Jeff Somers has a great article - The Chain of Awesomeness - in the June/July 2016 issue of Writer's Digest. He's talking about building a strong first chapter, but I think a lot of it applies to stories in general:
"A major mistake a lot of writers make is thinking that all a first line has to do is be cool or shocking. That's effective, but what makes a first line truly great
is that it makes readers want to read the next line."
I love a good first line, one that wakes me up, shakes me up. But I also love a first page that pulls me in, whether by grabbing me by the throat or by gently taking my hand. If something in the beginning doesn't hold my attention, doesn't keep me in the story, I will rarely read past that first page. Knowing this about myself as a reader puts enormous pressure on me as a writer. I want my readers to have to keep reading, to need to turn the page.
As readers, how long do you give a novel - one sentence, one page, one chapter - before giving up on it? How long do you give a short story? As writers, how do you handle the pressure to prove your story's worth in such a short amount of time?
Good point - the first line has to compel you to read the next.
ReplyDeleteI'll give a book two-three chapters.
I wish I had your patience, Alex. :)
DeleteI usually give a book two-three chapters like Alex. But there have been times when I hate it so much by PAGE two or three that I am done. I never waste time reading a book that doesn't grab me fairly quickly.
ReplyDeleteSame with movies. I give them no more than a half hour to catch my interest. I am probably too impatient but I just don't want to sit through something I know I'm not going to suddenly like.
I'll give up on a book a lot sooner than I will a movie. Although, the older I get, I do find myself giving up on movies more/faster than I used to. Just the other day, my husband and I stopped watching a movie about half an hour in. So disappointing.
DeleteThat's a great quote, and so true - there's no point have a killer first line that doesn't follow through. I try to read most things to the end. I rarely give up on something.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger, I used to make myself finish every book I read, even if I wasn't enjoying it. As an adult, I give myself permission to move on. :)
DeleteI give a book two pages. If I still like it then I flip to the back of the book and read the ending.
ReplyDeleteI know. I'm a heathen and should be burned at the stake, but endings aren't the point of a story to me.
It's the journey that makes it worthwhile. If the author gives me a good beginning and a satisfying ending, there's a good chance I'll like the middle.
I never thought of it that way! I'm still not going to do it, but you did give me another way to look at that particular - heathen! - practice. :)
DeleteI try the first page, then skip ahead maybe to see if anything gets better.
ReplyDeleteAh, good idea!
DeleteI try the first page and skip ahead, too. How long I give the book depends on the book and how desperate I am to have something to read. I rarely ever get to the middle of a book and put it down, but I have done that if it just seems to keep slogging along without any purpose.
ReplyDeleteGood point about it depending on the book. I have read books until the halfway point because I wanted so badly to like it (a favorite author, a book with rave reviews, etc.)
DeleteAlso, as a writer, I revised the first chapter of all of my books at least 8 times.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! And for your readers! :)
DeleteI have thought of that a lot myself. And as a reader, I often try to figure out what makes me hang in there. It's rarely for the shocking lines, I'm more of a hand holder. But there is something in a good book, perhaps a character I instantly connect with.
ReplyDeleteFiguring out what makes us hang in there as readers is definitely going to help us as writers.
DeleteAs a reader, I'll give a short story one page, and I'll give a novel 10-20 pages, before I give up. It's crazy that I used to feel I needed to read the whole book once I started. Life is too short for that.
ReplyDeleteAs a writer, I lean on my critique group and my editor to make sure my first page is good enough. And even then, I'm never really sure....
It's tricky, too, because one person might love that first page and someone else might think it's "eh."
DeleteI feel the pressure as a writer too. I spend a lot of time on my first chapter and will rewrite it many times. As a reader, I give it a few pages and if I don't like what I'm reading, I put the book down. Good-luck.
ReplyDeleteSo. Much. Pressure. :)
DeleteI definitely give a novel a few pages, I can't say how many, but atleast five to six, sometimes more, sometimes less. But if the first pages bores me, then I put it down.
ReplyDeleteI used to keep reading, even if it bored me. I think it had something to do with believing I HAD to finish what I started. Thankfully, I've moved on from that idea. :)
DeleteIf I start reading something, it's almost always because I bought it. Therefor I will read for a long time before throwing in the towel. However, if it is a book I won through a contest, it better have me hooked by at least ten to twenty pages in. (And pages on the Kindle aren't very long.)
ReplyDeleteAs a writer, I make sure things are happening right at the beginning. Backstory can be a pace killer. I give my readers a character with a strong voice, with something going wrong in their life, something to make a reader wonder: what happens next?
I tend to only buy books I think I'm going to really like/love and I'm going to keep. If I end up not liking it, end up giving it away, I get really annoyed.
DeleteI probably give stories longer than I need to before I give up, because I stubbornly keep going in the hopes that it gets better. It's rare that I give up on reading a book or short story. As a writer, I aim for keeping engagement right off.
ReplyDeleteAh, being stubborn! Sometime it's a good thing, sometimes not so much. :)
DeleteI usually will give a book more than a page but if for some reason I don't like the voice or style, it won't get more.
ReplyDeleteAnd the voice and style are tricky because not everyone is going to like everything.
DeleteI'll give a book quite a while before I put it aside, and finish all but the most horrible. I'm a forgiving reader.
ReplyDeleteAs for the writing pressure, I try not to think about it. My first lines are usually quite simple, but I hope they pull the reader in.
One of my most recent first lines is:
I haven’t seen a person in over seventy years, and that’s the way I like it.
Love that first line, JH! My kind of thing. :)
DeleteI'll crack a book open and read the first several lines just to see if I like the writing style and voice. That's what sells me.
ReplyDeleteI find that often the plot, the concept etc will sound good to me, but then the style and voice don't speak to me, and I can't get into the story.
DeleteI read until the story's over. Sometimes that's only a paragraph or two in. I blame long bouts of info dumping, explaining, or rambling.
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
"Info dumps" drive me crazy as a reader, and I always admire authors who manage to work in all I need to know in a seamless way.
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