Memorable characters, intriguing writing style and the perfect audience; these make both the writer and reader happy.
At The Write Place, we cater for your needs-both as a writer and as a reader- through a series of well-planned activities setup to...
So after a long weekend of having to do extra chores, and babysitting, and assignments(for those of us in summer classes), and of course, Pokemon Go, your potential reader decides to kick off the new week with a new book to keep them company. Chapter 1...hmmm. Chapter 2...ughh. Chapter 3: The End. Skims over to another book ad from in-between chapters.
That's the typical scenario that happens, truth is even more heart breaking...they never get past Chapter 1. No, not with all the millions of 'free' books they could always sample in your genre. Feeling bad, well, don't cry yet. It's normal, but should it be the norm with your works?
A few factors could contribute to this. First of which is the fact that Wattpad is free and your readers don't care if your story has a great premise and all. Bad execution= Less readers.
It might interest you to know that readers aren't always totally compelled by a story line, rather their emotional connection to the protagonist is what brings them back for that next chapter. That explains why FanFics get a lot of attention, their protagonists already have created a connection with their readers.(Okay, I shouldn't have mentioned that.)
Now, down to the good part. What is wrong with your NYT Bestselling book?
THE STORY STARTS AT THE WRONG MOMENT.
Authors need to introduce the protagonist in the opening scenes. No one's interested in whether the sky looks like it'll rain or the bartender(who only appears once in the whole book) didn't button up correctly.
Backstory and minor characters aren't what your readers wants to know first.
Back stories should be left behind until something significant happens to your protagonist. And it(backstory) should only be disclosed to your readers only if they need to know.
THERE ARE UNREALISTIC OR WEAK STAKES.
A character who is worried in an abstract way about Earth being destroyed by corporations is not good enough. However, I will care about her if her farm has been flooded because of global warming.
THERE IS NO REASON TO EMPATHISE WITH THE PROTAGONIST.
For a book to be brilliant, your protagonist has to be fighting an antagonist, and external conflict, battling their own demons and resolving internal conflict. Great writers, whether they are literary or commercial writers, do this all the time. They layer stories.
Your protagonist doesn't have to be Princess Fiona, but there has to be redeeming qualities enough for readers to understand her motivations. If your protagonist is planning to kill someone, give your readers their reason for doing so. Your protagonist does not need to be perfect, but you have to make your readers care about them to carry on reading.
If you think readers may stop reading your book because of a weak protagonist, ask yourself these five questions: •Who are they?
•Why should readers care what happens to them?
•What do they want and what are they doing (straight away) to get it?
•What is at stake for them?
•Who stands in the way of her achieving their goal?
Make sure you have good answers for each one(no cheating). If you do, you will have one of the basic requirements for keeping a reader interested: a motivated protagonist with a story goal.
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Hope this has been helpful. What authors have been able to keep your attention and on which of their books? How do you think they did it?
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