Before considering what you can do to keep your reader interested in your novel, let's start by thinking about what attributes are present in the best novels that you've read? If we think about great page-turners the chance is that they have displayed a broadly similar range of traits that have helped them to stand out from the more average novels that you have had the misfortune to read. Some of these traits will probably have included well observed and engaging characters, sparkling dialogue, a consistent and well-paced tone of voice and perhaps also a degree of originality. Above all, the writer will have displayed well honed skills as a storyteller and part of this will be a keen eye for developing and maintaining suspense.
If we look at some of our very favourite novels, the danger exists that we may be daunted from even trying to match their authors' levels of writing excellence. Certainly, this is a feeling that I have had whilst reading the likes of Philip Pullman's Dark Materials series or any of Douglas Coupland's novels. However, we all have to start somewhere and I imagine that even the most accomplished of today's published authors went through a similar dilemma at some point in their budding careers.
Let's consider, then, some of the aspects that you can look to bring to your novel to increase its readability and, through that, also its attractiveness to a potential publisher or literary agent.
1. Well observed and engaging characters:
Even if you are writing a fantasy or sci fi novel and have characters that are non-human, you still need them to come across as plausible. By this, we mean that they should show consistency in the way they act and speak and the reader should be able to emphasize with their predicaments and understand what drives their behaviours. As well as this, they should be engaging, which means that you want to read more about them and care about their plight. You don't necessarily have to like a character. Think, for example, about Cruella de Vil from The hundred and one Dalmatians. She's just about as bad a baddie as you could get (given her desire to skin puppies) but is mesmerising (and very scary)! Whilst Cruella is an example of a memorable baddie, it's probably generally true that readers warm more to characters that they like. These don't need to be hugely heroic characters (we all warm to the cowardly Shaggy from Scooby Doo!) but they will have qualities that make us feel warmly towards them in some way.
It's probably fair to say that it's easier to state the qualities that fictional characters should possess than it is to then go ahead and conjure up your own cast of great engaging characters! The chances are, though, that you have some ideas about the characters that you intend to use. With this as your starting point, the next step is to spend some time fleshing out your characters personality and mannerisms. The chances are that the more fleshed out your characters become in your head, the better they will translate onto the page.
2. Sparkling dialogue:
One trap that some writers (and particularly novice writers) sometimes fall into is of writing too much narrative and not enough dialogue. The result can be that the writing feels dry and possibly a bit like reading a school textbook. It's pretty much a constant of all good novels that they contain plenty of dialogue as a means of interaction between the novel's characters. It perhaps requires a little more skill but you should be able to get across key plot twists and how the characters are feeling without constantly needing to tell the reader through narrative. You'll frequently hear the mantra show, not tell' and it is dialogue that most often enables you to achieve this important literary trick.
Okay, so it's fairly easy to avoid the trap of over reliance on narrative but it's not enough just to write lots of dialogue; it's also got to be good dialogue. You've probably encountered novels that don't possess what I've called sparkling dialogue. Perhaps the dialogue is stilted and feels inconsistent with either the characters or the dramatic setting. Or perhaps it's too idealised and feels like it needs to be roughed up a bit.
I think there are several things that need to be present in order for dialogue to really sparkle. The first is that there needs to be an underpinning sense of drama. Often the best dialogue is when tensions are running high; maybe the protagonists are arguing or maybe there's a bomb under the bus seat and they've got to defuse it. Secondly, the dialogue has got to be consistent with the characters and their backgrounds. If your baddie is more noted for his muscles than his brain power, then you probably don't want him speaking as if he's a university graduate. Be aware also of the situation which underpins the dialogue. I remember studying MacBeth, at school, and the use of dialogue in the scene just after the king had been murdered. All the other noblemen were speaking in short stunned sentences and MacBeth almost gave away his guilt by speaking in long obviously pre-rehearsed speeches.
3. Well-paced tone of voice:
When we think of books that are page-turners there is usually a pace to the writing that is conducive to continued reading. I think part of the trick of pacing is to eliminate waffle. Too often writers get distracted by trivial details, which bogs down the novel. An example is when you're following a particular piece of drama and suddenly the writer starts to comment on the surroundings in minute detail, describing the trees and the mountains in the background. It often strikes me that this is writers trying to show off, to let us know that they are skilled at describing things. However, unless that minutiae of detail is relevant to the storyline, then it just distracts the reader and tests their commitment to your novel.
4. Originality / story telling ability:
It's very difficult to be completely original, so it's not a feature which is essential for a good novel. However, there's no doubt that if you can weave an original idea or premise into your story, then that may help to make your novel stand out from the competition. Whether your story contains originality or not, however, the more important skill is that of being a skilled story teller. This is something that may take time to develop. It's the knack of getting the ideas that are in your head down onto paper and weaving them into something that holds the reader's attention. The more you write, the better you should become at this facet of writing.
5. Developing and maintaining suspense:
There needs to be some tension in your story, so that the reader keeps wondering what's going to happen next. One way to get a reader to immediately buy into your story is to start the novel in the middle of a tense scene. This was a piece of advice that was given to me by a published author. He commented that too many novels don't get to the central item of tension until page 100 and by then the reader may have given up. Another technique is to kill off a major and likeable character. This serves to make the reader wonder whether any of the characters (including the central hero) are safe. Joss Whedon, the creator of shows such as Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, is particularly good at this.
The opening chapter of your novel is obviously particularly important as it needs to grab the reader's attention and make them want to read on. Often writers will introduce an element of drama and will leave the chapter on a cliff hanger. You then want to immediately turn to chapter two to find out how that dramatic scene will end up. This technique can be applied to all or most of your chapters and is a good and simple way to maintaining interest.
Hopefully, this article has given you some ideas on how to keep readers interested in your novel. Don't be afraid to experiment to see what approach will work best. You might decide, for example, to switch from a third person to first person approach, or start from the end outcome and then work back to show how that outcome transpired. "Being Dead" by Jim Crace is an example of a novel that takes this approach. To gauge the success of what you've written, don't forget to get feedback from friends and family and bear in mind that you probably won't get things perfect at the first time of asking. Most novelists go through several drafts before they hit upon the final version that they are happy with.