Easy Ways To Keep The Reader Interested

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?

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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