I would like to thank Sophia Anderson for writing the below post for my blog. It’s an interesting, thought-provoking piece, and I highly recommend all authors read it. I’ll leave the floor to Sophia now.
Common Mistakes Writers Make that Prevent Readers from Getting to the End
It’s no doubt that writers are afraid of writing a story that won’t be read by anyone. Have you ever bought a book from a bookshop that you thought it would be interesting to read but you ended up throwing it away? Maybe once, twice or severally; perhaps you were attracted by the headline and you got inspired by the introduction, but while you perused a number of pages, you came to realize the book was not that interesting as you thought.
Now, what could have caused you to drop the book? What mistakes did you come across in the book that made withdraw?
As an author, you need to make readers get interested to read every sentence, topic, chapter and page of your book. There are common reasons that can prevent your readers from getting to the end. Let’s make it clear. Continue reading!
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Complex or informal language
The language you use when writing a book is of great importance. Neither should it be too easy to appear informal, nor should it be too difficult to the extent of making readers fail to apprehend. You want the reader to understand what the book is all about and so, you need to avoid taking the reader back to the dictionary every now and then to search for a word you used in every sentence. This can sometimes piss off readers. So, understand your readers and tailor your language to them.
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Poor development
The second reason why readers are not making it to the end is the fact that your plot of a story isn’t dynamic. Do your readers have to peruse twenty pages before they can find the main character of the story? Or do you fancy describing landscapes and scenes specifying every little detail because you think it reproduces the broad picture and thus making your readers go through several pages which could have been much shorter? To avoid this mistake, you need to make what is important known by a reader before they can go too deep into your book and do not go to extremes with what’s not that much essential.
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Unprofessional editing
Yes! It is true authors are aware that good and professional editing is crucial when it comes to writing a story but do you give this stage the ample time and effort it deserves? Of course, no! In fact, many authors are rushing to have their book printed so that they can get their first loyal readers.
Stanley Spike, the founder, and owner of Best Essays states that “Good and professional editing can get your book more readership, inspire your readers, and make it more easy to understand and interesting to read. Once you are done with writing it, edit it and get a second or a third eye to go through it since they can spot an error you may have skipped during your first reading.”
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Lazy authoring
You can use clichés, metaphors, and descriptive phrases as much as they add value to your story. All these three make like 30 percent of the whole book. But you must avoid being too lazy in your writing. Note that a well-written story will attract a huge readership, especially when you use clear and easy to understand language. Additionally, readers want to read a story that will stimulate their senses and don’t overload their brain.
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Shopworn plots
Sometimes as an author, you may use distinct scenes to define moods, characters and if possible, relationships that you already know and which you have picked from other books written by other authors. If the plot of your story has been used repeatedly by other authors, chances are that readers already know what to expect in every chapter of yours. To prevent yourself from doing this, play with your scenes in your mind; keep the readers wanting to know what will follow next.
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Lengthy paragraphs
A book with lengthy paragraphs can be tiresome to read. Most often authors think that including long description scenes will keep the reader glued to their story, but this is not the case. Your 10-sentence paragraph is the reason why readers get tired when reading your book and click away. Keep off from monotonous sentences. Ensure to use short sentences and short paragraphs for the sake of good comprehension.
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Dubious structure
A good structure rocks when it comes to writing a story. To make the reader flow along with your story, you need to make all events follow an organized flow. In fact, the best way to achieve this is to make an outline of all the chapters of your story. Avoid going forth and back when mentioning different episodes in order not to puzzle your reader.
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Unrealistic story
When you put too many exaggerations, unclear ideas, and uncertainties, you kill the reader’s morale in reading your story. No reader would want to read a story that is too unrealistic. A realistic story that suits your plot is more appealing and more interesting to the reader. Ensure your story suits the time and place.
Final thoughts
Every scene in your story should aim at making it flow forward and arouse the reader’s interest. Once you include something that does not suit in your story, the readers will be off-put and will definitely take a chance with another book.
Back to you; what are the reasons that make you close a book and look for a better one? Could you share them right below here?
About the Author
Sophia Anderson is a blogger and a freelance writer. She is passionate about covering topics on learning, writing, business, careers, self-improvement, motivation and others. She believes in the driving force of positive attitude and constant development. Meet Sophia at @Sophia7Anderson.
