As A Reader...

The following is a repost. Enjoy!
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I’m writing this post as a reader and a writer, but more as a reader. So this will not be a how-to. Consider this more of a rant… a rant from a reader/writer. It will not be a post on how you should write. So, as a reader, let me begin my rant…

I’m tired of books trying to “hook me” in the first few paragraphs. As a writer, I hear this all the time from agent blogs and websites. "You must hook me in." 

First of all, I'm not a fish. I don't need to be "hooked in." I don't spend my time in bookstores reading the first page to see if I'm "hooked."

In my opinion, this idea comes from agents who don't have enough time to read every book. So if the first paragraph doesn't "grab them," then they don't want it. 

As an adult, however, I don’t have an attention span of a gnat.

If I am to trust you as an author, trust me as a reader.

I’m fine if something huge doesn’t happen in the first few pages. In fact, I prefer it. I have a bit of patience while a reading a book. Maybe that’s from having four children, who knows!

Either way, just tell me a story and I’ll stick with you through it. Don’t give me cheap action, thinking that I won’t be able to put it down. That, in itself, may make me want to put it down.

If I am to trust you as an author, trust me as a reader.

Now, I feel this is a more modern development, and there are those who may disagree with me (on both accounts). That’s fine.

With the advent of movies, books have had to become “tighter.” (Again, I’m not saying I agree that this should be so or not. It’s just my own thought). It was another form of entertainment with which books had to compete. Now, I think books are becoming more like television series. The first few pages have to have a teaser of sorts so the reader won’t “change the channel" or put down the book.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a story to dive right into the action. I want to build to it. I don’t want to buy a $15.00 book (or more) to read only 100 pages. Give me a novel. I want to get lost in the story, and that’s hard to do in some of the more recent books.

Now, regardless of what these websites say, I don’t read a book because of the first page. Nor do I put it down because it didn’t “draw me in.” If the story is a story I want to read, I will read it regardless. 

After all, I am an adult (not to mention that I have an OCD tendency to finish things.)

Well, that's my rant and I'm sticking to it.