It’s like speed dating, but the stakes are much higher.
I believe
that the most valuable piece of real estate in any kind of writing – short
story, essay, novel, you name it – is the first page, or what might take an
average reader sixty seconds to read. It’s what casual browsers in book stores
might look at, or what the sample page on Amazon or Smashwords might show.
That’s where the game is won or lost. Hook your reader there and celebrate as
they read the rest of it, or cry like a little girl as they move on to another
book. So much like speed dating. Although the people who run speed dating
events discreetly ask you to leave if you start hooting or weeping. Then they
insist. And they've already called security.
Readers (or
consumers of entertainment, if you like) have many things competing for their
time:
1. Facebook
2. Television
3. Facebook
4. Books
by authors they like already
5. Speed
dating
6. Their
jobs
7. Facebook
8. Their
family
9. The
laundry
10. Facebook
The question I ask indie writers especially
is, “why is your book worth it?” Too often I read the first page of an author’s
book and give up because NOTHING is happening. I am not hooked. If it is an author I know, I will keep
reading and I am usually rewarded for it – those who have slogged on for a
long time do have great stories to tell. It just takes a hundred pages or so.
And just because your other writer
friends or your mom loved it, or your dog or cat didn’t leave the room while
you read it to them doesn’t mean you’ve mastered the fine art of hooking your
reader.
Try this: take the first page (or
the first sixty seconds of out-loud reading) of your blog, story, or novel,
approach a total stranger, and make them this deal:
“Here’s a dollar.” (Then give them
a dollar. Do NOT try this in a speed dating venue). “Stand still for sixty
seconds while I read this to you. At the end, tell me if you’d be willing to
give me another minute or two, or THREE HUNDRED, to hear the rest.”
Would your book pass this test?
Let’s find out.
I'm quite shy, and I'd probably go home without the date, the potential reader, and one dollar short. Well, several dollars short... Oh, wait--that wasn't the library you say? But I thought... they all were glasses! Now that I think about it, they did seem a bunch of coordinated young men. Anyhoo, I agree with you about the importance of a strong hook. Also laundry.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Prologues, not sure if that's a way for me to brace myself for the drama that follows, but I do recognize the importance of hooking the reader with the first paragraph.
ReplyDeleteI've applied that principle to the newest works of mine and I like to watch the reactions from my betas. "What? You can't leave it there, read more! Hell, write more! Go finish it!"
Readers or potential readers are impatient and it's something that should be kept in an author's mind as they begin their script.
It may be all well and good while compared to speed dating, I guess. I hope there's still a place for readers who grow into a story, fall in love with its characters and remember them long after finishing it. Just like "slow" dating when the journey to discover someone else leads to incredible destinations.
I couldn't speed date. Way too into the profound thing for that.
Great post Stacey
Love this post! I tell you something, Stacey, I don't continue if I don't want to, whoever it's by. I am really against giving preferential treatment just because it's an 'indie' - we have to make our work stand up to the same criteria as trad pubbed in order to be taken seriously. Indie, friend, well known author, whoever - if it doesn't grab me, I don't read it :)
ReplyDelete