Hellooo, everybody!
Are you afraid your writing might be a wee bit boring?
A lot of writers this fear at some point. You already know what's gonna happen. You've read the story a thousand
times, and thus, it's coming across kinda boring to you. This is a pretty normal experience, but it
becomes tricky when you're not sure if the boredom translates to readers. Fear not because I am going
to give you my ten best tips for making your book exciting. When you hear excitement you think of
car chases or explosions. You think of a life or death stakes. But any novel can be exciting.
Romance novels where the stakes are heartbreak or true love can be exciting. Coming of age
stories where the stakes are self acceptance or insecurity can be exciting. And on the flip side,
any book no matter the level of danger, can be boring. I've read books filled with fight scenes
that put me to sleep. The key to writing exciting stories isn't blowing up buildings or decapitating
baddies, in fact, a lot of the greatest tools for building intrigue are things you
probably wouldn't expect at all. Tip number one is a piece of advice that is constantly overlooked,
but I’m personally fond of tips number four and ten.
Which tip is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below.
(The sound of a pen scratching. LOGO.)
Before we get started, friendly reminder. The Savior's Champion and The Savior's Sister are on sale right now for 50% off.
If you'd like dark fantasy with tons of swoon worthy romance and it's healthy romance, but it's
also forbidden romance. And you like bloodshed and excitement and craziness and magic. This is the
series for you! And best of all, you can get the first two books in the series right now for half
price. This sale is available on Amazon. It's available internationally, but it's only going
down for a short while longer, so get on it right now. It's linked below. Don't forget to subscribe
to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays and if you wanna be alerted as SOON as I upload,
ring that bell. And now I am breaking down my ten best tips for making your writing exciting and
thrilling and leaving your readers on the edge of their seats. This video was requested by one
of my patrons over on Patreon, Captain Ravioli. Like so many writers Captain Ravioli wanted to
make sure that their writing was exciting. That it didn't suffer from sagging middle syndrome or
leave their readers bored. I'm here to help. Plus, who doesn't love a good ravioli? I know I do.
Let's get into it. Number One (1): Emotional investment. This is probably the most vital step
in building excitement, but it's also the step that most writers overlook. The key
to making your book exciting is to get your readers invested in the characters.
It doesn't matter how dangerous your story is, if your readers don't care about the characters,
they're gonna be bored. Have you ever watched a movie filled with monsters and sword fights, but
you really didn't give a fuck if the hero lived or died? That's what I'm talking about. Readers
need to root for the character, whatever their obstacles or goals may be. They need to be worried
or anxious to see if they save the day or get the girl. The most obvious way to achieve this is to
make sure your characters are fully fleshed out three dimensional human beings. Create a character
profile. Figure out your character's strengths and weaknesses. Create layers of personality,
talents and challenges. If the character feels real to the reader, it'll be a whole lot easier
for them to get invested in the story, which will make the content way more exciting. Number
Two (2): Likeability versus relatability. As we already covered, emotional investment is vital
to making your work exciting. And when creating emotional investment, a lot of writers encourage
making your characters relatable. While I definitely encourage making your characters
relatable, I'd argue it's more important to make them likable, or at least a blend of the two. Note
I said likable, not perfect. In fact perfection is not likable, it's phony and unrealistic. A likable
character typically has an appropriate balance of positive and negative traits. They have strengths
the reader can root for, and weaknesses that are relatable, realistic and possibly even endearing.
Take Fezzik from The Princess Bride; he's loyal, honest and compassionate to those he loves,
which are very likable traits. On the negative side he's a criminal which adds some realism
to the mix, but he's also not the brightest crayon in the box, which is kinda sweet and
even charming. Now say you're writing a character who's supposed to be a villainous piece of shit,
but you want readers to like them. This is still very much doable. Typically the key
here is to give them an entertaining voice. A perspective that while evil has personality,
charisma, or a unique voice that is fascinating to the reader. Examples of this would be Alex from A
Clockwork Orange or Joe from You. Neither character is a good person by any means,
but the reader enjoys experiencing the story from their perspective. Number
Three (3): Disadvantages. If you want your story to be exciting, nine times out of ten the main
character needs to have some kind of disadvantage. This is particularly true for high stakes novels
involving action or adventure. Your MC should not be powerful, all knowing or immortal. They
need to be fallible in some way. This could be the fact that they've been out of the game for twenty
years and are deep in retirement. It could be that they're entering a life or death tournament with
zero fighting experience. The reason disadvantages are important is because it makes the stakes seem
that much greater. Usually in adventure novels, the hero beats the bad guy and saves the day. But
you still want readers wondering how they're gonna get there. If they're the strongest character
in the book, it's obvious how they're gonna get there. They're gonna throw around their strengths,
kill a bunch of baddies, and be done with it. Instead, a main character at a disadvantage
is going to have to work harder, smarter, and use creative tactics in order to save the day.
And that's exciting. Number Four (4): The roller coaster method. An exciting story is one that
takes the reader through a variety of emotions. You don’t want the reader to feel the same thing
for too long; it becomes tedious and predictable. For example, I once attempted to read a book
that was non-stop fight scenes. Chapter one was a fight scene, chapter two was another fight scene,
wanna guess what chapter three was? It was another fight scene. I know I'm surprised too.
