Grabbing Readers And Hanging On

Authors use all kinds of phrase that means the same thing. Grab the reader, hook the reader, create a page-turner, or write a keeper. Obviously all of these phrase mean an author wants to engage readers to the point that they can’t put down the book and once it’s finished, they can’t let it go. They put in on their bookshelves, often not loaning them to anyone, in case the borrower doesn’t return them. Writing a Keeper is what each author wants to do.

So then, the question is how do you write a book that grabs the reader and hangs on? A book is a keeper, first, when the story relates to the reader’s experiences. When they can say, I’ve been there, I’ve done that, I’ve felt that. Next, the book is a Keeper when the reader relates so well to the characters he wants to continue reading their story. I’ve received many letters from readers, and hopefully you have to, when they ask if I’m going to continue the story in another book. I’ve even had a reader write and ask me if Annie and Ken ever had a baby and how was Grandma Ellie’s health now. These were all story characters. I laugh but then I am flattered that the reader loves and remembers these characters as real.

Writing a Keeper means you will need to analyze your novel by story elements and ask yourself questions. The story premise or theme is the first, followed by characters, plot, and setting. Here are some thing to ask yourself.

Premise, Theme, or Message
• Is your premise realistic and yet special? Have you added a twist or a surprise?
• Does the theme or message tug at the readers emotions? If a reader laughs or cries you’re on the right track to a keeper novel.
• Is the message or theme strong and meaningful? Does your novel tackle realistic problems and issues that people face in their own lives? Does the resolution make a significant difference in the lives of the main characters?
• Does the theme or message cause readers to relive times of their own lives or offer them experiences they’ve always wanted but have never experienced.
Identify the main theme or message in your novel and review it against these questions. If you find a weak area, ask yourself what you can do to make it more meaningful and realistic

Characters
• Do your main character reflect real life people not stereotypes? Do they have admirable qualities as well as flaws?
• Are they vulnerable—showing weaknesses common to others? Are they strong despite their vulnerability?
• Do they have goals that are significant and important to others as well as themselves.
• Are their motivations realistic? Did you create a past with their strength and weaknesses documented by life experiences and their upbringing? Family, friends, talents?
• Are the character’s realistic and consistent in their emotional and psychological attributes?
• Do the characters have realistic fears and phobias that are their nemesis?
• Are these qualities your reader can relate to?

Plot
• Are the character’s goals and motivation clear and meaningful to readers? Is this something to which readers can relate?
• Are the character’s behaviors and attitudes psychological realistic and are the story problems real?
• Does the story open in a dynamic way that grips the reader from page one?
• Is backstory used to build characterization but not plopped in the first pages of the story?
• Does the plot allow the reader to participate—to speculate, to cheer, to warn?
• Does the story keep moving with good pacing—a few slower moments for readers to digest what’s happening and then moves ahead with dynamic action?
• Does the plot reinforce the theme or message of the story?

Story Setting
• Why did you chose this setting? How can it be used to add deeper meaning to your story?
• Does the setting enhance the plot?
• Does the setting create nuances in the characterization—added stress, feelings of home or loss?
• Does the description bring the setting to life?
• Do the setting aspects relate to the story’s mood, heighten emotion, and serve a purpose beyond offering a sense of place?

If you can answer these questions with positive answers, wonderful. If you find that you need to make changes, then do so. The more realistic and compelling these four elements of your story, you will create a page-turner, a book that grips the reader and one they want to keep.

Conflicts, hooks, characterization in a novel?

Another new author asked a very complex question about conflicts and hooks when the novel isn't a suspense.. Most of you know the importance of conflicts and hooks in any kind of novel, but here was my response to her question---both an explanation and advice.

Gail said:
Your questions are so complex I'd have to write workshops for each of them. Let me say a few things - and then I would recommend you purchase a couple of good books on plotting. You can read them slowly and refer back to them when you get confused.


You also would benefit by finding a critique group so you have people who can look at your work and make comments specifically about some of the things are you doing well and the things that need work.

