Why do readers suddenly have the attention spans of gnats?
It’s easy to blame writers and suggest their quality of work has declined, but I contend there’s a growing evil sucking attention away from the page. This villain takes many forms.
Facebook, Game of Thrones, the NFL, and Youtube are just a few ways this monster manifests itself. Except this monster has a maker.
I hold responsible the brilliant innovators, creators and storytellers of our generation for producing the most competitive market place for readers’ attention that the world’s ever seen. Fewer and fewer people can make it through an entire page before departing and plugging back into their easy-to-consume content outlets.
This new reality means you must write smarter than ever to seize attention and audience engagement. You must be calculated in how you connect with readers.
7 Easy Ways to Connect with Readers
Fortunately, there are several ways you can quickly jack into the hearts and minds of people. Seven to be exact, unless there’s one or two I forgot due to another cyber-squirrel running across the many screens consuming my life. (I’m looking at you Snapchat, iMessage notifications, this month’s comic book movie installment, the first season of Billions, etc).
Anyway, here are the seven ways you can easily connect with readers and engage them on page one:
1. Pose a promising proposition (or question):
People want you to make them take a stance. They may not confess they want to be challenged, but they do.
In fact, I did exactly this in the first line of this piece. I wanted you to think twice about readers, their attention span, and if gnats actually had an attention span.
Mission accomplished?
2. Breed curiosity:
Readers want you to manipulate their curiosity. They want your words to lead them down a rabbit hole.
Generating the power of wonder, then rinsing and repeating, is what keeps people hooked on your piece. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 does a great job of this.
Opening line: “It was a pleasure to burn.” What’s so fun to burn?
“A house . . . books . . .” Who’s burning this stuff?
“A firefighter . . .” Why’s a firefighter burning down a house instead of saving it?
“Because the burn ignites a fiery smile on his face that never goes away . . .” And so on goes the rabbit hole . . .
3. Drop them into the thick of things:
This is that first date you don’t want to take slow. Go for first base bare minimum and bring readers into the action.
For instance, when you tell a friend about a traffic violation, you don’t say, “I was going to the store, parked, got out, grabbed some Red Vines, checked out at the cashier, and a cop pulled me over. He handed me a speeding ticket, and told me to drive slower.”
Most times you'd just tell a friend, “I got a ticket today!”
Bam, dropped right into the action, skipping the fluff that even your friends don't care about.
4. Get intimate and share something personal:
My best friend no showed my wedding.
My pants malfunctioned in the bathroom.
I’m going to tell you something I’ve never shared with my wife.
Those are just a few opening lines from different posts at my blog. Readers connect when you keep it close. To keep them reading and increase your audience engagement, try opening up and revealing something that won’t get you fired from your job or kicked to the couch.
5. Embrace your oddities and showcase your uniqueness:
I’m fairly certain I’m an alien dressed in a human costume. The Earth is infested with homo sapiens. I’m allergic to the indigenous population.
That’s just one spin on how I wield my weirdness when writing.
You’re laced with your own strangeness and there are people out there who can identify with your oddities. Be brave, embrace your true form, and flaunt those shapes on the page.
6. Trust your voice on the page:
While I strive to satisfy readers, I’d rather be the writer I am than the writer that readers expect me to be.
That’s why I terraform the page one word at a time using my true alien octaves.
Straight up, your friends enjoy your company because of who you are in person, so why try to be someone else on the page? Write with your native tongue. Earthlings appreciate authenticity, and they may call you out if you force a different voice.
7. Trust the reader because they're smarter than you give them credit:
But if that’s true, why do so many writers hand hold people through their blog posts and stories? Why don’t writers permit readers to fill quick beats and small gaps?
Drop the info dumps and cut the cluttered adverbs. They’re not forbidden. They’re just oversaturated.
Get to the point and deliver readers your core message. (This applies to fiction, non-fiction, emails to friends, post-it notes, grocery lists, etc.)
You CAN Connect with Readers
The truth is that you can easily connect with readers. The lie is that audience engagement doesn’t require any effort at all.
The bottom line is, you must be more focused than ever to compete against the Frankenstein-ish entertainment alternatives out there. So which easy way will you use to create your monstrous connection?
What strategies have helped you connect with readers? Let me know in the comments!
PRACTICE
Now it’s time to manipulate the minds of mankind.
