Your first task as a writer is to get your reader hooked. This is the battle you fight. There are a bazillion other things your reader could be doing, besides reading your book.
Bad first impressions are tough to shake.
So it’s worth it — in life and in fiction — to make a good first impression. To do that, your story has several tasks it must perform:
- Get the Reader Hooked.
- Establish a bond between the main character and the reader.
- Establish the general tone of the story. Is this going to be action-packed or more on character change? Will it be fast-moving or leisurely paced?
- Compel the reader to move on to the middle. Just why should the reader care to continue?
- Introduce the opposition. Who or what wants to stop the main character?
Do these things well, and your story will have a strong foundation. You want your readers to feel that they’re in the hands of a competent storyteller, and that’s not a bad place to be, right?
Establish a Bond
As an independent editor, I read from many different levels of authors and self-published writers. I see a consistent problem with character weakness.
I’ll usually see an interesting or innovative plot, but it’ll be stocked with cardboard story people—characters just stuck on the page because the author put them there.
After you conceive a compelling main character, you must go a step further and figure out how to create an emotional bond with your reader.
There are four time-tested ways to do this. Master the dynamics of identification, sympathy, likeability, and inner conflict.
Identification
Since the main character provides access to a plot, it follows that the more the reader can identify with the main character, the greater the intensity of the plot experience.
With identification, you create an amazing feeling that the story, in some way, is happening to me.
It means that the main character is like us. We feel that we could, under the right circumstances, find ourselves in the same position in the plot with similar reactions.
The main character appears to us to be a real human being. What are the marks of a real human being? Look inside yourself.
Most likely, you are:
- Trying to make it in the world.
- A little fearful at times.
- You are not perfect.
The key question here is, “What does your main character do and think that makes him/her just like most people?”
Find these qualities, and readers will begin to warm up to your main character.
Let’s take Indiana Jones. In Raiders of the Lost Ark. It would have been tempting to leave him as some sort of a Superman, overcoming all without a hitch. But he was wisely given an understandable human flaw, a fear of snakes. This made Jones human and much more accessible. The word for this type of identification is empathy.
Sympathy
In contrast to empathy, sympathy intensifies the reader’s emotional investment in the main character. The best plots have a main character with whom sympathy is established.
Here are a few easy ways to establish sympathy. Beware of using too many of these, because you might make your reader feel manipulated.
Jeopardy
Put your protagonist in terrible, imminent danger and you’ve got the sympathy factor at work right away. Jeopardy can also be emotional.
Hardship
If your protagonist has to face some misfortune out of his or her own making, sympathy abounds. Take Forrest Gump for example. He suffered from physical and mental challenges as a boy, and in turn gained our sympathy from the start.
The key to using hardship is not to allow the character to whine about it. Yes, there can be moments when the character lashes out emotionally because of the hardship, but don’t let them stay there. We admire those who take steps to overcome.
The Underdog
We love people who face long odds.
Let’s take Rocky Balboa from one of my favorite movies of all time, Rocky. This movie wasn’t a phenomenon only because it was about a poor Philly fighter’s chance to beat the champ, but because it was like Stallone’s own story as a struggling actor.
Vulnerability
Readers worry about a protagonist who might be crushed at any-time. Establish some sort of vulnerability in your characters and your readers will be drawn in, and feel a connection of sympathy immediately.
Likability
How do you create a likable character?
Likable characters do favors for people. They can be witty in conversation or are supportive and engaging. They’re not selfish, and they have an expansive view of life. These are the people we like to be around. Think about people you like, and then incorporate some of those characteristics into your main character.
A witty character, someone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously, is likable. So is the character who cares about others without calling attention to himself. Be careful not to try too hard to be likable because you may miss the mark. It’s a fine line that your characters walk but worth the effort if you can get it right.
You can also create an unlikable main character if you compensate in other areas. Let’s take The Godfather for example. Michael Corleone develops into a violent mob boss, and a powerful one at that. You have to make your unlikable main character fascinating in some way, or your readers will be turned off.
Inner Conflicts
Characters who are absolutely sure what they do, plunge ahead without fear and are just not interesting. We don’t go through life that way. The truth is, we have doubts just like everyone else.
By bringing your protagonist’s doubts to the surface, your plot will pull the reader deeper into the story. Inner conflict can be thought of as a battle between two voices within the character, one of reason, the other of passion or of two conflicting passions.
Things to Avoid
Beware of these three common culprits because they will stall your story on the first page.
Excessive Description
If description is what dominates the opening, there is no action, no character in motion.
While some brief description of setting can be necessary, it should be woven into the opening action. If a setting is vital to the story, at least give us a person in the setting to get things rolling.
Backward Looks
Fiction is forward-moving. If you frontload with backstory—events that happened to the main characters before the main plot—it will feel like you’re stalling.
No Disturbance
Good fiction starts with, and deals with, someone’s response to a threat or disturbance. Give us that opening bit of disturbance quickly, and get us hooked.
And if you’re still not sure what to do exactly—here are three more ideas to remember when starting your story.
Act First, Explain Later
Start with your character in motion. Readers will follow a character who is doing something, and won’t demand to know everything about the character upfront. You then drop in information as necessary, in little bits as you go along
Follow the Iceberg Rule
Don’t tell us everything about the character’s past history or current situation. Give us the 10% above the surface that is necessary to understand what’s going on, and leave the 90% shrouded in mystery below the surface.
Later in the story, you can reveal more of that information. Until the right time, withhold it.
Hide Information Inside Confrontation
The best way to let information come out, is within a scene of intense conflict. Using the character’s thoughts as words, you can have crucial information ripped out and thrown in front of the reader, making your story more compelling.
Remember to follow these tips when writing the beginning to your next story, and you’ll be well on your way to getting your reader hooked from the start.
Need editing or publishing help with your fiction story or memoir? I offer free consultation and personalized quotes. Let’s connect. Send me an email: griffinsmith74@gmail.com
