That honeymoon with the readers lasts about three paragraphs with a short story, two pages or so with a novel. Within that time you need to give the reader some reason to read on. You need to answer the three challenging questions that all readers unconsciously ask throughout every story they read. When each question is adequately answered, readers go on with the story. When a question isn’t answered well enough, doubts begin to rise to the surface. Question 1: So What? Why should I care about what’s going on in this story? Why is this important? Why shouldn’t I go downstairs and watch TV?
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