Conflicts
Every story needs conflict. Without them you don't have a story -so you need to give serious thought to this. Conflicts (which creates tension) are the things that get in the way of the person reaching their goal or his need in the story. The goal usually is motivated by something that happened or is happening in the character's life. For example - A man grew up very poor with no father in the home. He had to eat in soup kitchens with his mother. As he grows up, he is determined to get an education and have a good life -- but this goal might have different purposes. He might want to be rich and successful because he no longer wants to be poor. Or he might want to be rich and successful because he wants enough money to help others who are poor so they don't have to live as he did. The purpose would be based on the man's character and personality
Now conflict is what gets in the way of his success. Perhaps he has a job and is working his way up in the business but the owner dies and his son takes over. He doesn't like the hero who now starts having career problems. Or let's say his job is going well but a new man joins the business, and the new man starts taking over and the hero begins to lose control of his success in the business. These are just a couple examples, but I hope you understand why conflict is necessary. Without conflict, you have a story of a guy who had a difficult life and now is doing well. That's boring. . .even if it has humor in it.

Though I write romantic suspense, most of my novels are straight romance so they're not scary at all, but the characters have problems that add tension to the story and make them more dramatic. Problems need to grow worse with each problem.

Suspense is a genre but tension, conflict and emotion are vital to any story whether it be family relationships, romance, coming of age, searching for purpose, or any other type of fiction.

Conflicts are not arguments. In fact that's the weakest kind of conflict. Conflicts are those internal struggles we have in making decisions. Let's say your character realizes that her brother has gotten involved in something illegal. She has the moral struggle to close her eyes and say nothing or confront her brother and hope he steps away from what he's doing, or contact authorities and turn him in. This is internal conflict which is the strongest kind of conflict because it affects values, morals and beliefs which are important to each of us.

In romance, a conflict might be a woman who has lived a shady life---let's say she was involved in prostitution or perhaps some kind of illegal business --- and now she's moved away and is living a stellar life, one she's proud of. She meets a man and she's falling in love. He's falling in love with her -- but she fears he will learn about her past and hate her for it. . .or walk away and not forgive her. She must decide to tell him and hope he forgives her, take the chance he'll never learn about it, or walk away from the chance to love. This is real conflict with tension and emotion.

Now complicate that story. She decides not to tell him, but someone comes to town who knows her past. Now what does she do? You've heightened the stakes. You've added to the tension. Though this story is romance---not a suspense---it creates suspense.


Tension creates emotion and emotion is what makes your story interesting for readers. Without tension and emotion, you don't have a plot which means you don't have a story.

Characterization:
Conflicts and tension helps characters change and grow. a must in good fiction. If you're succeeding with that, you are doing a good job because you're creating "real" people. Think of your own life. Everyday you are a different person because of something that has happened in your life. You learned a new lesson, you focused on something that you've never noticed before. You learned something new about yourself or about someone else. You found something you can't handle. You make a choice or a decision. These are all changes that characters experience in novels. As you read a novel, you should dissect it so that you can see how these characters are changing.

Hooks
Hooks are very important to keep your reader turning pages and finding out what's going to happen next. Without hooks, they have no reason to keep reading so keep that in mind. A hook can be an open ended question at the end of a chapter. It leaves the reader trying to decide what he will do. At the end of a chapter, a hook can be a phone ringing and the chapter ends. This would work if the character is waiting for an important call that will answer a vital question or offer a needed job or help. Put a scene involving someone else  between the character answering the phone. Don't do that too often or it will lose it's hook value.
Final comments:
As a new writer, you can't learn everything in a day or a week or a year. It often takes many years to write a novel that is saleable, but you shouldn't give up. Put aside the old novels if they don't have enough story to create drama, and start a new one, using the new techniques that you are learning. Most people don't sell their first novels. I have numerous novels I wrote early in my career that are not published.  Let this information soak in slowly and don't get discouraged. Copy this info and learn it in small pieces.

Question: How Do You Create A Rough Plot Outine?

Numerous questions were asked by writers in my online course in January.  I wanted to share this one with you.
My question is this: Do I start with a rough outline of scenes, using the checklist to insure the scene is driving the story, then go onto adding in sequels and plotting hooks?

