What Keeps You Reading?

[Chicklet]

There are very few stories on Lit that will keep me reading after the first couple of paragraphs.

Tell me everyone:

What keeps you reading? What needs to be in the first couple paragraphs (or needs to be left out in some cases) to keep your interest?

For me, if there is a detailed character description in the first or second paragraph, I click "back" straight away. If there's a fun description of something amusing, or a good description of the day or setting, then I keep going.

-Chicklet

 

[oggbashan]

Conversation or ...

If there is conversation in the first couple of screens or an interesting scenario then I'll keep reading.

I'm a speed reader so length doesn't bother me.

Even a vague interest will carry me through 3 or 4 Lit pages because I'm not committing much time to it.

I will read an average length novel, as a printed book, in about 45 minutes. I have slowed down with age. Twenty years ago it was 30 minutes.

Most Lit stories take me no longer than the time needed to scroll down so I read a lot. I vote on about 1 in 20 and give feedback on 1 in 100. That takes much longer than the reading.

Og

 

[Omni]

I like movement right off. Talking, adventuous scene, or one compelling thought to drag me in.
Like you, if I see detailed bio I click back or the word 'I' will nearly get me to click back also. I would rather see character description and bio dispersed throughout movement of the story, not all lumped together.
They say you must catch the reader in the first sentence or paragraph. I know when flipping through books or reading online it is the case for me. There has to be some type of hook right off.
Readers do not need to know everything in the beginning, mystery and going to look further for more info is a type of hook of its own.


Omni

 

[Weird Harold]

What keeps you reading? What needs to be in the first couple paragraphs (or needs to be left out in some cases) to keep your interest?

Generally, it's good story telling. Whether that's a engaging "hook" or just no major errors that jump out at me, it a subjective judgment based on whether I feel like an author is going to fulfill the promise of the premise.

However, sometimes what keeps me reading is morbid curiosity -- can this author maintan this bad start, or is it going to actually get worse?

 

[gauchecritic]

I can't say specifically what makes me keep reading only the fact that if I need to know what happens next (or previously sometimes) then I will keep reading.

I realise I must miss out on a few really good stories that get better as the page goes down but I need to want to go that far in the first place.

I can only recall one story where I began skimming after the first couple of paragraphs and then had to go back and read it all and that was in response to a request for feedback. Just thought of a thread I can start.

Gauche

 

[Svenskaflicka]

It would be easier to tell what makes me stop reading - a description of a girl's bra size, a "this is a true story" - line, or anything written in the first person's POV.

What makes me read more than a few paragraphs - it's a beginning that grabs me, that makes me interested in finding out more about the characters and what's happening to them.

I always try to catch my readers with some interesting conflict-phrase, like "She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't resist the temptation" or a phrase that indicates that there's something exciting about to happen, like "-What do you mean, you can't do it?"

And that's what I look for in other people's stories as well.

 

[Chicklet]

I always try to catch my readers with some interesting conflict-phrase, like "She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't resist the temptation" or a phrase that indicates that there's something exciting about to happen, like "-What do you mean, you can't do it?"

The first phrase I have to say is something that would make me click "back" - it seems too cliched. The second, however, really got me = ) I like it a lot! That would be a great first line!

 

[Svenskaflicka]

*taking a bow*

 

[Weird Harold]

or anything written in the first person's POV.

You're missing some very good stories with that criteria. (two of them mine, he said modestly.) First Person POV does NOT always read like a Penthouse letter.

 

[Guest]

first person narratives

You're missing some very good stories with that criteria. (two of them mine, he said modestly.) First Person POV does NOT always read like a Penthouse letter.

Flicka, I'm a first person narrator too. Be careful, your statement came close to making me feel like you do when someone calls you Sven.

 

[Omni]

First person POV

For fun, profit, or stubborness? Really, honestly how many bestselling or main stream novels is anyone reading out there that are first person POV?
I know when I first decided to write with the hopes of getting paid for it, I realized that 3rd person (all the ways) was what people were buying and what publishers were looking for. But I did not WANT to write that way. <Laughing>
Oh, I was stubborn, cuz it was hard to change, but everytime I thought of submitting to a main stream publisher it came back to that. Now, I enjoy it and fully see its merits as that is all I have read and enjoyed for many years. I am glad that I started out that way, because I have brought it into my erotic writing with great success, I believe.
I shudder at all the first person porn/erotica stories out there. Third person needs a much bigger voice in this genre.
Prehaps, it is the difference between a quick jerk off porn story and a more in depth erotic story?
Oops, now I might get alot of comments on that last line.

Omni

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Well, sorry, but most of the jerk-off stories I've run into has been in 1stPPOV! Also, I've grown allergic to that POV, after all the awful "What I did on my summer holiday"-essays they forced us to write when I was a kid.

 

[Guest]

not good enough

Well, sorry, but most of the jerk-off stories I've run into has been in 1stPPOV! Also, I've grown allergic to that POV, after all the awful "What I did on my summer holiday"-essays they forced us to write when I was a kid.

Flicka, I need more than that mediocre 'sorry'. I do NOT write jerk-off stories or tales about my summer vacations. Please. P.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I didn't say you were, gatita mia, I'm saying that's what I think about whenever I see the word "I" in a story. I'm sure there are great stories written in 1stPPOV out there, but I prefer 3rdPPOV. Just like there are many cute girls out there, but I prefer cute boys. Or sinister men in dark robes, who speak of potions in a velvet voice...