Choose one of the seven connection techniques above and take fifteen minutes to write something. It can be the first page of a short story or novel, a new blog post, a piece of poetry, or anything your big heart desires.
But when you’re done creating your unique beast, come back, and post it in the comments below to showcase that “It’s alive!”
And if you share, be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers!
Thanks for these important and concise tips. I enjoyed every one, but especially the one about breeding curiosity. That’s the one I feel challenges me the most. Thanks for the motivation to buckle down on that challenge.
Hey Jenna. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your feedback. Breeding curiosity takes lots of practice and studying the craft. You got this though. 😉
Important advice. My biggest problem is the info dump. How to feel the reader has enough to understand situations from the past that influence the present.
Hey Dennis, thanks for dropping a comment. Thanks for being real and sharing your problem. Your info-dumping self-awareness shows you’re sharp enough to overcome the challenge. Trust in those readers, and keep creating my fellow storyteller.
I feel you there. It’s hard to know sometimes when too much is too much.
It definitely takes time. Keep studying the craft while creating on the page. That’s my quick advice. You’ll nail it sooner than later. 🙂
I’m no expert, but I think I’d rather give too little than too much. There is nothing wrong with letting the reader fill in the blanks.
Bruce, you’re spot on here. Trust the reader. Thanks for sharing your take!
That’s my feeling.
“Kill the person who knee in front of Jesus Christ. He deserve to die..” said the old man.
“But isn’t him your loyal follower?” One of the follower said.
The follower who is been ordered to die keep his head down. The old priest take out a knife and run toward the young follower.
He stab and stab until the young follower breath his last breath. The church is full of people.
Jason, you’re creating something unique on the page, and sharing your monstrosities with the world.
Love that.
Thanks so much and keep creating
I feel energy vibrations. I can walk into a house and know within five minutes if it is a safe house or a house that is quietly whispering “get out.” And if I hear “get out,” I linger. I have experienced that the voices aren’t there to overwhelm or harm me, the energy is not there as good or bad, but it is there to act like a cattle prod to shock me into confronting a place I would rather avoid.
I also feel the energy of places, the subtle vortexes that throw me off balance. Walking in the woods or on a mountain trail, my feet fail me and I stagger to retain my balance. Then I sit and meditate at that spot. The energy possesses me and clarity opens up my imagination. From the top of my head to the soles of my feet, I vibrate in rhythm to the heartbeat of heaven.
Words don’t work as teachers. Words are so considered and so measured that any real meaning or impact those words might have has been sanitized out even before they leave the lips. Today we call that being politically correct speech. In my grandfather’s day, words followed the rule, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
Words have failed us. But the subtle energy that doesn’t ask us for permission to speak but nevertheless floods us with invitations and opportunities to grapple with the unknown, that teacher doesn’t give a damn about being correct, just a reflection of stark reality.
I have grown comfortable with wordless communication, with the sharing of energy. Right now, go outside and feel the breeze or the heat or the cold. I am there calling your name, drawing you into a new reality.
The timer just went off… I was trying to respond to point number 5 – embrace your oddities and showcase your uniqueness. Just an aside, try this tongue twister – as quickly as possible repeat these three words four times – unique New York. Have fun. Forget the words, use the energy.
Jon
Wow, well done for committing to the practice and sharing it here. I really appreciate it.
Also, I repeated the three words four times before reading your last line. The second go around focusing on the energy was much different. Straight up cool, and thanks again for sharing your take here.
Thanks David. Letting go from time to time and stepping away from reality helps with creativity. Reading some of the syfy from writers in the workshops convinced me that I was missing a whole lot of potential subject matter. But how to get at it and how to connect with others. That is a challenge.
This storytelling deal is a tough one. Keep creating like you are, and connecting with folks on the page (and one on one like this). Well done
I appreciate your encouraging words to me and to others in this endeavor.
Jon
Interesting piece; good work. I tried the tongue twister – no luck. : )
Thanks for supporting Jon here. Your feedback matters! Thanks again
“This new reality means you must write smarter than ever to seize attention and audience engagement. You must be calculated in how you connect with readers.” That is right on the money! Great tips, I need to work on breeding curiosity and dropping readers into the thick of things.
You are not alone in this challenge. I sense you really grasp the reality outlined in the article we have all just read.
Amber, well summarized. Hit quick and smart. You got this.
