The following is an excerpt from The Children’s Writer’s Guide.
You have a great title, fabulous cover art and a back cover synopsis that really intrigues the readers.
However, how do you ensure that they don’t read the first page of your book then put it down, never to pick it up again?
Think about how people shop for books.
They’re initially attracted by the book’s title.
They then take a look at the cover art, before turning to the back cover for the short synopsis of the story.
If that grabs them, they’re going to read the opening pages and if they like the beginning, they’ll most likely buy the book.
To hook the readers at the outset, you need to get their attention.
You then have to keep the story moving at a fast pace for long enough to generate sufficient interest for the reader to want to finish the book.
If you’re writing for younger readers, you also need to create page-turning endings to all your chapters, to ensure that they’ll continue reading.
Cliffhangers at the conclusion of each chapter are particularly important for boy readers at this age.
Grabbing Attention
There are many different ways to appeal to the reader with a strong beginning and hold their attention.
Action always works well, but that doesn’t mean you need to have a car crash, gunfight or massive explosion in the opening sentence.
What you need is a compelling or at least an interesting scene.
Think about TV shows, especially crime dramas.
These usually begin with action to grab your attention, rather than with a description of the setting or the introduction of a character.
Something usually happens right at the outset that makes you think and encourages you to continue watching to find out more.
Start with an interesting situation, one that a character can react to.
You might already have description or other details at the start that could easily be split up and moved to later in the book, so that the reader can fill in the blanks as the story progresses.
Now, learn more about The Children’s Writer’s Guide 2 and all Simon’s other books on his website at https://simon-rose.com/.
Simon also offers a variety of coaching services for writers and his Writing for Children and Young Adults online course.
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