 

[Guest]

You tricky flicka

Or sinister men in dark robes, who speak of potions in a velvet voice...

You know just how to get me off track. I really must get that AR tape of him reading The Return of the Native. Must have the velvet voice whenever I get that special urge.

La Gata de Snape

(Sorry, people, for getting off-thread.)

 

[pop_54]

Yea

Well, sorry, but most of the jerk-off stories I've run into has been in 1stPPOV! Also, I've grown allergic to that POV, after all the awful "What I did on my summer holiday"-essays they forced us to write when I was a kid.

Yea they tried to get us to do that, but we were so poor we never had holidays, but we lived on a farm so I did some interesting first person stuff about sheep.

Do you know we were so poor my mum used to buy our clothes at the Army & Navy surplus store.

I was 14 before I realised I wasn't really a Japanese Admiral.

Oh sorry I digress, what keeps me reading?

An interesting story, a subject of interest to me will persuade me to trawl through a bit of crap to see if it improves any, if not, Back.

First person POV, Hmm can be a bit silly at times, but if well written without too much 'I am' or daft slang can be OK even good

A clever line of dialogue as a very first line will get my attention, just as a high powered line of narrative would.

What keeps me reading is a mixture of interest and curiosity, interesting subject or the need to know what happens next, or both.

pops..............

 

[Rainbow Skin]

What turns me off in the first paragraph: 'Hi, this isn't a story about people, this is just a wankfest. You don't want to know what kind of music she likes or whether she's got a sense of humour, all you want to know is tape-measures around the tits, blonde or brunette, fat or skinny down to the nearest pound. In paragraph two you're bored by otiose plot so she's gulping cum out of the quarterback by about line seven.'

Stripping and group sex in paragraph three.

'She glanced in the mirror at her luscious big bold beautiful body in the mirror before stepping in the shower.' in paragraph one, Oh lord, sorry, I'm just clicking on the latest offerings for examples. Anything in any paragraph that says in effect 'This is just tits and fucking and cocks up arses'... not interested. Real people having vaguely realistic relationships are infinitely more appealing.

 

[TheEarl]

Something that's well written and realistic. I'll generally read the first page unless I find one of my back precipitators:

eg. It was hot so she took off her shirt, revealing her bikini. Tom looked at his sister and noticed her 32DD breasts. Then they fucked.

The Earl

 

[pop_54]

Yo!!!!!

her 32DD breasts. Then they fucked.

The Earl

What her breasts?? My God that's unusual, I'd have to read on.

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: First person POV

For fun, profit, or stubborness? Really, honestly how many bestselling or main stream novels is anyone reading out there that are first person POV?

Some of the most popular novels and novel series of the 1940 and 1950's -- the "pulp fiction" detective novels and Westerns of Earle Stanley Gardner and Luis L'Amour are mostly first person POV.

One of the "Great Novels" introduces the narrator with "Call me Ishmael."

Well done, 1stPPOV gives a "throwback" feel for those of us old enough to remember hours spent nestled into the mind of a hard-boiled gumshoe or hard-riding cowboy.

I have read many modern novels -- 1960's or later -- that use 1stPPOV effectively and, in general enjoyed them as much or more than the more common 3rdPPOV.

First Person is very difficult to write well and very limiting, but it's the perfect choice for Detective novels and Mysteries -- Third Person Mysteries are boring, for the most part.

The last Novel I read tht was in First Person, was one of L. E. Modesitt's Recluse series -- I was over halfway through it before I realized it was mostly in first Person -- It was change in POV for an "interlude" chapter that was in Third Person Omniscient that made me think about the POV at all (a jarring transition, atypical of L. E. Modesitt, fromOne POV to another.)

Avoiding First Person simply because amateur atuhors usually misuse it is, IMHO, a mistake. Some of my favorite authors use First Person when it is appropriate and do it well.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Tell me everyone:

What keeps you reading? What needs to be in the first couple paragraphs (or needs to be left out in some cases) to keep your interest?

-Chicklet

Anyone who stops reading because the first few paragraphs don't have this or that specific thing is missing one hell of a lot of great writing.

There's no formula for this. If we could say what made us keep reading then you know there'd be novels written by focus groups to give people what they want, just like they do with movies. Thank God it's still more an art than a science. We keep reading because we're interested or we like how it sounds or who knows why.

---dr.M.

 

[gauchecritic]

Can I just point out (thanks Doc) that I originally meant: keeps me reading line by line and not begin to skim.

Gauche

 

[deliciously_naughty]

I need a good hook. An interesting first paragraph, something funny, or something that I find provactive. Bad spelling/grammar, straight character descriptions with few exceptions, and 10 inch dicks make me hit the back button.

 

[Omni]

Avoiding First Person simply because amateur atuhors usually misuse it is, IMHO, a mistake. Some of my favorite authors use First Person when it is appropriate and do it well.

Oh you must be in heaven here, Mr Harold, there is a plethora of it on literotica!


Grins,

Omni

 

[Weird Harold]

Oh you must be in heaven here, Mr Harold, there is a plethora of it on literotica!

Not really -- there are alot of amateur authors here who haven't gotten the hang of doing first person well and when it's done badly, it's excruciatingly bad.

Howver, it's the bad writing, and NOT the POV that sends me scramblng for the back button.