My response:

 I plot a little differently than many, but that's natural.  We each find a way that works with us. I plot with things that should happen without knowing at the time whose POV it will be in or where it will happen. I just know these are the details I want to include, so building in the sequels comes from instinct. I ask myself does the other POV character need a chance to share his/her emotional and mental responses to what happened in the previous scene or situation. If so then I add those elements to his or here next scene.

Hooks are techniques we use within scenes and always at the end of a scene to keep the readers turning pages - so those are also instinctive to some degree but can be set up as you approach the end of your chapter or scene.

Here's what I do when plot overwhelms me. (You can do this on a brainstorming computer program if you have one.) I actually do it on sticky notes or index cards. I jot down ideas of things that need to happen-- information I need to share with the reader, incidents that move the story forward, conflicts that occur, new characters or subplots that enter the story---all kinds of things like this. Then I begin to organize them. Which is the least dramatic element? That goes first. I set up conflicts in order of the dramatic and emotional effect on one or both characters. I sometimes use a subplot to create a hook, but a great way to hook is ending a scene with a troubling question, the telephone ringing when the character is waiting for information, an unexplained noise, a question that needs an answer (which ever works in the story) and then move the scene to the other POVcharacter and sometimes another subplot. This keeps readers griping the pages until the find out what happened in the earlier scene . As I work through these cards or sticky notes, I make decisions about what information needs to be foreshadowed earlier or where the information needs to happen to keep the story moving forward. This works very well for me to present all the action, introspection and dialogue at the most effective place it can be in the story -- everything leading to that dire, dark moment when all seems lost -- and then the exciting road to a solution and resolve.

Part VII Suspense - Setting and Atmosphere

Besides a sense of place, the right kind of setting offers the reader an atmosphere conducive to creating tension. Certain settings bring established mental images of frightening settings or ones open to danger. Think of a rundown farmhouse, a lonely cabin in the woods, a Gothic mansion, a hospital ship, an abandoned building, a park at night, a cemetery, or a gloomy parking garage. You have seen movies and read books with settings like this that set you up immediately for bad news.

Even a familiar setting can create fear. A night shift stock boy working when the store lights go out. Visiting your place of employment at night. Entering an empty church at night. Losing power in your own home during a storm. All of these locations, normally familiar, add an unknown element of darkness, gloom, or loneliness.

Each of the sense images you create for your setting came be affected by the time of day, weather conditions, and mood of the character. In this case, setting can become a character in itself or can reflect information about the character you place in the setting. Think of the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks. Characterization comes alive when we see the person in a setting of its making. Picture a woman sitting in her parlor filled with bric-a-brac and doilies. Imagine a different women in a modern apartment with limited decorations and everything in place. Imagine a man in his organized, pristine garage, and then picture another man with greasy tools and dirt under his fingernails.

The settings help describe the characters. In the parlor we have a woman who treasures her belongings. To her, they are cozy and comfortable. In the modern apartment, we have a no fuss business women or socialite living in a world that’s restricted by the her narrowness and control. The pristine garage owner prides himself in being organized, while the other man prides himself on repairing cars.

Now return to the parlor and have the modern business women studying the setting. She selects one of the many adornments, eyes it with a look of disdain and replaces it on the table before wiping her fingers on a pure white handkerchief. Same setting but different characterization. Use settings in this way to bring out the strengths, weaknesses, values and attitudes of your characters.

Details in your setting can foreshadow future events. A man’s den shows a display of antique rifles and revolvers covering one wall. Allowing your readers to see this display will alert them—even casually—that these weapons will reappear later in the novel. They will expect the weapons to play an important part of the novel. So be careful with what you describe or you will disappoint readers if the item is significant to your plot.

Use setting details to around reader’s curiosity and to draw them into the stories tension. My novel, A Love for Safekeeping, (which I preferred to be titled See Jane Run) is a good example of a novel with multiple red herrings and many of the techniques mentioned. Jane, an elementary school teacher, is being stalked. On a school field trip one of her students is missing, and she receives a message that he is in the barn and she leaves the lodge to find the child.

