Suzy Davies's Blog: Book News - Posts Tagged "unputdownable"
What Makes a Book Unputdownable by Suzy Davies.
An unputdownable book tends to have everything working together - plot, characters, authorial voice, scene setting, point of view and pace.
What makes the reader turn the page is the “gap” in their knowledge about what will happen further on in the book. Good characterization will always keep readers interested; they care about the characters and want to know what will become of them.
Perhaps the most essential element after good characterization is pace. How a scene or a chapter ends will influence whether the reader stays up all night to complete the next chapter and satisfy their curiosity. Writers reward their readers along the journey, and as one question is “answered” another question presents itself until the end of the book. Of course, an ending may be ambiguous so that the reader is challenged to work out the meaning for themselves.
Young Adult and Adult genres have layers of meaning below the level of the text, and part of the enjoyment of reading these genres is the fact that a relatively simple read on the surface may be deceptive. Each time the reader reads the book again they discover something new. The feeling that we have discovered something for ourselves is a feeling of being rewarded. These kinds of books grip the reader because the themes, sometimes depicted at a metaphorical level, speak universal truths which are timeless. Thus “your book” and “your story” becomes “my story.” In this sense, a book is unputdownable since readers want to read this story that is relevant to their lives and speaks to them again and again.
When readers talk about paperback books, they talk about them after they have read them. Clearly, a book that is unputdownable is memorable, and this means that in a sense, books act as time-markers for times in our lives when we enjoyed them. We talk about unputdownable books, (objects,) when they are alive for us!
Children’s books that are unputdownable have iconic characters we love forever, and we revisit them to recapture those feelings of love, warmth, excitement, and nostalgia, again and again. They appeal to our emotions at a deep level.
There is a certain kind of writer who can mesmerize a reader with their stunning use of language. It is hypnotic and addictive. The way in which language is used is the writer’s signature and the style is unmistakably them. These writers have a magic about them that makes you want to read every single book they have ever written.
Copyright Suzy Davies, 2018. All Rights Reserved.
What makes the reader turn the page is the “gap” in their knowledge about what will happen further on in the book. Good characterization will always keep readers interested; they care about the characters and want to know what will become of them.
Perhaps the most essential element after good characterization is pace. How a scene or a chapter ends will influence whether the reader stays up all night to complete the next chapter and satisfy their curiosity. Writers reward their readers along the journey, and as one question is “answered” another question presents itself until the end of the book. Of course, an ending may be ambiguous so that the reader is challenged to work out the meaning for themselves.
Young Adult and Adult genres have layers of meaning below the level of the text, and part of the enjoyment of reading these genres is the fact that a relatively simple read on the surface may be deceptive. Each time the reader reads the book again they discover something new. The feeling that we have discovered something for ourselves is a feeling of being rewarded. These kinds of books grip the reader because the themes, sometimes depicted at a metaphorical level, speak universal truths which are timeless. Thus “your book” and “your story” becomes “my story.” In this sense, a book is unputdownable since readers want to read this story that is relevant to their lives and speaks to them again and again.
When readers talk about paperback books, they talk about them after they have read them. Clearly, a book that is unputdownable is memorable, and this means that in a sense, books act as time-markers for times in our lives when we enjoyed them. We talk about unputdownable books, (objects,) when they are alive for us!
Children’s books that are unputdownable have iconic characters we love forever, and we revisit them to recapture those feelings of love, warmth, excitement, and nostalgia, again and again. They appeal to our emotions at a deep level.
There is a certain kind of writer who can mesmerize a reader with their stunning use of language. It is hypnotic and addictive. The way in which language is used is the writer’s signature and the style is unmistakably them. These writers have a magic about them that makes you want to read every single book they have ever written.
Copyright Suzy Davies, 2018. All Rights Reserved.
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