Hooks are how the story grabs the reader’s attention and keeps it page after page. Entertaining and surprising them, forming an emotional connection between them, the story, and its characters.
Common Writing Problems
How Infodumping Can Kill Your Novel
Infodumping is the number one cause of readers skimming a story. It causes the story to drone on and on, explaining everything and leaving nothing to the imagination. It tells the readers things they already know, either from the story or common knowledge. And bores the readers by repeating information and not allowing them to connect to the story or the characters.
How Much Backstory is Too Much?
Too much backstory can bring a story’s pace to a standstill, bogging it down in insignificant details of a character’s past, world-building elements, or history of the current conflict. It supplies information outside the scope of the story the reader does not need to know and often leaves little to the imagination. It steals all secrets and surprises, leaving the reader to drown in boredom because they already know everything ahead of time. But that doesn’t mean all backstory is bad.
How Do We Know When to Show vs Tell?
A well-told story is a combination of showing and telling. As readers, we want to experience the story through the main character’s eyes, but we don’t want to get bogged down in details we don’t care about. After all, it’s much easier to skim through to find the more interesting bits. But we also don’t want to be told why something is happening. We want to see it happen. Showing and telling both have their place in a story. So, how do we know which to use?
Does Your Writer’s Block Have You Stuck?
Almost everyone gets writer's block. Whether it is finding the right words, fleshing out a scene, or knowing what to write next. It's simply part of the process, and we all face it at some point. Stressing over it can make it even harder to get past. So, why let it bother you?
Renea Guenther 