Writing a book is hard. Writing a book someone else
would actually enjoy reading is even harder. Trust me, my love of reading has
led me to many a stinker. Some of those were supposed to be New York Best-Selling,
so not even well-known authors are immune to bad story telling. In hopes to
improve writers everywhere, here are three things that keep a reader captive.
1.
Don’t start your story with giving the
readers a ton of backstory. It’s a mistake that will have readers closing a
book faster than anything else. Yes, all characters have a backstory, but SO
WHAT! People in real life have backstories, too. People don’t generally go
around wanting to here another person’s history without spending some time with them
first. So, give your reader a character in an opening scenario that grabs their
interest.
2.
Keep your sentences tight. This goes way
beyond the passive verbs “was” or “to be.” Crazy long sentences with flowery
descriptions or lists drags the pace of any story. Stick to the point, and as
I’ve said a thousand times, build the world around your character as you go.
Not every inch of a place has to be described, only the parts pertinent to the
story.
3.
Don’t make your reader wonder who is
speaking. Snappy dialogue can go a long way in keeping a reader interested. But
if they have to reread sections twice just to figure out who’s speaking, you
will lose them.
Remember, your goal is
to achieve a seamless effect, where your story is so easy to read and understand,
it’s as if the words on the page disappear. Great writers
aren’t searching for praise on their word choices and sentence structures. An
author’s ability to write is self-evident by the enjoyment others get by
reading their work.
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