Those Pesky Opening Scenes Part 2 - Engage the Reader

Photo Credit: Death to Stock Photo

In my last post, I wrote about the importance of the first few scenes to grab the reader’s attention, but once you’ve done this, you still have one giant mission to accomplish. You have to engage the reader and make them WANT to keep reading. Those first few scenes are critically important to not only grab the reader’s attention, but to keep them turning those pages!

How do you do this?

#1: Connect with the Characters

I had a HUGE (enormous, gigantic) problem with this in the first draft of Arthur 1. What I had wanted to do was introduce all my main characters as quickly as possible so that the reader knew who all the players were right away. This sounds great in theory, but in reality, it confused my readers rather than helped them.

My faults? Not only did I have too many characters too soon, but I also didn’t have enough depth to any of them. They were boring, flat and static.

Readers don’t just get lost in worlds, they get lost in characters they love or love to hate. You need to create this connection right away.

And I hadn’t. I created these short little scenes that essentially introduced the character and then I moved on to the next character. That was it. No understanding of WHO that character was at all. No reason for a reader to love or hate them. They were just there.

So as I revised my beginning with this in mind. This time, I took my time introducing characters to the story. I didn’t try and cram all four points of view into chapter one. I didn’t try and make all my characters show up within the first ten pages. They came when they were supposed to and when the reader was ready to meet them, even if it was later than I had originally intended.  

Also, this time, instead of simply introducing the character, I added more depth to them. I didn’t just introduce you to Viviane and then leave her, now I introduced you to Viviane and Guenevere’s friendship, how Viviane feels about her family and how much her life has changed since she moved to the castle. With this little glimpse, my hope is that the reader will want to know more about her and they’ll keep reading to find out.

#2: Make it Smooth

Transitions, transitions, transitions.

Transitions suck.

But there is power in a wicket smooth transition, not only between scenes, but within the scenes themselves.

For example, Arthur is thinking about Guenevere in a scene and about how she’s coming through the enemy-filled forest to him in a matter of days. Scene ends. New scene is with Guenevere getting ready to travel through the enemy-filled forest.

This makes sense and is relatively smooth. Arthur thought about Guenevere and then BOOM Guenevere. Transition.

There is nothing more distracting than a choppy scene. Connect ideas, characters, themes, etc. Even putting events in chronological order can help this (but sometimes, that’s not the way your story unfolds and that’s cool).

I’m not going to lie, sometimes I just don’t have a good way to transition from one moment to another. So here’s what I do. I write within my text “insert transition here.” And then I ignore it. For the rest of my writing process. Inspiration may come as you’re writing, but I recommend not writing it then, instead, make a note of it, in enough detail for you to remember, maybe add that note to that scene and then continue to ignore it. It’s during the revision process, when you’re able to look at that scene individually and as a part of the whole book, that you can best (or at least better) determine what transition will really work there.

You may not get it right the first or even second time. You may think it’s smooth and perfect, but have someone else read your first few chapters. If they tell you it felt choppy, it probably was and you should try it again.

#3: PLOT

This is probably the most important aspect of engaging the reader. You need to have some actual plot in the beginning of your story.

Like I said in my last post, sometimes writers can take their first three chapters and completely erase them without really harming the story at all. That’s because there’s no plot in them, they’re just building the story, making their way to the plot.

In order to really make them read, let them know what this book is about right away. Maybe throw your characters against the antagonist in the first scene. Maybe have someone die in that first chapter (everybody loves this, right? Okay, maybe it’s just me). Maybe have that magical rock explode and the rest of the book is spent trying to find the pieces.

In the first draft of Arthur 1, I didn’t do plot very well. In the same way that I introduced characters without any connection, I introduced my plot without having any actual plot. Nothing happened in the story, not really. The bad guys were there, but they didn’t actually do anything. No one fought to stay alive. No one confronted other people. No one did anything interesting. Characters came close to danger and then were miraculously saved moments before anything happened. It was boring and the reader never felt the real threat or tension of my baddies.

Whatever your story is about, make sure your readers know it. Don’t make them guess. Don’t make them wait. Throw them right into the action and watch them drool over what’s going to happen next. Trust me, it’s exhilarating.

So I’ve rewritten my beginning again with these three ideas in mind to keep a reader engaged after I’ve hooked them. I’ve changed a lot of what’s happened, but I think it’s all for the better. Is the reader connected to the character in a relatable way? Yes. Did I have smooth transitions? Er, yes (I still need to work on this). Do I have an actual plot right away? Oh yes.

So focus on your beginning to hook the reader. If you don’t hook them right away, they’ll never read your book. But then keep them hooked. Keep them reading and watch them turn the page and not be able to stop.