Okay, confession time. I haven’t been writing for the past few weeks. Nothing but cold, wet weather and to top this misery up pops Daylight Savings Time. Yuck.

But, today is sunny so, I’m back at my desk attempting to make some forward progress on my blog in addition to the 2 WIP sitting here.

You may ask what I’ve done all my time…

Reading, reading and reading. Devouring books of all types. The good, great, bad and ugly. Some I’ve not been able to finish. Life is too short to spend hours reading junk. So, I may toss a couple of duds in search of a really good read. Found a few.

All this reading got me to thinking. Why do I reject a book after just a couple of chapters? Or even a few pages? And most of all, what can I do to avoid readers rejecting my stories? No writer wants them to run screaming from our books. Not unless we scare the pants off of them. LOL

Look what I found…

TOP 8 PROBLEMS THAT TURN READERS OFF BY CARLY HAYWARD

Ms. Hayward gave me a lot suggestions. Some I related to and some I need to chew on but all I want to avoid in my writing. Whether you write, children’s books, novels, flash or short stories these tips will help you tighten up your writing.

My takeaway…

1. Head Hopping
   • While this may not bother some readers, it drives me nuts. I already striver to avoid this one.
2. Missing Main Character
   • This happens when a writer fails to introduce the MC within the first few pages.
3. Too Much Backstory
   • Okay, here is another of my reading pet peeves. Try not to put the reader to sleep with history.
4. Floating Head Dialog
   • Ground the reader before throwing them in the middle of a conversation. If you must start in the middle of a conversation, make sure the reader understands who is talking.
5. Action without Grounding.
   • We’ve all heard, start with action. But you still need to ground the reader or they won’t care what’s happening.
6. The Recap
   • Easy going over past events. Instead of a character going over what led them to a place, show the reader what happened to avoid boring the reader.
7. Distant Beginnings
   • In an effort to convey a sense of mystery a writer may leave too many details vague. Don’t. You need to let the reader connect to the character.
8. Overdone Beginnings
   • Don’t start with a cliché. There are no new beginnings, but add something to yours and make it special. Hook the reader with something unique.

Be sure and click on Ms. Hayward’s article (here) and read everything she has to say about engaging your reader.

Which one of these 8 puts you off a book?

Do you have any suggestions to add to Ms. Hayward’s list?

PLEASE TAKE ANOTHER MINUTE AND LOOK ME UP ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS BELOW.

AND STOP BY JEAN’S WRITING ANYTIME, I’LL LEAVE A LIGHT ON. 

Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Pinterest