Give Your Readers What They Expect and More

Imagine browsing the shelves of your local bookstore’s romance section and picking up a novel. The cover is candy pink with an illustration of a stylish woman walking a cute dog. You flip the book over and read the story blurb, effusing a quirky romantic romp awaits inside. This is just what you wanted: a fun female-led love story to disappear into over the weekend.

But when you start reading the first few pages, it just does not capture your interest. You put it down, look at the cover again, and give it one more try. Nope. This story is not turning out to be what was promised by the cover. It’s not the story you expected, and you never pick it up again.

There are many, many reasons why stories might not appeal to readers. Some of it is about personal taste and there’s not much an author can do about that. However, there are elements of storytelling authors must get right to have the best chance of holding readers’ attention and delighting them along the way.

Stories Are About Change

Readers will hesitate to invest in reading a story all the way through if they sense it’s not progressing with meaningful character change. The purpose of a story is to transport readers into the lives of characters who emotionally experience the plot, what happens, and are changed by it. Readers go on a journey with the characters and experience their evolution without having to live it themselves. If characters remain in the same emotional state they start in, there is no story.

Characters Need to Want Something

Readers are eager to root for multi-dimensional characters. So authors need to populate their stories with characters driven by external wants and internal needs that conflict with what other characters want and need. These clashing objectives create story momentum and tension and make it difficult for readers to put your book down.

Stay In the Genre Playground 

When a reader picks up a book in the romance section of a bookstore, they expect a certain type of story. Genre, the type of story being told, is created by incorporating certain elements and milestones that make the story being told a “romance.” Genre expectations create a familiar playground for unique characters and settings to interface. There is plenty of room for authors to surprise readers within the genre framework.

All Story Questions Are Answered By the End 

A sure way to disappoint readers is by leaving story questions unanswered. Readers keep reading to find out what happens next. At the end of the story, they expect to know the answer. If an author writes a romance, the genre itself begs the question, do the lovers get together in the end? The main character has their own question to resolve, like whether they achieve their goal of having their dream career and the guy that makes them swoon.



Pick up more tips on how to write stories that meet reader expectations in this Ask an Editor session I co-hosted with Copy Editor Lila LaBine. We examine what must be included in a story to answer its promise to readers.