A Writer’s Gold: Creating Curiosity

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

A writing client inspired this post for readers and writers. My client and I were editing his story together. A chapter ended, and so did our time, but he’d successfully created a curiosity in me, and I couldn’t stop reading. I had to know what happened next!

His response still makes me laugh. “Your enthusiasm for the story gives me the motivation to keep going. The curiosity is gold, just pure gold.”

I studied the areas in his story where he’d spun gold and found eight ways he’d created curiosity for me to stay engaged and turning pages.

1. The writer fashioned unique characters who possessed different dreams, goals, challenges, victories, and motivations for the story.
2. The writer selected names that were easy to say, spell, and didn’t sound like the other characters. I didn’t get confused.
3. The writer showed the emotions of key characters to deepen stress, tension, and conflict.
4. The writer developed a story world setting that took on the role of an antagonist.
5. The writer wove a plot filled with opposing goals, rising danger, unpredictability, and a high likelihood of the hero failing.
6. The writer used dialogue like a battlefield to stir up more conflict.
7. The writer’s distinct voice is clear throughout.
8. The writer understood the value of keeping the narrative short.

Writers work hard to draw a reader into their stories. What about you? How does a writer enhance your curiosity as a reader?