My apologies to my regular readers — I’ve been away for a few weeks (enjoying some summer fun), but I’m back now and ready to go.
When you’re reading a really good book you feel as if you’re been sucked into the story. You live it along with the characters. And when you are there you can’t let it go, you simply cannot put the book down—or it’s really hard to do so.
That is where writers want all of our readers. But how do we get them there.
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Make them care
That sounds pretty obvious, but so often it’s the last thing an author thinks about. They’re thinking about the plot, about the characters, about how beautiful their sentences are. But none of that matters if the reader doesn’t care.
If you don’t make the reader care, it’s like looking at a car accident on the other side of the road. You feel bad for the people involved, but then you can go on your way and not give it another thought. That is not the way you want your reader to approach your book.
You need to make your reader need to know what happens to your protagonist(s). They need to see that they reach their goal. They need to get frustrated when bad things happen and cheer when the character gets themselves out of a sticky situation.
To do this, create compelling characters, characters that readers can both identify with, respect, and wish they were them (although, considering all the character goes through, they’re actually glad they not them). Your reader needs to like, if not love your characters. They need to feel empathy for them. With these traits, your reader will care enough to pull them through the whole book.
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Write a compelling plot
Does a compelling plot have to be filled with fighting, destruction or death? Not at all, although they certainly are compelling elements. But a plot can be just as compelling if it is simply about two people making a connection and falling in love (says the romance writer who doesn’t write nor read such books because, personally, I always need a little more than that—but that’s just me!)
A compelling plot will keep your reader engaged, keep them asking questions, keep them anticipating outcomes. Just as you needed to create compelling characters to make a reader care, you then need to place those characters into compelling situations where they have to work hard to achieve their goals. Life has to come at your character at full force and they have to face it, bend it to their will, and continue on, master of the situation.
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Write deep POV
Writing in close third person or first person will also bring your reader deeper into your story. Some authors even take it a step further by writing in present tense. But it still won’t work if the first three points above are not fulfilled. If the reader doesn’t care, they could be wearing a VR headset and actually experience the story, and they’ll still be able to walk away in a heartbeat. If they are not fascinated by the story and need to know how it works out in the end, you can have the most action-filled book, and still the reader will put it down. And if you don’t include thoughts, feeling, and emotions, the reader simply will not get so involved and the book will get dumped into the DNF (Did Not Finish) pile.
Bringing your reader into your story, making them experience it, is the surest way to have an involved reader, and an involved reader not only will read to the end, but then, hopefully, go out and buy your next book while telling all their friends and acquaintances what a fabulous book they just read. You want that book to be one you wrote.