Novels: What Does the Reader Want?

The reader wants to escape to another world.

It doesn’t matter if we are talking about romances, adventure books, historical novels, cowboy books, or even erotica. When the reader picks up a book, and starts reading the first chapter, he/she is only after one thing: escape

Background Research

Some background research is important to make the story ring true. The action, location, language, mentality have to create a believable picture.

I recently read a western with a fantastic plot. I stopped reading after the third chapter, and it took a lot of effort on my part to get there. Although the story took place in 1860, the language and the meaning of many words were 2008. I kept expecting to see the cowboy take a laptop out of his saddlebag.

Keep It Simple

I like Russian novels, but not if escape is what I am after. The reader doesn’t want to go back to a front page all the time to figure out who is who.

• Keep the words simple.
• Keep the sentences simple.
• Keep the story interesting.

Keep It Rolling

Daytime dramas on TV are topnotch when it comes to keeping a story rolling. The day’s program always ends on a weighty question, but-“hey, if you want to know what the hero said, tune in tomorrow at the same time”.

That’s what we have to keep in mind when we write. End every chapter with a weighty question, and “hey, if you want to know what the hero said, turn the page and read the next chapter”.