It's All About Getting The Reader Asking Questions

it’s all about getting the reader asking questions.

Fire their imagination. Give them two plus two and let them figure it out. Lure them in while getting their mind racing. They will not be able to stop reading.

What does it mean “it’s about getting the reader asking questions?” How do questions help sell a novel? And where would you place these questions?

In this blog, we will be looking at how it’s all about getting the reader asking questions…

IT’S ALL ABOUT GETTING THE READER ASKING QUESTIONS

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Here’s the answer: it’s all about the beginning. You need to entice the reader with your first few lines to feel compelled to ask questions. The sooner the better. Who, what, where, when, how, and the big one why. The more they ask, the more they will have to read to find out

So you want to write a novel and want the reader to never stop turning the pages. You want your novel to be a page-turner from start to finish. How do you go about it? It’s all about getting the reader asking questions. The quicker the better. Don’t wait for the middle of the story for the reader to start wondering, get them asking on the first line of your story.

As a writer remember the golden rule. The blurb on the back of the book must raise major questions. Get the potential reader’s imagination racing. Make us have to buy your book. Don’t wait until page 100 to fire the reader’s imagination start on line one.

STIR THEIR IMAGINATION

You want to stir the reader’s imagination as soon as possible, pull them into a mystery. With just a few words you want them wondering where the story is going. You want them asking “what is this all about?”

Connecting emotions and questions is a sure-fire way that leads to success. If your reader isn’t feeling anything or asking anything they will stop reading. To them, it’s like reading numbers in a phone book.

THE ONE THAT GOT YOU ASKING QUESTIONS

Chances are when you have been inside a bookstore the novel that peaked your interests are the ones that got you asking questions. Like everyone else you walk past a book and flip through the pages and read the back cover, wanting an idea of what the story is about. But more often than not you close the book put it down and walk away. But every so often there’s a book you buy. Why?

If you look at that particular book it did something amazing, it grabbed your attention right away. Something about it got your mind racing. You probably had a million questions run through your mind after the first few lines. The writer did a great job at getting your mind asking questions.

YOU COULDN’T WALK AWAY

You couldn’t walk away, you had to know. Needing answers. It’s a funny thing about humans, we need to have answers. Once our imagination has been triggered we want to know. If we ask questions we have to have answers. As a writer, you can use this to your advantage. Get the reader asking questions when reading your book right away, pull them in.

But don’t let the questions stop at the beginning, keep them going throughout the book. Once you answered one question hit the reader with another. Dan Brown says he loves putting questions into the reader’s mind. Some questions are minor, some are major. Keep in mind he does answer them (as he says, don’t raise a question and never answer it, not a good idea, it upsets the reader) but right after answering one question, he’ll raise another.

YOU CAN APPLY IT TO ANY GENRE

It doesn’t apply to thrillers only. You can write a drama like “Gone with the Wind” and have readers asking questions right away. They want to know why “Scarlett cares so much about Ashley”. “Who is he. and what will she do to win him over?”

As soon as possible you want the reader wondering, “What’s happening here?” “What’s going on?” “How is the protagonist going to get out of the mess”. “Will the antagonist win? What will happen next? You want them wondering why the antagonist is so evil? What drives the protagonist? Why don’t they just walk away?

IT IS A TRICKY THING TO DO

If the reader isn’t “feeling” or “questioning” anything they might very well close the book and move on.

However, any author will tell you it’s tricky getting the reader asking such questions until they’re a few chapters in and gotten to know the antagonist and protagonist. But how can you get the reader asking questions right away.

DO NOT WASTE A OPENING LINE

This is where you need to pull them in with the opening line. When reading a book it’s all about getting the reader to ask questions as fast you can. Get them asking questions right away and they’ll want to read the entire book.

You do not want to waste the first opening line. You want the reader asking who, what, where, why right away. Use the opening line to fire their imagination.

YOU HAD TO KNOW “WHY”

When Charles Dickens wrote, “it was the best of times it was the worsts of times” you couldn’t help but read it over and “wonder.” The opening line pulls you in. It’s not a wasted line. It’s something people say today in modern life. You want to read on. In Charles Dickens‘s “Oliver Twist” he made you wander about Oliver and how he’ll get through life. You had to read on. You couldn’t stop reading till you found out.

If you’re watching a crime show about a murder mystery you want to know how it ends. You cannot turn off your TV until you know the answer, but we also want to know “why”. Get readers asking “why” and they will read until the end to find out.

OUR CURIOSITY HAS BEEN TRIGGERED

Imagine reading a book with an opening line like “Come with me into my basement, I have something to show you. you will like it.” Even with an opening like this we can’t help but ask questions. We want to know “why” What is down there? Why does this person want to take you into their basement so quickly?” We are not told what’s in the basement, but we want to know. We want to follow. Our curiosity is pulling us in. An opening is like this, will cause the reader to read more.

Imagine someone telling you a joke starting off as “a priest and rabbi walk into a bar and a nun is standing behind the counter.” Right away we can’t help but ask why are a priest and rabbi walking into a place that severs alcohol? But we are also asking why is there a nun behind a bar?” We have to know more. We want the joke teller to continue.

IT’S A QUESTION WE CANNOT WALK AWAY FROM

If the joke was, “two men walk into a bar and talk to the bartender” we might lose interest. But by creating the twist of a priest and rabbi we can’t help but be pulled in. We cannot walk away without having questions answered.

The funny thing about people is we need answers we cannot walk away from something without knowing why. The more you get the reader asking questions the more they have to read your work. They cannot walk away from your novel. If you fail to get people asking anything they’ll give up on your book. Great writers know how to create questions in readers’ minds regardless of the book’s genre.

YOU WANT TO ASK THE BIG QUESTION

As a writer, you want to have “the big question.” The one that runs throughout your book that will be answered at the end. A question that the reader has to know the answer to. Something they can’t walk away from. Like a murder mystery in Sherlock Holmes. The reader has to know who is the “bad guy.”

However, you don’t want a 500-page book relying on one question. You should put smaller questions in the sub-plot. Get the reader wanting to turn the page to find out something, but also want them to get to the end to answer the bigger overall question.

GIVE THEM TWO PLUS TWO AND WAIT

Look at the movie “The Exorcist“. In the first 10 minutes of the movie, The atmosphere was weird. The clock stopping for no reason. Everything about the first part makes you ask a million questions. No answers are given right away. This is what a great book will do, they show you something without answers, making you wonder. Leaving you wanting to know. Your mind has been triggered. As a writer, makes sure your book gets the reader asking questions right away.

Don’t give the reader two plus two and give them four right away. The reader will feel disappointed if you do. Let them try to figure it out. Readers love trying to solve a puzzle. If you give your reader two plus two, hold off on giving them four. Let their imagination run with it for a while, then hit them with the answer. Let the reader see if they were right. The longer you make them wait, the better the page-turner you have.