by Elton Gahr

Created on: May 17, 2009

The most dangerous time for a writer is when the reader puts down the book at the end of the night. Unless something is truly badly written readers will typically continue with it for a while but once they put it down there has to be something that makes them pick it up again. Some reason that they will invest the effort.

To do this it is useful to know the habits of readers. The most important of these is where people stop reading. This isn't a science and people may fall asleep in the middle of a word but as you know from your own reading you will typically stop at the end of a chapter if possible.

So, how do you keep a reader interested in your writing at this, the most dangerous time? Writing well is of course the first step but assuming you have done your best in that area the next step is in the structure of your story. If possible you should write each chapter as its own story. These stories can be completely interconnected but the structure of the chapter is typically the story structure. There is a conflict, the protagonist confronts the conflict and it comes to some conclusion. This alone will help keep the reader interested because things are constantly happening in your story, even if they are small things but the real key is to have ever chapter end with either a hook or a button.

Your entire story will of course need a hook. A question, mystery or idea that your reader wants to explore more, but having one at the end of your chapter is a great way to make the reader pick it up again, or even make it impossible for them to put it down. Hooks at the ends of a chapter are typically a new question or mystery. Something odd has happened and no one knows why. Anything that leaves the reader wondering what will happen next is a hook.

A button is the answer to those hooks. These are the second useful way to end a chapter. Make certain though that the button does not answer all the questions that they have. Answering questions or ending conflict is not as safe as a hook, but a well written button can be both hook and button, answering one question but leading to more.

Keeping a reader interested in your story requires involving all aspects of storytelling. Creating compelling characters, interesting conflict, unique plot and vivid backgrounds will keep a reader going but after you have done that it is also useful to remember that the thing that will drive your reader into missing a night's sleep over your book are not the compelling characters but the need to know what is going to happen next.

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