How to Keep Your Book From Being Boring
Stories should be many things.
They should be creative. They should provoke thought, inspire beautiful actions, create a bond between the reader, writer, and characters.
And they should always, always be entertaining.
And yet we've all read books that are either flat-out snooze fests or have paragraphs that are not interesting enough to deserve more than a quick skim.
I'm tired of it, people. Tired. If I wanted to be bored I'd go watch a documentary about how to watch paint dry.
Can we all just decide to stop writing boring books or paragraphs? Yes? Okay, then. Thank you.
What? Why are you still here? Don't you know how to not be boring? Fiiine. Here are some ways to keep your book from putting people to sleep:
Ask: Is this boring? No, seriously. Every time you sit down to write a scene, ask: Is this boring? Every. Time. Get in the habit of constantly checking for boring scenes. Not sure if it's boring? Ask yourself this: Will I be bored writing this scene? If you are dreading writing a scene because nothing interesting happens, that is a bad sign. How do you expect your readers to be invested if you aren't? Would I care if I was reading this? Try to put yourself in your readers shoes. If you had to read this section, would you be fascinated? Mildly interested? Bored? Bored and annoyed in a way that would rival even Alexander Dane's constant emotional state?
If it's any of those last three options, you have work to do. Now that you've established that this section is likely boring, how do you avert the disaster?
1. Ask: Is it necessary? What would happen if I cut it out? Why are you writing this section? Does it have key information? A pivotal piece of character development? If not: Don't write it. Nothing in your books should be there without purpose. If the scene does have some key point to it, try these:
2. Change the information flow. If there's something pivotal (character development, world building information, foreshadowing, etc) that needs to take place, try spacing it out. Does it really need to happen all in one, boring scene? Can you sprinkle the information throughout other less-boring scenes? Hint: The answer is yes.
3. Keep things moving. Literally. Are your characters sitting down? Have them walking. Running. Fighting dragons. Gardening. Washing laundry. Anything that gets them up and about and doing something other than just behaving as a vehicle for whatever information you're trying to convey. Think about how this scene would be done in a movie (like, a good one...not one of those terrible 80s movies with the weird pacing). Mimic that.
4. Be intentional with the words you use. Language is key. Use interesting words. Vary your sentences (short sentences can often be more eye-catching than longer ones) and paragraphs (don't have any of them too long, but don't feel the need to keep them all the same size). Don't be afraid to get a little bit artistic with your sentences and paragraphs. If your writing style is good, it will help keep the story up and running. No, you shouldn't rely solely on this to keep your book from being boring, but it is helpful when combined with the above (and below) tips.
5. Don't be afraid to jump over details or scenes. So, maybe your character needs to get from A to B. Does it matter how they get there? No? Then skip the travel sequence. Your character is undergoing training? Do you need to show the actual training lessons? No? Splice information together into a montage and only show the key lesson(s). Go watch the Rocky movie for examples of this. It may feel brutal to jump over parts of the story, but you'll be proud of yourself in the end.
Gotta love this scene. And the movie in general.6. Remember that you're not Tolkien. You know who can describe a blade of grass for two pages and still sell books? Tolkien. You know who can't? You. So stop with the insane amounts of description. If it's not relevant, don't talk about it. If you're trying to describe the setting because it helps set the mood or explain context, describe details as you go. Or in a very, very short paragraph. Actually, just read this post.
7. Take notes on entertainment that is well-paced. Most good movies/TV shows have no boring scenes. Think Jason Bourne, The Thin Man, Stranger Things, Murder on the Orient Express (yes, I'm talking about the new one) The Winter Soldier, I Love Lucy, The Dark Knight. Comic books and manga are also notoriously good at avoiding the Boring Zone (click here for a list of good ones). Many of the Harry Potter books are thoroughly entertaining. Watch/read some of these and notice: How often do they omit scenes? How do they convey information? In scenes that could have been boring, how do they keep you invested? Take notes and apply them to your writing.
Do you have any tips to add? Please leave them below! Why/when do you think you struggle with keeping your writing from being boring? Let's chat.
Related articles:
8 Tips to Improve Your Descriptive Writing
Why Not All Prologues Are Evil (And How to Write A Good One)
Using Context and Subtext to Raise the Stakes in Your Story - A Guest Post by Malcolm Tolman
Enjoy this post? Take a look around. If you like what you see, please don't forget to subscribe by email for a new post every Friday!
