So, you’re writing a book, and you want it to be captivating, but you’re not sure exactly how to accomplish that. You would hate to create a flop and have your potential readers pick up your book, read the first few pages, and put it back down, especially after all the hard work you put into it. Luckily for all of us, there are ways to increase our chances of making a novel more appealing to the reader.

 

1. CREATE RELATABLE AND LIKABLE CHARACTERS

Your characters are the breath of life of your work; they are what make your story feel real to readers, and one of the main elements that gets them invested. They continue to read because they love the people and see within them a mirror of themselves, and therefore want to know what happens to them. Relatable characters, for this reason, are important to include in your novel.

Take a moment to think about your favorite fictional characters, and what you like so much about them. It’s probably a trait you admire or have in yourself, right?

This means avoiding to create your primary characters with unheard of luck, minimal flaws, and earth-shattering beauty (even if they are unaware of it). None of your characters should be flawless to the point that they are no longer, well, human (or whatever other species is being humanized), unless it contributes to the plot and there is a good reason for it. An exception could be a wise and pure-of-heart immortal who is blessed with eternal youth and great beauty, but it’s difficult – if not impossible – to connect to such an individual, so keep it to a minimum.

Remember: imperfect does not mean unlikable.

Think of Tom Riddle, the Malfoys, and Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter, Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, and Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones. All of them are rather terrible, but yet they are interesting. You can create this strange likability by making antagonistic characters relatable, which can be done by giving them a good reason for their evil ways (such as giving them a tragic past or a good motive that is very poorly executed), or by making them entertaining, intriguing, and unpredictable.

Protagonists are a lot easier to make likeable, and the bigger mistake you have to be cautious of is making them boring. No, readers almost never enjoy protagonists who lack personality to make it “seem like they are in the protagonist’s shoes.” Don’t be scared of giving your hero a big personality, such as having a good sense of humor or a bad temper, or by making them sassy and sarcastic.

2. RE-IMAGINE LITERARY TROPES AND AVOID CLICHES

A trope is a recurring element in literature, which is usually widely understood and popular within a given genre.

For example, in fantasy there is often:

• The chosen one / the fated hero
• The dragon-slaying knight
• The damsel in distress

Clichés are recurring elements and quotes that are rarely executed smoothly because of how overused they are. Ultimately, they have lost their power.

Some examples of clichés are:

• “And they lived happily ever after”
•  The sparkly, morally-superior, and unbelievably handsome Vampire
• “Easy as 1-2-3”

I highly suggest avoiding these if you don’t want your reader to cringe, leaving them to a minimum, or using them facetiously.

Tropes, on the other hand, usually exist for a reason: they work well within the genre. However, it is your job as a writer to add a unique twist if you choose to use one or more tropes. You need to offer something new to the reader if you want them to read on to see what comes next. If they can already see where the story will end up within the first few chapters, chances are they won’t bother to finish reading it through.

Which brings me to my next point,

3. RAISE QUESTIONS OFTEN, AND ANSWER THEM SLOWLY

Questions are what keeps readers turning pages: they want answers. Whether it be the answer to questions about a character, the plot, or a mystery.. they want to know!

This is why cliffhangers work so well. Whenever applicable, end a chapter with a cliffhanger – even if it’s only a minor one – where the reader cannot help but continue into the next chapter, sitting on the edge of their seat wondering, “Is he really going to kill him!?” “Are they going to kiss!?” “Is she still alive!?”

Every chapter should raise a new question which is not immediately solved. You can also build on existing questions, bringing new information to light as the rising action leads into the climax.

When you do give a solution, you can end it there, break it off into more questions, or have an even deeper question beneath it that wasn’t made known before.

I suggest breadcrumbing your answers (bread-crumbing is terrible in relationships, but great in writing), and break them into small pieces — aha! moments — to keep the reader encouraged that they are getting closer and closer to the final realization moment, building up their anticipation as they continue to move forward.

That’s what the rising action should raise within the reader: suspense.

4. AVOID DRAGGING OUT CONFLICTS THAT CAN BE EASILY RESOLVED

Nothing is more annoying than reading a book where the solution is so painfully obvious, yet goes unused.

For this reason, I cannot watch or read A Series of Unfortunate Events. Few things enrage me like it does. If Arthur Poe would only listen to the Baudelaire children, they would not continually be endangered!

