Category: Writing Page-Turners

The Art of Stringing ‘Em Along

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Readers don’t need to know nearly as much as we think they do. In fact, the opposite is often true. The less readers know, especially in the beginning, the better. Yet so many writers use the beginning of their novels to dump loads of information.

This is harmful, people. Seriously, seriously harmful.

First, it bores the reader. 
Think for a minute. Why do you read? To get caught up in a good story, right? Yet when we stop the flow of the story to fill the reader in, they’re no longer getting a story. They’re getting a biography on a character they neither know or care about yet.

Second, it’s not natural.
How do you get to know a person? How do you move from first-time acquaintances to full-out friends? Usually there’s a process. When we’re introduced to somebody for the first time, we know better than to reveal all the personal details of our past. That would be awkward. And again, boring. In order to care about somebody’s past, we have to get to know the person. And we get to know a person by what they say and do. Otherwise known as action and dialogue.

Third, it squashes all intrigue.
This is huge. Huge, huge. The biggest reason why we shouldn’t reveal too much in the beginning. Think about what keeps readers turning pages. It’s intrigue, right? That enticing unanswered question. The minute we jump in and reveal too much information is the minute we squish all the questions.

Last week, we had issues with our plumbing.

First, there was this mysterious drip coming from the ceiling in our laundry room. That drip caught my attention. I found myself thinking about it throughout the day. Visiting the laundry room more often than usual.

The next morning, the rug in our upstairs bathroom was wet. It was a mystery, because I couldn’t find a leak anywhere. You can believe my curiosity (and okay, fear) doubled. Were the two related? Where was the water coming from?

The day after that, more wetness on the bathroom floor. The leaky ceiling was worse. And get this. Another pipe in our basement, nowhere near the leaky ceiling, started dripping.

I went upstairs, got on my hands and knees, and searched everywhere. I was hooked. I was engaged. I was obsessed with finding this dang leak.

My plumbing gets it. It understands the art of stringing an audience along, bit by bit, unveiling just enough to keep a person hooked.

What an important skill to master as a writer. 

We need to know how to reveal tantalizing scents that make our readers want to take a few steps further to see what’s up ahead. And when they move forward, the scent needs to get stronger. More tantalizing.

Okay, maybe I’m mixing metaphors here. Tantalizing scents and plumbing problems probably shouldn’t go together. But you know what I mean.

Of course, there is a fine line. We can’t reveal so little that the reader gets confused. All I’m saying is, many of us error on the side of too much. And I’d take a confused reader over a bored one any day. Because at least a confused reader keeps turning those pages.

Let’s Talk: What do you think? Do you tend to reveal too much, afraid the reader won’t understand or like the character unless you explain everything? Have you mastered the art of hinting?

*Photo by missy &the universeremovetweetmeme

Tension or Frustration?

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

There was this book I read recently that made me all kinds of frustrated. My inner growl came out. I found myself skimming through the last third of the story, rolling my eyes, muttering things like, “Come on, already!”

Which got me thinking.

As writers, we talk a lot about the importance of tension. Heck, Donald Maass says we better have it on every single page. So the question begs to be asked.

What’s the difference between tension and frustration?

Is there one?

When I think of frustrating books, two titles come to mind. Both are best-sellers.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

New Moon (the second book in the Twilight series)

These books frustrated me for the same reason. Which involved the disappearance of a beloved character for a much-too-big chunk of the story.

Yet they are incredibly popular novels and much-loved by readers. Including me. So is frustration a mute point? Should we go for it?

I don’t know….

Frustration has to be one of the most annoying emotions. And I’m not sure annoyance is something we should ever aspire to do to our readers.

Tension. Good.

Frustration. Not so good.

The first brings readers to the edge of their seats. The second makes them want to light the book on fire.

So how do we embrace the first and avoid the second?
 
Avoid drawing things out for an eternity.
Yes, we want to prolong tension. But not to the point of frustration. Sometimes, best practice involves giving the reader what they want, then hooking them with something else. 
 
