What Keeps You Reading?

[Octavian]

originally posted by pop_54

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.

I like that!

Can I give my five penn'orth about POV?

'First Person' is probably the easiest POV for beginners and thus there are bound to be many unprepossessing stories written from this viewpoint.

But it does not follow that all 'First Person' stories are written by novices. Weird Harold is right

Octavian

 

[jfinn]

I keep reading when I'm suddenly halfway down the page and eagerly wondering what I'll find at the bottom. If however, I'm at that point and thinking, How much longer do I have until I'm finished with this? Then I usually figure the answer is Now and hit the back button.

I agree that first sentences are important as are first paragraphs and first chapters if it's a longer piece. But I don't make a judgement based on the first two. Maybe that's because I'm not the world's best first sentence/paragraph writer. God knows I try, but usually all I can do is avoid embarrasing myself and hope that's enough to keep someone reading. So it follows that I'll give some slack in that department.

There's some comments I'd like to make about the discussion here about first person POV, but they're pretty long so I'll start a new thread instead of hijacking this one.

Jayne

 

[Quasimodem]

“Laura” the novel by Vera Caspary, from which Otto Premminger’s film noir was derived, was written in four sections, each in the First Person, from the four main protagonists’ points of view.

John Fowles “The Collector” was written about a man who captures a woman and imprisons her (at first ) in light bondage. The novel commences in First Person from the man’s POV, then the concluding section is in First Person from the woman’s POV. Taken together, they produce an entire story which is so much more than the sum of its parts, primarily because the two POVs have been kept segregated.


As for what keeps me reading: a good opening hook works best. An intriguing snippet of dialogue, or an arresting description is also effective.

Alternately, poor writing, a cliched situation, bad grammar outside the quotation marks, or a plethora of typos is a turn-off for me.

 

[gauchecritic]

Are you the same Quasimodem that (used to) hang(s) out in Yahoo Triv?

Gauche

 

[Quasimodem]

Are you the same Quasimodem that (used to) hang(s) out in Yahoo Triv?

Gauche

Nope!

I was Pyed_Typer there.

I also ran a small Group for re-captioning photos found on the internet, under the nom, Virtual_Burlesque.

I became Quasimodem when I logged in here.

The last time I was in Yahoo Triv, there was a Quasimodem there also - nearly a year ago - but the room was to chaotic to ask where it got the nom.

 

[gauchecritic]

Big ears.

Gauche

 

[Reshbod]

Different things depending on the type of story and the mood I am in at the time. Usually I prefer to get to "know the characters" first. Also, if the story does not immediately jump into tired cliches. ie breasts the size of VW Beetles, 12 foot cocks, innocent white women and animalistic angry black men who only want to "deflower said white women. etc.

I also like stories that build up to the big sex scene rather than just hop in the sack. Good characterization, realistic dialogue believable situations. I also like them to be a little different, perhaps have characters that are not completely likeable with endings that are not really happy or bittersweet.

 

[BlackSnake]

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

Action, and more action from the very beginning. I like it when the story begins right in the middle of sometime happying.

When the story begins with a description of the characters, I never make it throught the paragraph. The titles use to be enough for me to read to see if the characters are going to what the title sugguests.

 

[Chicklet]

Re: Re: What Keeps You Reading?

Action, and more action from the very beginning. I like it when the story begins right in the middle of sometime happying.

sexual action, or just any action? for me, I don't like opening up a story and instantly reading sex...of course there are exceptions.

 

[BlackSnake]

Re: Re: Re: What Keeps You Reading?

sexual action, or just any action? for me, I don't like opening up a story and instantly reading sex...of course there are exceptions.

Being the story with full on sex will get the story going in a hurry.