It also boils my blood when someone witnesses something at the wrong time, and because of miscommunication and a refusal to discuss things effectively, they then spend the next three chapters being passive-aggressive instead of trying to learn the truth. In the end we learn that Gertrude was, in fact, not cheating, but was actually just out grabbing a coffee with her cousin. We’ve all seen it, and we all hate it.

It’s okay to drag a conflict throughout a few chapters – or even the full book – but make it realistic. You want your reader to get angry and passionate about things within the book, not about how it is written and how ALL the characters seem to lack communication skills.

5. AVOID PLOT HOLES

Nothing screams “this world isn’t real” like a good old-fashioned plot hole.

A huge plot hole in Harry Potter was the addition of the Time-Turner, which could have been used not only to save Lily and James Potter, but also to prevent Voldemort from returning. Moreover, why was Hermione, a mere third-year at the time, entrusted with such a dangerous device? And if she was, why wouldn’t Dumbledore have requested one for himself? The Prisoner of Azkaban was a great book, and I love Harry Potter, but it didn’t make much sense in relation to the other novels in the series.

It is, in my opinion, excusable to have a few plot holes in a 7-book series involving magic, though it should be avoided whenever possible. Having a detailed (or even a vague) idea of how magic works in your world – namely, its limitations – and what your plot layout is will help prevent these mishaps from forming to begin with.

6. HIRE AN EDITOR 

Speaking of things that can create a distraction from the story, ungrammatical writing can also do this. Do yourself a favor and invest in an editor, you won’t regret it in the long run.

7. DON’T OVERDO THE (SETTING) DESCRIPTIONS

This may be more of a personal preference, and it doesn’t make your book bad to focus heavily on the setting, especially if it’s a crucial plot point and tone–setter. Authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien have been very successful with this.

That being said, I was never able to read The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit beyond the first couple of chapters. There were so many descriptions about the trees and the fields that I found myself nodding off as though I was reading the Encyclopedia. You don’t need to dedicate paragraphs and pages to describing something, and especially not each and every thing.

8. SHOW, DON’T TELL

You’ve probably heard this piece of advice a lot in writing communities, and that’s because it’s true. Showing is much more powerful than telling.

Your reader must be assumed as intelligent and able to pick up on cues themselves, such as eye rolling displaying annoyance, repeatedly brushing your hair as a sign of nervousness, and as cracking jokes while discussing a serious topic as evidence that the character is uncomfortable with facing reality and/or their emotions.

Here are some examples of ways you can show something without directly pointing it out:

• A dark and gloomy world: Describe the bare, bone-like trees, the lack of sunlight, and create lethargic and depressing secondary characters.
• A witty character: In dialogues, have readers witness their dry sense of humor and cunning comebacks in action.
• An old man: without saying his age, you can denote it by describing his pale complexion, wrinkles, hunched back, and long beard.

9. REVEAL INFORMATION SLOWLY (DON’T INFO-DUMP)

Readers want to experience and discover the world with the protagonist, not on their own through narration, and especially not all at once.

To convey information organically, it should be slowly brought to attention when it comes up naturally, instead of being merely dumped at the beginning or early on in the reading experience.

Allow readers to learn how your magic system works as the protagonist learns about it, let us to meet new creatures and people as they cross paths with the main character, and slowly teach us about the characters’ pasts, whether it be in the form of flashbacks or by explaining their past woes or happy memories to others.

10. WRITE A STRONG BEGINNING

You will especially need to incorporate these tips at the very beginning of the novel to get your reader hooked. Arguably, creating the initial hook is the most important – and difficult – part.

Here are some ways to incorporate the above tips in the beginning:

• Establish your reader’s relationship with the protagonist:
  Introduce the reader to the main character as early as possible by, showing – not telling – what they are like. You can do this by placing them in a scene that involves verbal interactions or thoughts, rather than writing a narrative about them.
• Avoid introducing too many characters at once (info-dumping).
• Introduce a question early on, and propose it in a unique and intriguing way. This can even be done by simply raising curiosity about a certain character.
• Don’t info-dump at the very beginning, however tempting it may be to introduce your new world in elaborate detail.

Apply these pieces of advice and your reader will have a much greater likelihood of reading your novel though to the very end, and hopefully even pick up the next book in your series.