Keep popular characters in the story.
Don’t make a beloved character disappear for too long. Unless absolutely necessary. But even then, you risk the wrath of your reader. 
 
Sprinkle in moments of gratification.
Sure, maybe you can’t have your hero and heroine get together until the end, but that doesn’t mean you can’t throw in some chemistry-laden tender moments between the two. There needs to be a positive correlation between frustrating moments and gratifying ones. The more frustrating a novel may be, the more gratifying moments we better include.
 
Make the ending uber satisfying.
And I do mean uber. Like ultra uber. Especially, especially, especially if our stories lend themselves to frustration. The more frustrating a novel, the more satisfying the ending better be. Because even if we frustrate our readers, they will forgive us anything in the world if we satisfy the heck out of them at the end. Just like I forgave Stephanie Meyer the minute Bella hurled through the crowded square of Volterra and catapulted herself into Edward’s stone-cold arms.
 
The book I brought up in the beginning? The ending wasn’t as satisfying as it needed to be to soothe my frustrated nerves. So it left a bad taste in my mouth. Despite the good writing and character development.
 
When I think of a team of writers who have figured out this whole tension/frustration dichotomy, my mind automatically jumps to Vampire Diaries. They are experts in magnifying the tension without causing frustration. Which is why I love the show so very much. I even wrote a post about it: Tips from Television.   
 
Let’s Talk: What do you say about frustration? Is it okay to frustrate readers? Is there a book that frustrated the heck out of you, but you still love it to pieces?

*Photo by Ellie Goff

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Tips from Television

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I’m sort of amazed by the writers of Vampire Diaries.

I know. I know. Some of you are rolling your eyes. You’re not into vampires. You think it’s too much like Twilight (even though, technically, Vampire Diaries came first). It’s just another one of those soap-opera-like CW shows.

But seriously guys. It. is. awesome.

Every week, the episode blows me away. Something crazy happens that I did not see coming. I think to myself, they can’t possibly top this. This should have been the finale. Yet somehow, the writers stick their heads together and outdo themselves yet again.

And the whole time, I’m studying. Trying to figure out their secrets.

Because these writers are experts in rewarding their audience, something Vince Mooney talked about over on Seekerville in a post titled, How Making Your Reading Experience More Rewarding Can Spell Greater Success.

Here are three way this show rewards the audience and three ways we can do the same:

Give them what they want way sooner than they expect.
How many times have you read a book or watched a show and you’re dying to get this one answer, but you know you’re going to have to wait until the end to get it? It happens all the time. Because in the writing world, we talk a lot about prolonging tension. But what if, instead, you just give the reader what they want? What if, sometimes, it’s better not to drag something out? Do you know how satisfying that can be?

Answer the question then hook them with another. 
Some of you may be thinking, “Yeah, but if I give them what they want, then I’m going to diffuse the tension and there will be no reason to keep reading.” That’s very true. If you don’t have another hook waiting in your pocket. This show is the master in tension, release, tension, release, tension, release. Which means the audience is delighted, hooked, delighted, hooked, delighted, hooked. I don’t know about you, but that seems like a much better model than drawing out the tension to the point of frustration, even if the ending is really satisfying. Why not satisfy your audience multiple times? Hook them multiple times?

Embrace the shock-factor
I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this show and thought, No way did that just happen! The writers throw in a giant, unexpected twist. They wrap something up so much sooner than expected. They kill somebody off that I thought for sure was safe. All which brings me to the edge of my seat, wanting more. Seriously, there is never a dull moment.

These three tips all share a common thread, and it’s this:

Don’t hold back.
Vampire Diaries brings it every time. It’s like watching season finale after season finale. They don’t wait to drop the big stuff until the end. They drop the bomb and find a way to come up with a bigger one.

I guarantee if we find a way to master this skill, we’ll write books readers can’t put down.

Let’s Talk: What writing tips have you learned from television?

P.S. These tips are all things I’ve learned from the show. I’ve never read the books.

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