well, for the most part i think the writing of my 'novel' is going fairly well, especially considering how much homework etc. i have to do... but if anyone has any tips, or links to other sites, i'd like to know if there are any specific ways to try to draw the reader in, so that they want to carry on reading, not put the book down, that sort of thing...
yeah so if anyone can help, would be much appreciated.
Id say the simplest answer would be to add lots of twists and turns, cliffhangers on the end of chapters to make the reader want to find out what is happening to the characters. Thats the make the reader continue, to draw in the reader I arnt quite sure of, I usually start a piece with a setting description. However I know this isnt the most effective. One word starts could be good ie.
"Bang. Smoke left the barrel as Tom Warrington looked down at his prey"
This sort of starter makes the reader enquire. For example the word "Bang" would want the reader to carry on, what is banging. Then we are told that smoke has left the barrel, we take this is refering to a gun. WE have a character, who is this character, why is he killing, why has he got a gin? These questions make the reader want to carry on. Then we have the word: "prey" this tells us that Tom wants to kill and is enjoying doing so, we want to find out more about this character.
By no means my example is perfect, but you get my gist dont you?
There's no bona fide way to get people to love your story, sad but true. I for one resent cliffhangers with a fiercely burning passion — it's a cheap gimmick, a temporary way to pull your reader in without actually drawing them into the story. (Plus, it reminds me way too much of the Hardy Boys. *shudder*) Twists are good, but only when well-executed (although technically that's the same with everything else, but whatever).
Having said that ... one of the best (and most important) ways to get a reader interested in your story is a good opening line. As far as surface hooks go, this is very superficial but very effective. People too often either ignore the power of the opening line or fall for cheap tricks in trying to make the first line "good". Just so you know; a good opening line (for me, anyway) doesn't have to be dramatic or horrifying or suspenseful, it just has to be interesting. Again, the stupid gimmicky ones ("A shot rang through the night." "They heard her scream from the foot of the cliff.") are, well, stupid and gimmicky. Plus, they tend to be worse openers than the interesting ones.
So what qualifies as a good opening line?
- It was a dumb thing to do but it wasn't that dumb. (Sunshine, Robin McKinley)
- "Who is John Galt?" (Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand)
- Shadow had done three years in prison. (American Gods, Neil Gaiman)
- When my mother was pregnant, she told me later, a party of hooded Ku Klux Klan riders galloped up to our home in Omaha, Nebraska, one night. (The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley)
- It was a pleasure to burn. (Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury)
Each of those books had me hooked from line one. They're not necessarily god's gift to writing wrapped in sentence format, but they're interesting, and they kept me reading. Which is definitely a start.
There are tons of other things to get readers interested. Powerful characters (and by "powerful" I mean well-developed, i.e. interesting and multi-faceted and flawed) are the driving force of a story. For me, if I've made it to the end of the first chapter and there's nothing enticing me to keep reading (whether it's the writing style, the characters, the plot, whatever — cliffhangers not included) then I'll probably stop reading. For some people, plot twists and extensive action does work (I think sword fights translate horribly to paper, but that's just me). I suppose what really matters is your strengths — play up to those and work from there. If dialogue is your thing, then make chapter one isn't all info-dumping and lengthy description. Likewise, if you suck at writing action sequences, don't start the story with a car chase. That sort of thing.
...so, yeah. Hope that helped.
"He yanked himself free and fled to the kitchen where something huddled against the flooded windowpanes. It sighed and wept and tapped continually, and suddenly he was outside, staring in, the rain beating, the wind chilling him, and all the candle darkness inside lost."
Beside what's already been said, something that will inexorably pull me into a story is how much the writer is really involved in it. You can tell when an author knows their characters, and likes them. And that's a huge aspect of any good story (if not the entirety of it). If the writier enjoys it, it comes through. Enthusiasm is catching.
Not to mention enjoying something tends to come through in industriousness; the more enjoyed, the more put in.
ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem
"There is adventure in simply being among those we love, and among the things we love -- and beauty, too."
My grandfather, an English teacher, thought this was the best opening line ever:
"I like knives."
Now, upon a quick reading, this is a very simple sentence. It has three words. It's not complex. So what is nice about the line?
1) It introduces the character quickly.
When you say the word "I" it tells us a couple of things. One, you're going to be in first person, so it will be told in the narrator's perspective. You might be saying to yourself, "Well, that's obvious. Who cares?" Yet I cannot emphasis how important introducing a character or perspective is. Too many times, writers think that the weather or something is more interesting than the main character, so they begin talking about the sky and how pretty it looked, completely ignoring any mention of the character until the next paragraph.
2) It tells us what the character likes.
So... this is not an inanimate object. It is probably a sentient being with cogitatitve thought. This, coupled with the word "I" tells us that the person is indeed a person and can think. And, not only can this person think, but he can like something. This draws us in, because it gives us background information about the character, and invites us to dwell into his thoughts.
3) I like... assonance?
The word "knives" is a sharp word, and its hard "i" sound pierces the sentence. In fact, if you looked at the sentence, you would see that the entire sentence has a nice string of assonance. I, like, knives, all of those words have a brilliantly sharp sound that gives a great imagery. The sharpness of the sound connected with the meaning of the sentence... wow.
4) Finally... the meaning.
The meaning is riveting. What does the sentence mean? It tells the reader something -- it doesn't try to hide away behind extra adjectives. Yet, the sheer force of the sentence makes the reader want to know more. Why does this person like knives? What is this person doing while he tells us that he likes knives? We ask questions of the sentence, even though the sentence is simple, and it propels us to read. We want to find out what will happen next.
Yep...
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.
"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach
Well, if you ask me you've got to tell it like you're talking to the audience while bouncing up and down doing hand signals with the excitment of it all. This doesn't mean being overly informal in serious moments, but you've got to care. If I actually had to tell a story off to top of my head without reading it off paper, I'd be all "ums" and "oh wait! Did I tell you this?" so not exactly like you're talking. More like you're telling. It has to be important to you. If you go into your story not caring about what's going to happen, it's going to transmit to the readers. So basically I'm saying exactly what Poor Imp said, but I really believe in it so I have to say it all again in my own words.
Opening sentences are important, but if the follow up is rubbish then they get you nowhere. Smart arse characters ... maybe not. I personally tend to despise a smart arse character who's entire aim in life seems to be to be the biggest smart arse possible. If it's just a habit to say smart arse things ... that's different. I wouldn't go creating a character because you think you need a smart arse. It just ... won't work out so well.
Oh, you're angry! Click your pen.
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