Don't Bore Your Reader!

We all know that keeping the reader engaged and glued to the pages of your book is the objective of writing a popular book. A book that sells and makes money, that is. But even if your goal is to write a book that informs, and your aim isn’t necessarily to entertain, you really should not write a boring book. It is the most heinous crime an author can commit. But how can you ensure that you don’t bore your reader?

Boring Explanations

You know those days when you sit down at your keyboard to write and know you have to explain something in the book that, to put it frankly, bores you? It could be a little bit of a backstory or scene that you have to write first in order to get to the exciting scene? A bit of narrative that is needed to explain why your character says or does something – or is upset, happy, surprised?

Or in your nonfiction title, you’ve come to the bit that is difficult to write without lengthy, boring explanations?

Difficult Explanations

In a nonfiction book, it’s difficult to get around definitions, examples, and information that can seem dull to even you, the expert, writing the book.

Series of Books

In fiction books, having to write necessary explanations occur most often to authors of series of books. In all subsequent books after the first title in the series, you know you have to tell a new reader (or remind someone who is already familiar with your books) what happened in the previous novels in the series. Rewriting an old scene, or summarising a character's previous escapades, is, at least for me, dull, dull, dull. It's a total pulling- your-hair-out moment.

Is Boring Narrative Unavoidable?

As a writer, you know you have to tell a story, and sometimes in the telling, there have to be moments when it's a bit boring or does there? No, there doesn't, and what's more, there never should be any boring passages in your book. As an author, you need to – always – be excited by your own writing. I repeat, always. Because, if you are bored, how do you think your reader feels?

The same applies to nonfiction books. You are much more restricted in the chronology of your book, but at the same time, you must make sure each sentence, paragraph, and chapter are exciting. Insert examples from your own life, or your experiences, to make the reader identify with the problem. Or you can insert humor, if suitable, or images. Or you can cut down the sentences and paragraphs to make the explanations more palatable.

Write Only Exciting Scenes

I cannot tell you how many times during the writing of The Nordic Heart Romance Series I was in a situation where looking at my screen, I took a deep breath. I knew I had to explain what had happened to Kaisa and Peter in the previous books. I'd sit there and think, 'This is boring, boring, boring.' Until I thought, 'What if I think it’s boring, what will be reader make of the paragraph?' I was horrified to realize that, of course, if I found the writing dull, the reader would find it doubly, triply, even ten-fold as boring as I did.

I came to the conclusion that in order to make the series exciting, I needed to be excited while writing each book. So I made a rule for myself: If a scene bores me, I skip it. I just go to the one that is exciting, the one I'm looking forward to writing, and forget about the boring scene. This way, I can move the story on, and keep my own interest in the novel alive.

Backstory will come naturally

If you keep to this rule of writing only what excites you, you'll find that the boring parts, the character's backstory, or the previous plot points in a series, will naturally emerge in your writing. (And no longer be boring!) Or you can add a sentence here or there in the editing process if you feel that the reader doesn't have enough information.

Not All Readers Are Equal

Having said all that, don't forget, another reader's boring is another reader's exciting, and vice versa. Not all readers will love your book, so while you're writing the first drafts, remember the only arbitrator of what a good story consists of is you.  Be the master of your own work and your readers will love your writing.

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