3-ways I Focused on the Reader when I’m writing.
Provide value and an experience will make the reader remember your book!
When I started my novel, I had this story in my head and I thought wouldn’t it be cool to put it down somewhere, like a book. I aspired to show the world my story and dreamt of everyone reading it and falling for it. Of course that can’t really happen because not everyone would like your story. Everyone is different and have their own preferences. Good thing I learned that early in my writing journey because at first, I was writing “The Last Guardians of Atlantis” as how I saw it; putting in scenes, themes and dialogue that I thought were cool. I would soon find out from my editor that writing for the broader audience involves including the reader on the journey and not just yourself.
That doesn’t mean you should compromise your story because you want to appeal to a wider crowd. And it certainly doesn’t mean putting in every known trope into your novel, just to please the mob (for those that don’t know a ‘trope’ is a commonly used theme or plot device; like ‘forced proximity’ between a man and woman). What it does mean (from what I learned during my writing journey), is that you’ll have to lean towards giving value to the reader. Give the reader a reason to turn that page, and make them feel something. So, how do I do that you may ask? Let’s dig deeper together.
Think of the readers.
Take them on an emotional thrill ride.
Provide VALUE!
1. Think of the Readers
When I say to think of the readers, I really do mean think of them. Think of the general target audience you want your readers to be. For instance, my novel is a cross of between young-adult (YA) and new-adult (NA). I’m still wrapping my head around what new-adult even means; I guess I’m just getting old. My book can be read by adults and older (in fact any book can be read by any age but the majority of readers would be of a specific demographic).
So, I first I think about what YA/NA readers like nowadays, and yes even considering the tropes, like enemies to lovers, but I don’t ever consider writing a book around a trope. One should think about how to creatively and effectively put in a ‘trope’ in your story, giving the readers a satisfying dopamine hit. There is a lot of controversy/drama going about ‘fast fashion’ in the book industry. It seems nowadays, a lot of upcoming authors simply see how much cliched tropes they can stuff in a book and send it out en masse to the public. I’m not gonna name the authors or the books but for those that live on the internet, well you already know. Normally, you wouldn’t hear the term ‘fast fashion’ be said in the book industry, but readers are finding a direct correlation between how fast a book comes out and the quality of its content.
So, don’t push yourself to write a book as fast as possible, because the quality of the book will suffer. You can watch many booktubers out there review books that were launched in quick succession (and even those with a lot of hype) only to be disappointed by the quality of writing the book has. Be patient when it comes to writing! Put in the effort - flesh out the characters, expand on the themes, and strategically put in the tropes if you want to. Emphasize on the overall emotion(s) of the book, and consider how the reader would react. Which leads us to our next point.
2. Take the reader on an emotional ride!
Let’s face it, no one wants to read a boring book. No wants to read a book that doesn’t give us ‘chills down our spine’ or make our ‘stomach churn.’ Readers want that - readers need that. Readers want to be taken to another world, and have their senses overwhelmed by everything in it. Most of all, as readers, we want our emotions rocked. We want to be tossed around like in a rollercoaster. We want to be thrashed so hard, we could either be sick to our stomach or cry. If you can invoke those feelings in your book, you’ve done a good job. And most readers will remember those emotional moments.
Now that doesn’t mean introducing a character in Chapter 1 then kill them off in Chapter 2. That doesn’t work. You’ll have to develop the character; open them up and show the reader their flaws, their fears, and most importantly their goals in the story. You’ll have to write the character’s end mission and show the reader if they achieved the goal at the end or not. If you really want to strike an emotion, develop the character so much, make them likeable then kill them off before they reach their goal. That’ll really strike a chord (I know, I know, that’s brutal but hey, it does work! Think of the character ‘Rue’ in the Hunger Games).
While developing the characters, tie them in with the themes of the book. Is one of the themes about overcoming fears and adversity. Put an obstacle in the way of that character and show how they try to overcome it, struggle with it or fail trying to defeat it. By making the characters relatable to what your target audience feels and struggles with day-to-day, they’ll feel a sense of ‘closeness’ or develop a certain bond with that character. And then you can kill them off (ahahah joking….or am I?) With that being said, by taking the time to create likeable (and disliked) characters and by taking your readers on an emotional thrill ride, you’re actually doing something not a lot of upcoming writers have doing: providing value.
Editor Alyssa Matesic discusses ways to elevate your book so that it doesn’t bore your readers to death!
3. Provide VALUE
When I say provide value, I don’t necessarily mean cost (although that can be a factor considering how much books cost nowadays). I mean make it worth the readers’ time and money. Put in that extra effort to develop the setting, the world, the characters and the themes. Research if you have to. Do what is needed to make your writing better, even by 1%. Work on your pacing, work on your descriptions, work on the dialogue etc… I’m certain that the amount effort you put into your book, is directly correlated with the amount of reception from your target audience you’ll get. Low effort, low reception. High effort, high reception. Easy. By putting that extra bit of effort into your writing, readers will thank you for taking them to a whole new world.
If you don’t believe in providing value, take a look on booktubers or booktok or even go on Goodreads and take a look at the reviews. Sure, some reviews are nasty, but others provide good insights and feedback on what readers like to read and what value they expect. For my novel, I went onto Goodreads and read reviews on “popular” books and discovered common things readers value. Here is a snippet of what readers value from what I gathered:
An immersive world/setting.
Engaging plot (with great plot twists).
Relatable, well described characters (flaws and all).
Not overly reliant on tropes.
This isn’t the complete list of things. I found more but these were the top common points I found on Goodreads reviews. Again, by putting in the effort into the quality of your book, especially in the 4-points above, you can create a book that really hooks your audience. Once they finished reading your epic adventure, they’ll most likely have a sense of ‘money well spent’. Readers will feel like they’ve spent spent a good amount of time immersed in your story, and they’ll thank you for it with great reviews.
Well, I hope this blog helped you gain some insight into putting the reader first. Again, it’s not about compromising your story to fit what the trending trope/genre is nowadays. It’s about remembering that your audience wants to be taken away into another world; they want to cuddle up to a book after a long day of school/work and read something that’ll take their mind off of things. Readers want the thrill of a quality book; they want that emotional ride that lasts, and not necessarily that momentary dopamine hit. Put emphasis on the effort, do your research, flesh out the characters and themes.
By being patient, working day-by-day, step-by-step on your book, you’ll eventually write something you and your readers will be proud of owning. Good luck writers!
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