The mushroom cloud grew steadily skyward. The whole neighborhood was shaken, not stirred. I stumbled out my front door, or what remained of it, with my face blackened and clothes in tatters. My neighbor came running up and asked “What the hell just happened?”.
I said with a slight grin “Well, that’s the last time I try making my own toilet bowl cleaner!”.
Nice opening – you made good use of grabbing my attention with the mushroom cloud!
Thanks, it was fun.
So seriously, you made me laugh and that would be enough for me to connect with your story and continue reading. That is assuming there is more to read. Your grab was so “unique” I would have to read what you wrote just so I had a story to recommend to others. Toilet bowl cleaner – who writes about that? Thanks.
Jon
Thanks Jon. They say write what you know and I had a clogged up toilet I was working on – so it was a fit. There is really no more to the story. I am trying to get into Flash Fiction and am enjoying writing a little story in as few words as I can manage. I have done a few so far and am working up the courage to submit something – one day.
Thanks again!
Hey Joe. Good stuff! So thankful you shared this quick and quirky piece with us. Thanks again!
Thanks! I think that sites like this have spoiled my brain. I have been trying to write short, silly and fun stories. They are a lot of fun.
Nothing wrong with books (I don’t even own a kindle)! There’s nothing like going to a library and checking a book out, bringing it home, and reading it after work.
You give me hope. I would have have liked to have told my cousin’s wife that because she told me that I should sell them on ekindle. I think that is the word. She said that her kids have them. I guess my little cousins don’t get to go to a library. I appreciate the library so much.
So do I. Turning physical pages is part of the thrill of reading – not knowing what’s going to happen next. Scrolling just doesn’t have the same effect.
Awesome star for you, too. ⭐
Each year, I give the local library books that I probably won’t reread. They are grateful for the books that they then sell or give away to folks so inclined to find new reading material. But the real reason that I cull my collection is to buy new hard covered, soft-covered books.
I think David is right, books are books and one reason we write is to be read, however that may occur.
We need another Andrew Carnegie to come along and spark a new library movement.
Jon
Awesome star.⭐
Julia glanced back from her booth and stared as Sean walked into the restaurant. Her throat closed. His presence brought memories rushing forth, one after another.
His hands gripping her shoulders. His weight pinning her to the ground.
Black dots salted her vision. She had to leave this restaurant. Now.
“Hey,” Shadow said across from her.
She faced him. She’d forgotten he was there.
“You ok?”
Words rose in her throat, but stopped there. Sean’s presence made her insides
feel like raw eggs, trembling and sliding around in her body.
Shadow spoke again. “What’s wrong?”
“The man who tried to…” She searched for a different word. “…to hurt me, is here.” She then hugged herself, shutting her mind to every other person in the room in order to block out Sean.
Shadow studied her for a second, then turned his eyes toward the rest of the room. “What does he look like?”
“About six feet with light brown hair,” she whispered.
She watched Shadow’s eyes scan over the restaurant. After a few seconds, his gaze froze on someone. A muscle twitched in his jaw and something dark passed through his eyes.
Unable to resist, Julia peeked over the top of her booth and spotted Sean. Shadow eased from the booth, his eyes still fixed on the man.
“Come on,” Shadow said as he extended his hand.
Julia grabbed it and clung to the strength of his grip. Her pulse pounded so hard in her ears it almost drowned out the sounds of silverware clinking and people talking. She didn’t dare glance back again as she let Shadow pull her from the booth.
His eyes trained on Sean, Shadow backed toward the door that led to the back patio.
They’d reached the door when Shadow stiffened. A chill washed over her and she did look back.
Sean was staring straight at her.
—
Any feedback/comments welcome. I love, love, love the idea of dropping people right into the action – definitely going to practice with that. Thanks for the tips, David!
Dear 709writer
Since I am also working on a piece set in a restaurant/diner, I was really anxious to see what you did with your story. I can say this, I connected better with you and your story that with my own attempt. What are you going to do with this? I can imagine a really good short story. And by the way, you dropped me right into your story’s action. All that was missing was the busboy dropping his trayful of dirty dishes. I think you did this very well.
Jon
Thank you Jon, I really appreciate the compliment! This is one of the chase scenes in my story and I’ll have to see where it goes. I’ve looked around on the internet for pictures of lakeside restaurants (which is what this is), and I can see the diner and the city streets, how it all looks, in my mind. If you’re working on a scene in a restaurant/diner, I’d encourage you to do a search for “lakeside restaurant pics”. A ton of pictures pop up and that’s where I got some of the inspiration here.
