How to Write a Novel People Want to Read

If a writer writes a novel that people want to read, they must focus on making it unquenchable–something readers can’t put down. When they have reached this, they’ve reached the epitome of success. There’s no denying it. As a reader, I am on a constant search for the next book that’s going to have my undivided attention for as long as it takes to finish it. These books are few and far between. I’ve found that there are four types of novels:

The bad ones. For whatever reason these are the ones that we put down and never pick back up. They are the ones with cheesy dialogue, unrealistic characters, and plot holes the size of Texas.
The ones that we should like. These are usually the ones that we are forced to read in college to “broaden our minds” or the ones that were strongly suggested to us by a friend that just won’t keep asking if we’ve finished reading it yet.
The okay ones. These are the “good” reads. They aren’t bad because we can’t find anything technically wrong with them, but they aren’t great either. For whatever reason, the author failed to envelope us with the story. We’re just mere onlookers to what’s happening, not participants.
The unquenchable ones. These are the ones that we read for! The ones that we can re-read over and over without ever getting tired of them. They are rare, treasured diamonds in our libraries. They are the ones that we only allow close friends, if then, to borrow (only after removing the dust cover, of course). They’re the ones that make us believe that we’re a part of the story, and they become a part of our own story. We watch the midnight showing of the movies when/if they come out. We have the soundtrack. We have the posters. We have the author’s website bookmarked. These are what we dream of as readers!

So what makes a novel unquenchable?

Here’s what I think:

Lacing the story with wisdom and authenticity helps in building a relationship between characters and readers. Readers want to relate to the narrators/characters. We want to feel like we know them. The better we know them, the more we feel like a part of their story.

Suspension of disbelief is when a reader temporarily allows themselves to believe something that isn’t true for sake of the story.

Keep it real. Even if we’re writing fantasy, it’s important to have something real about it. The Coleridge term “suspension of disbelief,” comes to play here. Keep fantastical characters as real as possible by using dialogue, struggles, and personality traits that we see in our world.
Develop a language for each character. I’ve read a few novels lately that do real well with this, Tom McNeal’s Far, Far Away comes to mind. In it, each character has phrases that only he/she uses. For example, one of his characters says “Zounds!” when she’s surprised. We, as readers, almost expect her to say it, and that makes us feel like we know her.
Keep it conversational. Stephen King’s Joyland is a great example of this. An older man is telling a story from his youth. He interjects the story to say something that he’s learned since then. There are no $50 words or posh language. It’s simple. It’s real. It’s like we’re simply having a conversation.
Keep the mystery. It’s sometimes hard not to reveal too much, especially if we, the writers, outline our stories. That’s why I prefer an organic approach to writing. If I don’t even know what’s really going to happen, how would my readers? King writes about this in his book On Writing. We must write with mystery. Imagine a veil between us and the readers. We want to make sure that the veil isn’t lifted until a time (usually near the end) when they would say “What the…?”
Make every chapter a mini novel. After all, a novel is nothing except a series of short stories strung together to form an arc. Each, in my opinion, should have a intro, climax, and end. And when we end a chapter, it needs to have a hook — something that keeps the readers wanting to continue on. Leave them with something mysterious.
Great novels have it all — love, conflict, danger, growth, friendships, disappointments, everything! Our central focus may differ, but it’s important to keep a complexity about the world we invent. In real life, our readers deal with all of these things, and it’s important to let them know that they’re not alone. We all have complicated lives, even our characters.
The most important part of a novel is arguably the end. Why? Because we had better make it worth the ride. Our readers have stuck with us and our characters through thick and thin, and we had better reward them with something that’s going to have their wheels turning for days if not weeks. It’s our job to make it unforgettable. We want our readers, if asked ten years from now, about our book to say, “It was awesome! I was sad when I finished it. My favorite character was ___, and my favorite part was ___.” We want our stories to be immortal, not just in print, but in our readers’ hearts too.

I’m in the editing process of a novel right now, and I’ve been constantly thinking about how to incorporate each of these things into my book. Success isn’t about sales; it’s about creating a story that someone can’t get enough of. Of course, all of this is easier said than done. There’s a certain magic to writing that can’t be forced. Still, it’s useful to dissect what we think makes a great story.

What other things can you think of that makes your favorite novels unquenchable?

Fabled Collective