How to Retain Readers for Your Series or Writing
There are many things that engage a reader, like your title, book cover, compelling description, or a favorable review.
Yet, a single thing that turns them away is the lack of engaging writing. Long has passed the time when readers had so much appreciation for literature that they wouldn’t leave a book unread.
Learn How to Make Your Writing More Engaging
Nowadays, and particularly with the possibilities given by self-publishing, readers just don’t have the patience. Their inboxes are swarmed with low-cost or free samples. The more active your reader is, the more opportunities they have to discover new books that promise to be the next hit.
One dull page and they’re gone. Engagement and emotional contact have become staples of modern publishing. You can no longer count on the reader’s curiosity, nor let them wander for too long with slow-paced chapters.
Readers won’t engage nearly as much mental focus on books as they used to. Unless your writing is engaging and sends them on an emotional rollercoaster, you could easily lose your reader—counter this with a more interesting title and introductory sentences.
Why Is Creating Engaging Content Paramount
Luckily, you have complete control of your story. Writing that is interesting to the reader is easier than you think, so relax and take a deep breath. There is plenty of advice that you can use to keep the readers engaged, and here are the best of them:
#1: Write Amazing Hooks to Keep Readers Engaged
Creating a convincing hook means introducing shock value to your writing from the very beginning of your manuscript.
Your exposition should be appealing on a personal, intimate, and emotional level. You can’t write just anything, as the reader will quickly pick up when something is 'off' or inconsistent with the plot or characters.
Instead, research a bit of psychology related to your genre. Get into the reader’s mindset and understand what sparks their curiosity.
#2: Create a Sense of Excitement
Remember the last time you enjoyed a book without incidents, twists, and turns? Neither do we.
Whether you’re writing a short story or nonfiction, there has to be a disruptive element that pulls the narrator or the protagonist out of their comfort zone. Their story must be unusual—or else why read about it?
Creating unique characters, dialogues, and stories with carefully structured words, helps create that excitement in your readers when they pick up a new book.
#3: Follow Well-Established Rules
Cover your bases when it comes to effective storytelling. You may think that you have a truly unique story to share, but storytelling is more about how you convey the plot.
Your choice of words, chapter structure, order of events, and tone—you’ll use to tell your story all dictate whether or not the reader will be interested.
Use Simple Sentences
A writing style that features shorter sentences, word choice that reflects your reader's inner speech, and strategic placement of "power words"—specific words that evoke desired feelings—all contribute to creating more engaging content. Avoid writing long, complex sentences that bore the reader.
Trim Your Writing And Keep Only the Most Compelling Content
You might feel like each character's description, and back story is relevant, but this can get in the way of writing engaging content.
Once you've completed the first draft of your book, go back to reading it and take out all the content that doesn't relate to the central story. That way, you'll have more engaging content in your book, and you'll retain readers' attention throughout.
You might be fascinated by the new-found ability to describe the scene to the smallest detail, but do readers care about those sentences? Ask yourself if your sentence contributes or takes away from the story.
Make sure that all the details given in your book, tie in with its message, philosophy, and symbolism.
Writing Engaging Content With a Striking Opening Line
The first sentences are crucial to set the tone for the rest of the book. They are pillars of writing engaging content as they help the reader depict the mood or 'vibe' of the scene. Fail to write an intriguing first paragraph sentence, and you'll fail to engage readers.
Strong first sentences are a must for engaging content. The first sentence of your book, and each of its chapters and paragraphs should have a striking beginning to better engage readers.
#4: Bond With The Reader
Creating an emotional connection with the reader is the key to keeping them engaged until the end of the book.
Before you start writing your book, first explore the genres and readership within your niche. Discover their likes and dislikes, preferences, and motivations. Explore the morality of the reader group itself, to learn more about what they consider to be touching, uplifting, sad, and relevant.
Naturally, a romance reader won’t have the same tastes and motivations as a horror/thriller or epic fantasy reader. This knowledge will help you understand how to build each of your characters, and give you a direction for how to make characters act and speak throughout the book.
More importantly, create your plot around an idea that’s relevant to your reader base. Your book topic must reflect something that’s important to your readers—a problem or a situation that they themselves wouldn’t know how to resolve, but would still affect them greatly.
Always keep in mind what the reader will think and how they’ll judge the characters' words and actions.
#5: Create Hype for Your Book
If you’ve done the former correctly, and you wrote a quality book that’s relevant and touches on many people's core concerns, start reaching out. Begin by creating a website, landing page, and social media pages for your book.
Feed your platforms with compelling images and quotes to spark admiration and debate, and begin promoting and announcing your book. Use short sentences to convey your powerful message and retain the reader's attention.
Start building your online presence. Don’t forget to post frequently about your book. Write weekly social media and blog posts, and create Instagram stories and reels.
If you’re planning to self-publish, don’t forget to add your pre-order links wherever possible, and invite followers to reserve their copy before publishing.
If you’re planning to pitch your book to a publisher, rest assured that you have a much better chance of attracting their attention with a following than without it.
#6: Open Up
Readers are highly sensitive to all forms of manipulation, so opt for a genuine, emotionally vulnerable approach to your ideas. Post about your personal journey and motivations behind writing, so that the reader associates the book with you as a memorable person.
Share interesting information about your background, the experiences that drove you to start writing, and your unique take on the themes on which your book is based.
#7: Be a Professional
As a writer, you can’t afford spelling errors or dull posts attached to your name and brand. Plan your social media content ahead of time, and then have all of your posts drafted and edited. Ideally, you would have a team of people review them, just in case.
It’s good to have extra help with detecting awkward phrases, grammatical errors, and of course, statements that could be misinterpreted.
That way, you’ll avoid unpleasantries on your social media, and save yourself from the trouble of having to further explain or retract your statements.
#8: Embrace Feedback to Boost Writing Style
Take feedback for what it is. If more than one of your followers or test readers has a comment or a remark, consider it true.
If you don’t wish to change your writing, then figure out a way to mitigate the negative effect it has on a reader.
For example, if you’re convinced that one of your character’s actions is genuine, and a couple of readers think it’s inconsistent or fake, it means that something is 'off' in that regard.
You might think entirely differently, but adjustments will be needed to avoid a similar viewpoint being seeded into future readers' minds as they read comments and reviews.
#9: Polish Your Writing Skills
Practicing an engaging writing style will make your writing routine more efficient. It will help you become more productive when it comes to building your story, and it will exercise your focus on the most interesting parts of it. In return, you'll learn how to engage readers almost effortlessly.
#10: Don't Underestimate Search Engine Ranking!
Your book title, sub headings, description, and promo articles all need to come up in relevant searches. When browsing for quality content, readers type in certain keywords that reflect their search intent.
Use said main keywords in your book features, and you'll increase the chances of your book appearing in search results for your ideal reader.
Order Engaging Writing and Editing Services
Engaging your readers means appealing to their emotions with world, plot, and character building in each sentence and paragraph. Then, you can enforce that relationship with a compelling narrative that satisfies the reader’s curiosity and deepens it at the same time.
Think of your creative writing as a video game. Video games lure people in with interesting visuals, and then set challenge after challenge, often endlessly. Always keep readers “on their toes,” and make sure you’re ahead of their knowledge on the topic.
Still struggling to write engaging content? There's a simple solution: Hire a professional writer! Start your publishing journey now, by ordering your favorite content writing and editing package.
