridge (that last one isn’t so hypothetical).
What it comes down to though is judgement. Do you think
the struggle is worth watching? If you’re not sure if the struggle is big enough,
that’s okay, you can work with it. It may not require you to make it bigger, or
more dangerous, it could be a matter of making it more intense or more
emotional.
If the question you’re asking yourself is, Where is the struggle? Then you’re
screwed.
Surprise
This isn’t just the Boo!
or The President’s an alien! type of surprise, although those can
certainly be very attention grabbing. Whenever something happens that the
reader wasn’t expecting, the reader will be engaged.
That’s one of the reasons humour works so well, even if
it isn’t pushing the plot forward. Jokes rely on you thinking things are going
in one direction, and they end up going in another. Creating a convincing false
trail and then going in an unexpected direction will make the reader pay closer
attention.
But random surprises aren’t very satisfying. Only when the
unexpected turns out to actually make total sense do readers become
appreciative of the skill being employed. Not very easy to do.
The only real
way I know is to read stuff by people who have done it and study how they got
from A to B (or possibly A to C). Not something many aspiring writers are very
keen on.
Anticipation
Knowing what’s coming and looking forward to it (or dreading
it) is probably the best way to glue the reader to the page. However, that
doesn’t mean just any event is going to be eagerly anticipated.
Plus, there has to be some indication of the consequences (good
or bad) and there has to be good reason for the delay in getting there.
If we’re just waiting and waiting it can be easy to lose
the reader’s interest. But even then you can string people along with
the promise of something worth the wait. If you let them down though, you won’t
get a second chance.
Consider the story of the Three Bears. We know Goldilocks
is in bed upstairs. We already know she’s the one responsible for the eaten porridge
and the broken chair. But building up to the discovery step by step, with a
great deal of repetition, is what makes the ending work.
Although, it should be remembered what works for a child
isn’t quite the same as what works for an adult.
Puzzles
We all love a good mystery or riddle. Whether it’s
solving it for ourselves, or being told the answer, it’s rewarding.
The mystifying question isn’t that hard to come up with.
Anyone can create a seemingly impossible murder. Few can then produce a
satisfying explanation of how it happened.
It’s also very easy to give characters secret after
secret, and unrevealed motivations for their actions. Eventually you have to
provide answers and if they don’t satisfy, you can be sure no one will ever
bother giving you the benefit of the doubt again.
You have to know how your puzzle works, inside and out. Just
posing a question and refusing to answer it for 300 pages won’t cut it.
Learning
When a piece of writing actually teaches you something
about the world or about life, and does so in a way that isn’t preachy or
didactic, it can be extremely rewarding to read. If I knew how to do this I’d
tell you.
Addendum from Margo Berendsen: Here's another one to add to this list, but I can't take credit for it, I learned it from the StoryFix blog (Larry Brooks). Give the reader a vicarious experience. What are the inner workings of the Vatican? Or a terrorist cell? Or behind the scenes on a movie set or an emergency room?
Addendum from Margo Berendsen: Here's another one to add to this list, but I can't take credit for it, I learned it from the StoryFix blog (Larry Brooks). Give the reader a vicarious experience. What are the inner workings of the Vatican? Or a terrorist cell? Or behind the scenes on a movie set or an emergency room?
Any other suggestions for how to get the reader turning those pages? Will happily add them to the list with accreditation to you.
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21 comments:
Anticipation and struggles are my favorite to use.
As long I'm interested in the characters I'll go for a ride.
Well put. The last part about learning something is very true and is something I look for when I read. A book can teach you a life lesson or it can just opens your eyes to see things a way you never did before.
@Alex - mine too.
@mshatch - characters will only keep my interest for so long. Eventually I need a little something-something.
@Mandy - the learning part is probably the hardest one to get right.
I think, perhaps, that in my current novel, I relied on surprise. Whenever I had something going on that was necessary but otherwise kind of dull, I would try to think of what could possibly be the most bizarre thing to happen to the character(s) at that moment. Then that is what I wrote.
You're right. I've got to keep these points in mind as I proceed with my writing in the future. I know it when I'm reading it in a book, but I'm not sure that I'm doing it.
Lee
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I'm very character driven. If I connect with a character(s), I'll stay with the story until I find out what happens to him/her/them. But if the story has some nice twists and surprises, so much the better.
@Dan - everyone loves a good surprise.
@Lee - see it in your own work is the hardest thing, I find.
@LD - it's usually the twists and surprises, and how the character handles them, that makes me like the character.
Loved this article!
@Suzanne - thanks.
I think I've managed to keep the reader interested. Even this one dude that left me a one star review on Apple's website obviously finished the book in record time to call me a blasphemer for my ending and basically hope that god strikes me down for the things I do in my book.
So yeah...I had him interested (and angry too). I chuckle. As an atheist, being called a blasphemer is similar to someone who's upset that I don't believe in the tooth fairy.
Great post Moody.
Fantastic list. I'd say the struggle one is most important. I try to consciously keep it in mind and make sure its on every page as I write.
Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
A great guide to good story-telling - sounds so easy, but so hard to pull off, for me, anyway. To surpise the reader without just being annoying. annoying him, for instance, takes good plotting. the learning thing is important for me as a reader, but an info dump will have me give up straight away - so many balancing acts!
Alib
And you put "easy" in the title??? (grin!)
Here's another one to add to this list, but I can't take credit for it, I learned it from the StoryFix blog (Larry Brooks). Give the reader a vicarious experience. What are the inner workings of the Vatican? Or a terrorist cell? Or behind the scenes on a movie set or an emergency room? The magnificent screen writing blog Cockeyed Caravan talks about the very first episode of E.R., something we didn't know that ER doctors did that gives us fascinating (almost titillating insight) into the ER. The same can be done with a more ordinary setting (a highschool lunchroom) if something really unusual happens - Jodi Picoult's 19 Minutes (and not even the school shooting part. What happened several weeks earlier in the lunchroom to the kid that precipitates his revenge).
Sorry.... lengthy comment. I'm always searching for what makes a book grab you and keep reading, you've got a great list here.
So many times I start a book and think, So What? Struggle=conflict=tension. It must be there or why should we care? This was a great post, right on.
@Michael - wait, there's no tooth fairy?
@Sarah - struggle is probably the most important element in most stories.
@Ali - I agree. Randomness, while surprising, doesn't really work.
@Margo - good addition to the list, have added it.
@Tamm - everyone likes to see someone fighting against the odds. It's in our nature, I think.
I will read my share of books I like to call junk food books, simply because the story behind the character interested me. I think you mentioned this in the comments but the character's reaction to their present problem is what gets me going. I don't care if they are trying to save a life or restore a house, if they're reaction interests me, I'm so there.
Great pointers! I will be coming back to this until I have all of them ingrained into my brain. :D
Kathy
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com
@nicole - how a character handles their business is certainly one of the key attractions of a story, I think.
@Kathy - I'll be here!
All of these are great capture and hold story elements. I love the surprises a book offers up and if I can "escape" into a story, that's the best. Thanks for this.
Great article!
Anticipation is a tricky one. Done well, it keeps you reading to find out how everything will go down. However, if you're waiting for a character to figure out something that you (as a reader) have known for chapters upon chapters, then it can become frustrating. You know the revelation scene will be exciting, but that silly character keeps missing it! Or maybe that's just me ;)