How do I write a novel that readers can't put down?
Do you want to write a novel that readers can't put down?
I would love to develop a yarn that will grab the likes of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. This would guarantee a large and loyal fan base for practically years!
However, writing such a story is deceptively difficult. The story we want to write is always good in our own mind. But when we put the words aside, they rarely have the properties we envisioned.
Fortunately, there is a way to prepare for success. How to Write a Novel Readers Can't Put Down!
Why readers drop novels
Readers put novels down when they get their own satisfactory outcome rather than what you created for them. This early resolution usually takes one of two forms:
- "I don't care what happens."
- "I already know what's going to happen."
To be addicting readers, you need to nurture them and keep them clueless.
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Readers stop reading your book when they know what happens next – or worse, if they don't care. To get them addicted, make them worry and stay clueless.
Imagine a time when you were deeply immersed in a novel but needed to take a break. Did the story get stuck in your head during your break, be it because of work or some other engagement? Was the dialogue repeated or was a scene like a movie going on in your mind?
This is the holy grail of storytelling: getting our story so deeply embedded in the minds of our readers that they can't get enough of it!
Unfortunately, this is a rare accomplishment. However, there is a clear way of writing stories that readers simply cannot write down.
How To Write A Novel That Readers Can't Write Down: 3 Strategies
Are you ready to figure out how to write a novel that readers just can't stop reading? Try these three strategies in your stories:
1. Create personable characters
In order to instill compassion in your readers, they need to like your protagonist right away. If it takes five pages to like him or her, it's too late. It has to start on page one.
Readers invest in characters they like. Likewise, they break up with characters they don't like.
Of course, "how" is a relative term here. I like the character of Walter White from Breaking Bad, even though he turns into a monster. But as a character, as a fascinating person, he's incredibly personable, especially in the pilot of the series.
Here are three quick steps to creating a personable protagonist on page one:
- He wants something the reader might want too.
- He can't get it yet because he's flawed in a way that the reader might be flawed too.
- He creatively changes the status quo to achieve his goal.
The first two are very common characterization tools. Most writers give their protagonists a goal and a mistake who are empathetic and easy to associate with most readers.
But the third is the key to making the protagonist "likeable". Why is it so nice to change the status quo? Because we all long for it! Most of us live our lives in the mud of "normal" and dream that one day everything will change. Even when our intentions are not entirely pure, we want the courage to question things and embark on an adventure.
If you do this with your protagonist and some surrounding characters, you will find that your reader loves your characters from page 1 onwards.
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Do you want your readers to stick with your book? Make sure they take care of your characters.
2. Raise the bet
Start and continue with incredibly high stakes. Everything that happens in your novel, every choice, every consequence and every little detail has to play a role.
This does not mean that the pace is breakneck and exhausting. Rather, it means that any choice comes with massive penalties for failure. It means loss, heartbreak, and excruciating pain are looming at every turn.
From a literary point of view, this is a conflict. Danger, opposition, fear, urgency. The stakes.
Readers care when everything is at stake. They care when characters they like can lose. "I need to know what's going to happen to Alex," they think all day long at work or on the way home.
If you put personable characters at risk, readers can't ignore your story.
Make sure you do this throughout the novel. Vary which character is at risk and get creative with the problems that may arise. Make goals don't work. Play with conflicting motivations.
Whatever you do, keep these personable characters in trouble. It will keep your readers' nose in your novel!
3. Be unpredictable
After all, readers cannot put your novel down if it refuses to be predictable.
It's true that readers are unlikely to stop taking care of your contested characters. However, if you can predict where the story is going, you might be tempted to scroll to the end of each chapter to save yourself time and stress. I am guilty of doing this to a whole host of novels!
The trick with unpredictability in your story is that it is a lot real. This involves a lot of rewriting. You can't really create real plot changes in one attempt. They must be discovered, excavated from the raw material of your characters, the setting and the plot.
If you're struggling with stereotypes, write down some common ones. Then enter the characters, goals, and events that might fit each stereotype.
For example, if you're writing a story about a boy, Ricky, whose mentor dies in a fire, you can write down this stereotype: the mentor is not actually dead, he is somehow resurrected.
To counteract this, you could make a rule for yourself: "The mentor dies and either stays dead or does not die."
If you plan your story this way, dodging cliché balls, and predicting your readers' expectations, you are well on your way to writing an irresistible page turner!
Your stories can captivate readers
Writing a novel that readers cannot put down is not just an exhilarating achievement. It is the fulfillment of the dream to write. There is nothing like getting lost in a frenzied story full of characters you care about.
You too can deliver these unmissable experiences.
You too can write a novel that readers can't put down!
Have you ever stopped reading a book without finishing it? Why? Or what is the last book that excited you? Let us know in the comments.
WORK OUT
For fifteen minutes, practice creating a personable character as described in step 1. And to keep things simple, I'm going to give you a name: Alan or Candace. Take some time to come up with your character and give him / her an assignable goal, an assignable bug, and a brief scene that cleverly messes up the status quo. Have fun!
When you're done, tell us about your character in the comments. And if you share, be sure to comment on your co-authors' characters too!
David Safford