Jane raced from the lodge, praying nothing was seriously wrong. Her heart pounded as she rushed toward the barn, fearing the worst.
The door stood ajar.
Adrenaline fired her action. She took a deep breath, tugged back the door, and stepped into the dim interior. When her feet hit the straw-covered floor, terror charged through her. She faltered, peering into the shadows. No one was there. Nothing.

Yet from inside, she heard a childlike whimper. “Danny? Danny, are you in here?”

Her voice faded into the dark corners.


Overhead, she heard another sound.


She peered upward toward the dark loft. “Danny?” Jane held her breath. Fear prickled up her quaking limbs.


From above, another muffled moan reached her ears. Her chest tightened against her thundering heart.


“Danny!”


Terror tore through her as icy tendrils slithered through her veins. She stumbled backward.


No. Not here.


Engulfed by panic, she tried to run from the gloom, but her legs, as if nailed to the floor, held her immobile. Her throat constricted, paralyzing her scream.


Out of the blackness, a body hurled through the air and swung from the rafters.


Her legs buckled, and Jane faded into the darkness.

This is a good example of ending a scene with a hook.

Give serious thought to your settings in all fiction, but particularly in suspense novels, and use the setting to bring characters to life, arouse readers curiosity and create tension that grabs the reader and doesn’t let go.

Tension And Conflict - Part I

The Set Up to Tension and Conflict
I recently presented a workshop on tension and conflict. The topic offers many steps to writing a good novel. I began this workshop with the basic elements needed to begin a novel because it sets up how conflict begins. Conflict is a concept you know is vital to any story. It is what drives your story and is an event that causes action between the opposition and the main character. Tension, on the other hand, is the character’s reaction to the event. This reaction arouses emotion of the character and the reader. Emotion is a must in any novel.


Vulnerable Characters
Major characters must be vulnerable. They have flaws, weaknesses, fears, and sinful behaviors which they often are trying to hide. Immediately you find tension inherent in this situation. Whenever a character wants to avoid facing a truth, tension creating emotion happens. Another side of these flaws and weaknesses might be the character’s inability or avoidance to face them. It is denial. I am not impatient. I do not look at everything in a negative way. I don’t feel sorry for myself. When you look at your own flaws, you can relate to this problem. No one wants to admit what makes them less than perfect.


Characters’ Goals
Every major character needs a goal. It is something they want to gain or something they want to avoid. They want to gain a good reputation. They want to avoid gossip. They want to find the treasure. They want to avoid being found. They want to find the killer. They want to avoid being killed. They want to find love. They don’t want to give up their freedom.

Goals fall into three other categories: possession, relief, or revenge. The character wants to possess wealth, charm, good looks, success, love. The character wants relief from fear, loneliness, hatred, domination, pain, sorrow. The character wants revenge for a loss, betrayal, lie, robbery, prejudice. You can add to the list with your own ideas that fit under possession, relief or revenge. Keep these ideas in mind as you create goals for your characters. Make sure the goal has issues that will create conflict.


The Hook
Every novel needs a hook, a premise that draws the readers in and an event that makes them curious or ask questions. A hook is introduced when something happens. It can be the result of a new character entering the scene, receiving a letter or phone call, being offered a proposition, reading something in a newspaper, or a character’s startling statement. Whatever it is, the thing that happens is best when it adds surprise, makes the readers ask questions, or creates an emotion that pulls the reader along.

Next, the “happening” creates opposition to the character’s goal. Opposition is conflict. Well-known writer, Dwight Swain, in his book, Techniques of the Selling Writer, says that conflict can:
• Hinders
• Complicates
• Blocks
A goal is hindered when another conflict or another goal gets in the way, especially a goal that must be reached before the larger goal is accessible. Complications can involve an accident, another person demanding time or energy, a new piece of information that changes the direction of the goal. Finally goals can be blocked when someone gets there first or when someone removes options. I’m sure you can think of many other things to add to this list.

The next article will cover the Nature of Conflicts.