5 Ways to Engage Readers and Keep Them Turning Pages

Last week I talked about the necessary pivot memoirists need to make so that readers are engaged with their book. To summarize that post, we need to remember that when the final version of a memoir goes out, paradoxically, the book is not entirely about you, the author. It’s also about the reader. (Read the full post here.) 

Following on from that premise, here are five ways to make this pivot and ensure that your memoir is engaging and keeps the readers interested in your story. I’ve added a bonus tip at the end of the post – don’t miss that one! It’s my favourite.

1. Make sure the book has the beats of a fictional story, i.e., a beginning, middle, climax, end etc.

Sometimes memoirists forget that a memoir is a story, first and foremost. I see too many memoirs that are basically a list of events. “This happened and then that happened and then this other thing happened.”

Stories, in any form, need to be structured in a way that the reader can not only follow and understand but also in a way that’s familiar. Story structure is embedded into our DNA. As authors, we ignore this at our peril.

So even though you are writing about your real life, and real events, applying some story structure to your writing will make your book more readable and interesting for your readers. Find the compelling hook (the beginning) in your story. Decide what the climax will be and write toward that.

2. Cliffhanger chapter endings.

3. Change the rhythm of the narrative.

I have a favourite writer whose work I adore. He writes compellingly about his first-hand experience working with the poor and about the deeply spiritual and compassionate approach to the work he does. I find his books both inspirational and moving. And he’s funny!

Having said that, I can only read his books in short bursts because the ‘rhythm’ of his writing is always the same. Every chapter tells the same sort of story with the same rhythm and inflection.

Think of a beautiful piece of music or a song. Listening to it the first five or ten times is an enriching and pleasurable experience. But if that one song was the only thing you could listen to for six to eight hours, you’d get bored of it pretty quickly.

Shake things up in the structure of what you’re writing. Are you telling some stories as though you were an outside observer? Then add some up close and personal details. Do you always open a chapter or end a chapter in a certain way? Try to change that up. Vary the length of your scenes and chapters.3.  

4. Condense events.

In my memoir, I wanted to talk about the spiritual retreats our cult used to go on. I went to 4 or 5 of these retreats over a span of a few years. However, I realized that it would be pretty boring for the reader if I kept saying, “Then we went to another retreat. Here’s what happened at that one. Then we went to another retreat. Here’s what happened at that one.”

Instead, I condensed these events into one to spare the reader that kind of repetition.

In memoir we do have to take some liberties with the timeline of how things unfolded. Readers understand this and expect it. (And, of course, you can include the classic disclaimer at the front of your book which can include, “some events have been compressed, some dialogue has been recreated” etc.)

5. Open loops

Human brains seek closure. Writers who understand this can create ‘open loops’ in a narrative to make a story compelling. This is not intended to frustrate or manipulate the reader, and can be implemented naturally as part of the story structure. For example, at  the beginning of this post, my comment about the bonus tip to come is an open loop.

The cliffhangers mentioned above are one type of open loop. You may have noticed YouTubers using this technique fairly often. “Stay tuned to the end of the video when we reveal just how much the goiter weighed!”

If you open a loop (“Charlie’s wife Bunny started receiving anonymous letters threatening legal action.”) be sure to close it (“Turns out, Charlie had a family he hadn’t disclosed to Bunny.”).

Bonus tip:

6. How does the protagonist change?

Story is about change. In her work, Lisa Cron, author and story coach, explains that the personal change a protagonist goes through in a novel is the invisible force that pulls a reader through a book.

You are the protagonist in your memoir. What is the central change that you went through that you’re exploring? You may need to spend some time drilling down to this core element, but finding it and writing with it in mind will give your memoir focus and direction.

You went through an experience monumental enough that you’d like to write about it. Following these suggestions will help form your book into one readers actually enjoy reading.

^{Rockclimber image courtesy Hu Chen on Unsplash}

^{Clown fish image courtesy Sebastian Pena Lambarri on Unsplash}