How To Capture A Reader From Page One

One way is to focus on gaining the reader’s emotional investment in your characters right from the start. I think in terms of taking the bling out of the story.  As in remove the guns, murders, stalkers or mayhem and imagine your hero/heroine having a cup of coffee in a regular old kitchen three weeks after the carefully constructed jeopardy has been removed.  Would your characters be interesting to listen to without the bling to shine them up?  I’m inclined to think, if the answer is no – then there was no emotional connection between the reader and your characters to begin with because bling or no bling your reader should care about them.
To me external conflict and/or revelations do work to draw a reader into being invested in the story on some level. But not a deep level. I mean, if I’m only paying attention to what is happening to these people because there’s gunfire and a bad guy around every corner – the characters are replaceable and could be anybody.  And as a reader that’s invested the time to get to know them?  I want those characters to be better than just anyone.  I want them to be people I care about and would listen to even if they’re only having a coffee together.
So remove the guns, the bad guy and the bling. Strip your characters down to being the people they are and make them interesting before you fancy them up.
Riley