What do you write for, if not to be read?
Therefore, you have to write to hook the reader. The reader is not going to give you many chances and, if your story is not attractive and interesting, he will close the book without further contemplation.
But there are certain aspects of a reading that can hold the reader's attention.
For your story to captivate the reader and keep him reading page after page, the story you tell is as important as the way you tell it. It can even happen that a not so good story, well told, can win the reader over.
So the best thing to do is to know the different ways in which you should handle the plot, the characters and the different scenes to hook the reader and make him or her advance through your story until the final word.
We tell you the seven keys to hook the reader and achieve a writing that will keep him or her attached to the threads of your story and give you some practical and effective tips that will take your writing to another level.
- Persuade with detail
The important thing when it comes to telling something is to know how to choose the details that reliably show what you want to express, showing it in a persuasive way. You must apply this idea to the plot in general, but also to each of the scenes. Let's see how.
The little girl looked very tired, it was evident that she needed a nap.
This sentence is simple and straightforward; it certainly effectively describes what is happening. However, it does not stimulate the reader's imagination, nor does it prompt him to read on.
He was wearing a Viking helmet and his mouth was sticky with cotton candy. Although her brown eyes were closed with fatigue, she refused to lie down. She knew how stubborn she was and that the daily struggle was about to begin.
This version, by providing more detail, gives more information about what is happening: the girl is tired and needs to sleep, and the narrator must get her to bed. However, it provides certain secondary details-the slimy mouth, the Viking helmet-which, while helping to corporealize the scene, do not support the main point.
Although her brown eyes were closing from exhaustion, she refused to lie down. The Viking helmet he wore gave him a comically fierce appearance. Using the cotton candy stick as if it were a sword he pointed it at my chest and said:
-I don't plan to lie down.
In this version, the details have been transformed to support the general sense of the text: the helmet and the cotton candy stick have become implements of war, heralding a small domestic battle. But we also know a lot more about the girl: she doesn't like to take a nap, but she is also imaginative and feisty.
In this way, we have created a much more attractive scene for the reader who will want to know how the narrator reacts to the little girl's ultimatum, how the conflict is resolved and who wins.
- Excite
We read to be moved.
That's why when you write, you have to seek to involve the reader's emotions, imagination and intellect. And to do this, nothing better than taking care of the revealing detail.
One of the things you must achieve with your writing is to convey emotions. In fact, the best literature always revolves around them. Let's see how to achieve this.
The best writing is that which makes the reader put himself in the protagonists' shoes and feel what they feel: anger, love, camaraderie, frustration, happiness, terror, tension... So your texts must be able to capture the reader's mind, imagination and heart.
Therefore, limiting yourself to naming emotions means impoverishing the narrative. What you should be looking for is to present those specific, concrete details that represent an emotion. Offer a defined and precise image that is clearly represented in the reader's mind and that leads him to feel the emotion or feeling you want to convey.
The objective should be to make him participate in the action so that he feels, not to name abstract emotions that fail to make him feel.
Let's look at an example:
When Peter died, I was miserable.
This sentence may seem accurate, but it is very imprecise. It is not enough to name what the narrator feels, because the reader feels alien to that feeling. What exactly does the idea of feeling miserable refer to? It is too vague to arouse the reader's empathy.
Even if I live a thousand years I will never forget how utterly alone I felt after Pedro's death. Even as the months went by, I was unable to get him out of my mind: everything reminded me of him. I thought I would never get over it.
Although specific details have been added on this occasion, these details only help the narrative, they are merely enunciative. They don't really give the reader a reason to miss Pedro, mourn his death, and suffer along with the narrator.
I could not let go of the memory of Pedro. At four o'clock, the time at