And I love the idea of the busboy dropping the dirty dishes – that’s something I didn’t think of. Plus other customers would probably be screaming and maybe Sean even pulled out a gun…thank you again for the feedback! : )
As I reread your story today and think of life and action inside restaurants, I can see what I might do in my own story which you have been kind enough to read. I am looking to create the feeling of an old bar with new clientele. Whenever I travel that’s the kind of place I look to stop at for lunch. There are always stories brewing there along with the coffee of course. I hope you’ll share your story as it unfolds as will I.
Jon
Thank you Jon, I will keep sharing. Looking forward to seeing yours, too! : )
So 709writer how is your WIP coming? Any more action in your restaurant? I have cut back a bit on description and I am not sure how much action will actually occur in my Big Moose Bar and Grill. The story is taking a life of its own.
Hi Jon! Still working on this piece, I’m stuck between wanting to have Sean shoving tables out of his way to reach Julia, and having Sean catch up with her once she leaves the restaurant…hope yours is going well! :
Thanks. My WIP has been languishing on the shelf. But it is not forgotten. Really working on my blog and developing a following. Thanks for checking in. Keep me posted.
Noooooo!! I’m so hooked, you’ve just GOT to go on!! As a rule I don’t even like these kinds of stories. Yours is the exception.
Thank you, that means a lot. : )
I agree with the boys below. You must keep writing the rest of your story. Once you’re done, keep writing. Once you’re done writing, write some more. You’ve got to see your story all the way through. It takes skill and you’re open to sharing like many here so please keep going. That’s much of what it takes. Longevity.
Thanks for the encouragement, David!
ebooks and paper books are not mutually exclusive, they’re just another means to read a story. I don’t think paper books are going anywhere, the media has just expanded to suit multiple tastes. I prefer paper books, but I’m just glad that people read, whatever type they choose. Libraries carry ebooks, though, lots of them, that readers can borrow just like regular books. This allows libraries to carry more books than physical space might otherwise allow, and that’s not something to sneer at. Some rural libraries (like my local one) are tiny closets with meager selections – ebooks can turn them into Narnia. Ebook readers aren’t anti-library by any means. You can choose not to publish an ebook if you don’t want to, but you should acknowledge that by doing so you’re missing out on an entire group of potential readers.
It was the one time I hoped that I wouldn’t see myself on TV. But the footage was impossible to avoid. Every train station, every waiting room, every Facebook page was playing it. Silently I prayed for a disaster, a famine, a flood – even another attack – anything that would replace the footage endlessly looping through the screens, through my dreams. It is just as well that God does not always answer prayers.
God, make it go away. Instead he multiplied the reminders. I’ve heard it said that becoming pregnant makes one start seeing pregnant women everywhere. For me it was screens. I quickly became allergic to smartphones, TVs, laptops. Learned to avoid eyes and slip away when strangers’ gazes lingered for a little too long.
“Hey, aren’t you that girl who was…?”
To my credit, I never stayed long enough for them to finish their questions. My track and field coach would be proud.
The dead had it easy. They thought no more. I was alive. Yet everything and everyone around me insisted on reminding me of the dead.
Stella,
Well you did it – i am hooked. Trying to weave together the clues you threw out in your piece really rev’d up my imagination. I can imagine at least three stories from what you have shared. Do you really have something in mind or was this just a very good contribution to this exercise.
Hey Jonathan! Sorry for the very late reply. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Haha yes this was written in the universe of the story I submitted for The Write Practice’s writing contest, on ‘Scars’. This exact scene didn’t make it into the story, but it did influence how I wrote the rest. I’m curious, what stories did you imagine? What I envisioned was the protagonist becoming the unwilling celebrity victim of a terrorist attack. (I feel like I should’ve had the literary equivalent of a drum roll before giving the answer away just like that.)
THIS is an example of what I meant by letting the reader fill in the blanks. Excellent work!
Thank you Bruce! Your comment is hugely encouraging. I read it when you posted a month back and forgot to reply…my bad!
Ha ha! I’m usually behind schedule in posting anything for The Write Practice. I tell myself it is because I am working on my book. It’s a concerning thing, to be able to lie to one’s self so easily.
Stella. Thanks so much for dropping by, sharing your piece and trusting the muse. You kept this pretty clean like Bruce and Jonathan mentioned. Well done and keep creating.
