Look Forward, Not Backward, to Pull the Reader In

An alternative approach is to give a summary line about what does happen, which begs for more information. For example:

To her dread, their alliance only made things worse.

Wait, what? This alliance we just read about makes the situation worse? Now as a reader, I’m looking forward to learning how and why–to getting more information–and I’m wondering, what will the consequences be if things are worse?

In my mind, there are two main, important categories that really draw the audience in:

1- We get the audience to dread (or fear) something might happen.

2- We get the audience to hope something might happen.

Both categories are very effective. One is negative and one is positive. But both cause the audience to look forward and therefore anticipate and therefore read more. Readers may worry something bad is going to happen to the character or story. Or they may pray something good will happen.

In the writing world, we indirectly talk about the first category a lot. It can bring in a lot of tension. Think about it. This is where all the advice about “risks” and “stakes” comes in. What does the character or world have to lose? In a good horror story, we are drawn in by the fear that a character might die, or worse.

We don’t talk as much about the second option, which can still be very effective. Hope is a powerful thing. This is where all the advice about giving your character a goal or something he cares about comes in. It works because it gets us to hope for an outcome. In a good romance, we hope that the characters fall in love, or better.

And sometimes, you may be appealing to both of these simultaneously.

In most stories, category one is probably most effective, but don’t ignore category two, which is often underestimated.

Utilizing both regularly in your storytelling will get the audience to turn page after page. That’s really how page-turners work–by getting the audience to look forward.

So next time you feel tempted to look backward in your story to try to make it more effective, stop and consider if what you really need is to look forward.