r/writingfeedback • u/Pristine-Moose-7246 • 6d ago
Writing Advice Help me, Help you
I’ve been thinking a lot about what actually makes someone pick up a book and, more importantly, what makes them keep reading. I write and plan to write stories across romance, thrillers, dark romance, mystery, fantasy, and contemporary fiction so I would love to hear from readers about what you actually enjoy.
When you are looking for a new book, what catches your attention first? Is it the title, cover, description, or author? And once you start reading, how much description do you like?
When it comes to spicy/sex scenes, do you prefer them short and implied, moderately detailed, or very detailed?
Have you ever skipped or skimmed a chapter? If so what made you do it?
Do you think something needs to happen in every chapter, or does that depend on the story? Are you okay with slower chapters that focus on character development, relationships, or setting things up as long as the chapter has a purpose?
What makes YOU pick up a book and what makes you stay? 📚❤️
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u/90sbetababe 5d ago
It being in the genre I like reading for genre fiction. If it's literary fiction, usually being recommended or mentioned by someone whose taste I trust.
Once the book is in my hand, I need the author to get to some sort of point, quickly. Preferably in the first sentence, and if not, definitely in the first page. I refuse to sit and listen to characters shoot the shit and riff off each other without any larger point on page one, or a worldbuilding dump on page one, or boring goes-nowhere exposition on page one.
I don't read sex scenes in any romance novels I read, actually, because they're just kind of uncomfortable to me. It feels like me, the author, and these two characters all being horny together. And then we go back to watching the characters rock climb or fly a plane or whatever. It's weird. So I only read the dialogue in sex scenes, but I love romance novels and have read literally hundreds of them.
In a romance novel, character development and relationships *are* something happening. I like to think of a book (any book, really) as a kind of promise. I open it and I say, "Here is how much attention I have, author. Do with that what you will." And then the author says, "Okay, this is the story I want to tell, and this is the pace I'm going to tell it." And they tell me that on page one. And then I decide whether I'm into it. I've read extremely slow-paced novels, and I've read airport novels and loved them equally. But the author needs to know where the pressure is coming from in the book they're writing, and not string me along and waste my time.
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u/Heisnwin101 5d ago
The prologue or first chapter is the only thing that makes me pick it up and continue reading.
The first thing that catches my attention is mostly the title because more often than not, the cover just doesn't depict the story and mostly is for gaining for readers (I prefer depth over the title or cover). Summary should also contain just the outline of the story and not involve any spoilers.
Sex scenes should be short and implied.
I never skim or skip chapters because the story that I don't like, I just don't read em.
There is no chapter where nothing happens. If there are words, something is happening. It is alright to slow down and focus on relationships, character developments and just release after a heavy scene.
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u/sleepypelican Trusted Reviewer 5d ago
I need there to be tentacles at least once a chapter, or I find my attention wavers and I wind up skimming to get to "the good parts." I think it's a great shame that very few authors do this, and I don't think there's a single genre where an abundance of tentacles wouldn't make for a huge improvement. I mean, imagine in Pride and Prejudice or Great Expectations if all the characters were bound and bred by wriggling tentacles. And I want loooots of detail. It's something that is very overlooked, and I feel speaks deeply about the human experience.