That's when I put the book down because I was bored. You could only kill so many monsters
before it becomes repetitive. Instead utilize the roller coaster method. Think of each chapter as
the peaks and valleys of a roller coaster. At one point the readers are flying high,
the next point they're plunging super low. If the chapter opens with a fun happy scene,
end the chapter with something on the opposite end of the spectrum like fear or sadness. If the
chapter opens with a fast paced scene, end with something slower like romance. Whenever I outline
my chapters, I try to make sure that each chapter opens with a completely different emotion than how
it ends. This will keep your readers on the edge of their seats, it’ll add variety to your story,
and that in turn will create excitement too. Number Five (5): Get inside your body. If your
character is experiencing something exciting, whether that's a gunfight or romp in the hay,
they're gonna be going through all kinds of stuff all up in their body. Describe it shortness of
breath, heart racing, lungs heaving, thoughts swirling, dry throat, heart hammering, these are
all bodily responses typically associated with moments of panic, danger, arousal, and other
emotions that are often linked to excitement. Describing these feelings will allow the reader
to experience the moment through the character. You want the reader to feel transported,
like they're going through the motions alongside the MC. Taking a moment to describe these physical
sensations is a great way to create a visceral reaction. Number Six (6): Verbs. The quickest
way to boring your readers is using boring verbs. He went into the arena. She was in the dungeon.
These are all potentially exciting situations, but when you use these lackluster verbs, it completely
ruins the moment. Powerful verbs go a long way in creating atmosphere, painting a picture, and
transporting the reader. ‘He went into the arena’ could instead be written as ‘He trudged into the
arena.’ Right here we have a lot more context regarding his physical and emotional states and
all we did was change one word. ‘She was in the dungeon’ could instead be written as ‘She was
shackled in the dungeon.’ Again, that's one word and it's a totally different picture. Obviously,
both of these sentences could be significantly improved with description, but my point is, verbs
hold power. Make sure you're using strong verbs to create powerful imagery, and thus generate more
excitement. Number Seven (7): Subplots. We already talked a bit about how repetition in emotion can
make a story dull. The same goes for repetition in content, which is why subplots can help make
a story exciting. This may seem counterintuitive, because subplots don't usually reflect the most
exciting content of a story. They tend to focus on character relationships, which isn't as riveting
as say zombie attacks, but subplots give the reader something new to focus on. It gives a
new emotional reaction so they can take a break from the plot. Think of it as absence making
the heart grow fonder. If you give the readers a scene about the power of friendship, it gives them
a break from all the zombie killing. Thus the next massacre will feel a lot more fresh, unexpected,
and exciting. Remember a vital part of excitement is avoiding repetition, and subplots are a great
way to do that. Number Eight (8): Break their legs. One of the main culprits of a boring story
is sagging middle syndrome, which essentially means that the middle of your story is boring
and uneventful. The easiest way to avoid sagging middle syndrome is to break your character's legs,
not literally. Well, sometimes literally. Breaking your character's legs means throwing a wrench into
their journey. Every plot revolves around some type of conflict your protagonist is navigating,
or a goal they're wanting to achieve. And within the middle of the novel, they usually make some
positive progress. That's when you break the character's legs. Create an unexpected obstacle
the character wasn't anticipating. Bring in an evil ex-boyfriend, reveal that there are not one
but two bad guys, turn the best friend into a turncoat traitor. This will make the story
even more exciting. One because it's unexpected, and two because conflict is exciting and you are
creating more of it. Number Nine (9): The breaking point. The breaking point is the
scene before the climax when the main character breaks down. This is their lowest point in the
novel. Their worst fear is realized, usually in direct relation to their conflict or goal,
and they lose all hope. In a superhero story, this is the part when they decide they're just not cut
out for the job anymore. In a romance, this is usually the part where they have a big fight
or breakup. Whatever risk was hanging over the story comes to fruition and the protagonist says,
“Fuck this shit, I'm out!” This moment is important because you're taking the character to
rock bottom, and you're doing it right before the climax. That means the stakes for the climax are
as high as they possibly can be because not only are they about to tackle their conflict head on,
but they're doing it from rock bottom. And what does this create for readers? More excitement! The
more cumbersome the obstacle, the more rewarding the victory. The breaking point makes the obstacle
as difficult as it can possibly be, and that's exactly what you want. And Number Ten (10):
The almost fail. When your main character reaches the climax they need to almost fail.
I'm telling you, this is a must. Do it! If your leading lady is running to tell her girlfriend
she's in love with her, she needs to miss the train. If your hero is battling the final boss,
he needs to almost die. The reason for this is simple. It's not exciting if the victory comes
easily. If you reach the climax and the leading character saves the day without breaking a sweat,
your readers will feel cheated. They read this whole book only for everything to be solved so
easily, just like that? What the fuck! Kick them while they're down. Get them this close to losing
it all. Then you can write them wrangling the last of their strength and pushing forward to
save the day, and it will be so, so exciting and so, so satisfying to your readers. So that's all
I got for you today. Thank you so much to Captain Ravioli for requesting this topic. If you'd like
the chance to have a video dedicated to you, or if you want access to tons of other rewards check me
out on Patreon. You get early access to my videos. There's an exclusive writing group, there's
monthly live stream, and there’s signed books. I have it linked below. Definitely check it out.
The Savior’s Champion and The Savior’s Sister are on sale for 50% off right now! But this is only
available for a limited time, like a super limited time, like the sale is gonna end in a couple days.
So get on it, get on this sale while you can. You're gonna get some super exciting dark fantasy
romance out of it. And it's a sale for two books. I mean, that's awesome. It's linked below. Check
it out. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays, and if you wanna
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