5 Ways to Keep Readers Hooked
- Jennifer Sadera
- 59 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Living near New York City, I love to pop into the Big Apple to see a Broadway show.
My favorites are the glitzy musicals like Wicked, Hairspray, and Jersey Boys. These over-the-top productions have stayed with me many years after experiencing them and are, of course, widely known as showstoppers—performances that are remarkably impressive or outstanding—but when I’m in writing mode, the word showstoppers acts as a giant STOP sign in my mind.
The word 'showstoppers' acts as a giant STOP sign in my mind
Don’t stop the show is a mantra that filters through my brain as I develop characters and lay out motivations, create action scenes, or even just dig into research.
The psychological suspense tales I create must entice and excite me before they hook readers. If an idea causes goosebumps to tingle along my arms, I know I’m onto something, but I have to be very careful how I move forward.
What to avoid when writing a novel
It’s easier than you think to kill off a great story by making the following showstopping mistakes:
Too much description
Readers don’t need to know (or even care about) things like the color of someone’s hair or eyes or how tall the protagonist is unless it’s integral to the mystery.
Intricate descriptions of setting may satisfy a writer’s need to see their lush words on the screen, but it will distract from the storyline and may make folks put down your book. Editors will tell you that this kind of writing is called purple prose—text so ornate that it breaks the flow of a story and draws attention to itself. It also robs the reader of creating characters and scenes from their own imagination. New writers are especially guilty of this charge, and I was no exception. To this very day, I go through my manuscripts and cut about a third of the description out before I share the story with my beta readers. In my debut suspense novel, I Know She Was There, one of the few descriptions I provide of protagonist Caroline Case is when she glances in a mirror and notices her hair resembles a bird’s nest. Think about this. What am I telling you? Her hair is probably cut above the shoulders. It’s sticking out in many directions like the twigs of a nest and it’s of a brown hue. All that can be summed up in two words: bird’s nest. Readers create specific pictures of Caroline in their own minds.
A backstory dump
Sharing information about your protagonist’s background is vital for developing empathy toward the character and getting readers hooked on the storyline but give them too much and you overwhelm rather than entice.
Multiple paragraphs (or, God forbid, chapters) detailing the earliest memories of the characters will distract to the point of, well, distraction. And if your readers are pausing to think about things that happened long ago, they are not leaning into what’s happening now—or anticipating what’s to come.
Dialog tags and filter words
All writers struggle with this one. I am particularly guilty of filter-word usage. But just like the showstoppers already listed, dialog tags other than said should be avoided whenever possible.
Let’s explore this. What sentence flows better? “Stop where you are or I’ll shoot,” exclaimed Hilda, aiming her weapon at the burglar, or “Stop where you are or I’ll shoot.” Hilda aimed her weapon at the burglar. In the second example I removed the dialog tag—making the action just as important as her warning and keeping the pacing going. The more exciting the action is, the shorter the sentences should be. Let’s expand on this idea using Hilda. Which sentence do you prefer in the following: Hilda felt herself shake and sweat trickled along her hairline, or Hilda shook. Sweat trickled along her hairline. By removing the filter words felt and herself we get closer to the character rather than experiencing her reactions from a distance. The situation feels more immediate and propulsive.
Relaying research
Most authors unearth treasure troves of information relating to the topics they are writing about.
As a psychological suspense writer, this means delving into the complexities of the human mind. As one can imagine, there is so very much territory to explore. Great! But share no more than a few tidbits of what you’ve discovered. Too much detail, no matter how riveting you find it, could make your readers’ eyes glaze over. Not everyone wants to know the differences between REM and Non-REM sleep, or what areas of the human brain light up when a person is depressed—unless the knowledge impacts the action or outcome of the story.
No action
When yet-to-be-published writers reveal they are writing a “quiet book” I’m propelled into the very center of a quandary.
Do I share with them the well-known adage that “quiet books don’t sell” or do I nod politely and ask what the story is about? The answer depends on how well I know each author who shares the information. Luckily, I don’t have to grapple with that situation in a blog post, so I’ll just tell you not to write a slow-paced, backstory-filled, overly descriptive, information-heavy novel. With rare exceptions (there are always exceptions), this is a guarantee for failure.
Make your characters interesting, your dialog snappy, and include PLENTY OF ACTION.
After all, would you rather read a novel about a wannabe sleuth who reads the newspaper headlines each day and ponders how to catch the criminals or the one who goes out into the world and tracks down the bad guys via car chases and gunplay?
Readers are generous. They offer their time, effort, and money to your book. Make it worth their investment—and you just may end up with fans who will eagerly anticipate your next one.
Let me know your thoughts!
Let me know if this advice was any help at all. . .and if you’re looking for my next suspense novel, Maybe You Lied will release next September through Creative James Media!
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