8 things you need to know to write a gripping scene (and keep your reader hooked)

Ground your reader in space and time.

Imagine the reader as this ghostly presence hovering over your story, about to drift away….if you don't grab him and ground him deeply in your storyworld. 

The reader needs to know where he is and whose head he is in.   If you're telling a story in first-person, it's easy to turn too inward and rattle on about what that character is thinking and feeling.  While a character's inner life is important, remember that his outer life is even more so.  Ground t...