Some links are Amazon affiliate. Thank you for your support!
They should be creative. They should provoke thought, inspire beautiful actions, create a bond between the reader, writer, and characters.
And they should always, always be entertaining.
And yet we've all read books that are either flat-out snooze fests or have paragraphs that are not interesting enough to deserve more than a quick skim.
I'm tired of it, people. Tired. If I wanted to be bored I'd go watch a documentary about how to watch paint dry.
Can we all just decide to stop writing boring books or paragraphs? Yes? Okay, then. Thank you.
What? Why are you still here? Don't you know how to not be boring? Fiiine. Here are some ways to keep your book from putting people to sleep:
Ask: Is this boring? No, seriously. Every time you sit down to write a scene, ask: Is this boring? Every. Time. Get in the habit of constantly checking for boring scenes. Not sure if it's boring? Ask yourself this: Will I be bored writing this scene? If you are dreading writing a scene because nothing interesting happens, that is a bad sign. How do you expect your readers to be invested if you aren't? Would I care if I was reading this? Try to put yourself in your readers shoes. If you had to read this section, would you be fascinated? Mildly interested? Bored? Bored and annoyed in a way that would rival even Alexander Dane's constant emotional state?
If it's any of those last three options, you have work to do. Now that you've established that this section is likely boring, how do you avert the disaster? 1. Ask: Is it necessary? What would happen if I cut it out? Why are you writing this section? Does it have key information? A pivotal piece of character development? If not: Don't write it. Nothing in your books should be there without purpose. If the scene does have some key point to it, try these:
2. Change the information flow. If there's something pivotal (character development, world building information, foreshadowing, etc) that needs to take place, try spacing it out. Does it really need to happen all in one, boring scene? Can you sprinkle the information throughout other less-boring scenes? Hint: The answer is yes.
3. Keep things moving. Literally. Are your characters sitting down? Have them walking. Running. Fighting dragons. Gardening. Washing laundry. Anything that gets them up and about and doing something other than just behaving as a vehicle for whatever information you're trying to convey. Think about how this scene would be done in a movie (like, a good one...not one of those terrible 80s movies with the weird pacing). Mimic that.
4. Be intentional with the words you use. Language is key. Use interesting words. Vary your sentences (short sentences can often be more eye-catching than longer ones) and paragraphs (don't have any of them too long, but don't feel the need to keep them all the same size). Don't be afraid to get a little bit artistic with your sentences and paragraphs. If your writing style is good, it will help keep the story up and running. No, you shouldn't rely solely on this to keep your book from being boring, but it is helpful when combined with the above (and below) tips.
5. Don't be afraid to jump over details or scenes. So, maybe your character needs to get from A to B. Does it matter how they get there? No? Then skip the travel sequence. Your character is undergoing training? Do you need to show the actual training lessons? No? Splice information together into a montage and only show the key lesson(s). Go watch the Rocky movie for examples of this. It may feel brutal to jump over parts of the story, but you'll be proud of yourself in the end.
Gotta love this scene. And the movie in general.6. Remember that you're not Tolkien. You know who can describe a blade of grass for two pages and still sell books? Tolkien. You know who can't? You. So stop with the insane amounts of description. If it's not relevant, don't talk about it. If you're trying to describe the setting because it helps set the mood or explain context, describe details as you go. Or in a very, very short paragraph. Actually, just read this post. 7. Take notes on entertainment that is well-paced. Most good movies/TV shows have no boring scenes. Think Jason Bourne, The Thin Man, Stranger Things, Murder on the Orient Express (yes, I'm talking about the new one) The Winter Soldier, I Love Lucy, The Dark Knight. Comic books and manga are also notoriously good at avoiding the Boring Zone (click here for a list of good ones). Many of the Harry Potter books are thoroughly entertaining. Watch/read some of these and notice: How often do they omit scenes? How do they convey information? In scenes that could have been boring, how do they keep you invested? Take notes and apply them to your writing.
Do you have any tips to add? Please leave them below! Why/when do you think you struggle with keeping your writing from being boring? Let's chat.
Related articles:
8 Tips to Improve Your Descriptive Writing
Why Not All Prologues Are Evil (And How to Write A Good One)
Using Context and Subtext to Raise the Stakes in Your Story - A Guest Post by Malcolm Tolman
Enjoy this post? Take a look around. If you like what you see, please don't forget to subscribe by email for a new post every Friday!
Some links are Amazon affiliate. Thank you for your support!
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