Thanks David. Thanks for sharing your post, I enjoyed it! You’re so right about how we writers aren’t competing with one another, but with Facebook, NFL and Youtube. Attention is the new commodity.
Well said Stella.
“Writers aren’t competing with one another, but with Facebook, NFL and Youtube.”
I may have to steal that. 😉
You’re more than welcome. Steal from one source and it’s plagiarism, steal from a hundred and it’s writing!
Well I just downloaded the Kindle app so I could read stories that folks in these workshops are writing. I love having a book in my hands so this was hard for me. I suspect I am a closet Luddite and new technology sometimes confuses me so much I lose the desire to engage. I think Jennifer offers a well reasoned case for reading/publishing/writing in whatever format is available. Jennifer also makes a good point about small town libraries and the number of offerings they can manage. I am curious – do you watch movies on Netflix or Hulu, etc.? I had the same struggle with movies jumping from the big screen to a computer screen as I do books escaping from my fingertips to eyes only on a computer screen. Just wondered…
Thanks to this practice session, I think I have discovered the opening lines of my WIP (the first draft, anyway).
* * *
Fire. And smoke. Acrid smoke filling her nostrils.
But mostly fire. The flames. The brightness of them as they surrounded her. Consuming the unfamiliar building. Licking her flesh.
She awoke with a start. The darkness was never so welcome as when she awoke from the dream.
The firefighters and doctors had said she was most likely unconscious when the fire was started, but Akiko wondered if she had awakened, if only for a moment. As for her sight, no one could say for certain when she had lost it. It seemed to be from around the time of the fire. She could remember the sensation of sight, but she could no longer experience it. It was one of the few things she could remember from before the fire. Before three months ago.
The doctors were still trying to determine exactly why she couldn’t see. She did not appear to have any physical injury to her eyes. That meant her blindness was either neurological or psychological. Either way, it didn’t really matter.
Just as she wondered what time it was her alarm clock buzzed. She reached out to where it sat on her nightstand and switched it off. She sat up, reluctant to start her day. She could already smell the bacon Mrs. Olsen was cooking downstairs.
Bruce, you’re onto something here.
And wow, you really put yourself out there. Much respect because you’re a brave man, my man.
THANK YOU so much for sharing your opening!
Thank YOU for helping me find it!
Hard copy or soft, they’re all books… people read them and enjoy them.
If you prefer one over the other, that’s great, but let’s appreciate that people are buying books and reading stories created by writers (in multiple formats these days).
I recommend you make sure your book is available in Kindle format, and offer readers the choice of how they prefer to connect with you. (Your sales data will show you this.)
Let me know what you think here. 🙂
Screeching with his ‘squad’ while roaming the mall. Texting back ‘idk’ an hour after you text him asking him when he’ll be home. Careening to avoid the pesky buildings and humans that stand between himself and the ever elusive Pokemon. The internet is very much about anonymity so fortunately you don’t have to admit that I’m totally talking about your kid. *swings two fingers back and forth from my eyes to yours* But relax, fret not, it’s all good and help is on the way. I wrote Beyond Good Manners: How to Raise a Sophisticated Child to help parents raise engaged, respectful, fascinating kids who get noticed for all the right reasons. See?! I’ve got your back and this guide will make taking your child to the next level so much easier and more fun than you ever dreamed it could be!
Tara Woods Turner, CEP
Beyond Good Manners: How to Raise a Sophisticated Child
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CS6OZG8
@Joe Volkel
Are you on goodreads? How do I stay informed about any writing projects you may be publishing? The excerpt you wrote was the business!
Jonathan wrote: ‘And if I hear get out I linger’
Brilliant!
Thanks Tara. Life is short, isn’t that what they say? One of my favorite poems is Robert Frost’s , The Road Not Taken. I hope that the traveler he speaks of will be me some day.
Jon
I love this post! Especially point #5. I’ve always found myself and other writers to be pretty quirky. You mean keeping throw away coffee cups is not normal?? If all writers were the same, all we’d ever read about are a bunch of Sally and Jane characters with nothing unique. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Candace. Thanks for the support and love.
I’ve observed the same quirks among writers. The challenge always seems to be getting writers comfy enough with their keyboards to share their quirks on the page.
I’m thinking you don’t have this issue.
Keep quirking my new writing friend. 😉