“What I want is to be needed. What I need is to be indispensable to somebody”, that is exactly how my thoughts echo with Chuck Palahniuk. When you are writing, you are draining your thoughts, your imagination, and your dream through each of the words. As the reader can’t see you or hold on to you to clear the air of belief & disbelief, choosing the word is the key to grab the reader’s attention.
Writing is divided into three halves – introduction, main body, and conclusion and length of the three halves of the content may uniformly distribute. A writer can grab a reader’s attention by an exciting opening; this sets the mood and interest of the reader. Well, the writer needs to take care of the few things before starting a write-up, like what would be the target readers, what is the concept, what is the subject of the content, style of portraying, etc. Now, let’s choose the method to deliver one’s thought, like narrative or storytelling. But if it is for some thesis or project concept, the writer needs to furnish the content with additional data and supporting details.
Interestingly, whatever may be your topic, unless it’s beautiful and catchy for readers mind, character or data, plot or information are bound to fall. So, once the writer grabs the attention, it’s easy to lead the reader to the main subject or an imaginary land. The convincing style of telling a story would make a reader believe in things which may not be logically possible. Such as the story of, Alice in a wonderland where young minds follow Alice without question. Science fiction writers put their ideas & thoughts in such a way that reader even with a scientific bend of mind, made to believe in the story. One may try to challenge the curious mind of readers, and if played well with words, it is a win-win situation. But while doing so, the writer may take time to build up a convincing storyline, as Amish Tripathi did in his Shiva Trilogy, where the story of mythology becomes more humane than godly. A great thickening plot or a clear thesis controls the rest of the write-up. There is no hurry to unfold the story or argument; just let the words flow in context and lead the reader to the ultimate plot.
As we have discussed briefly how one can deliver quality writing while maintaining the reader’s attention, well, here is a sum up about the 5 ways mentioned above
- An excellent opening to grab the attention
- An exciting way of telling with supporting details
- Convincing style
- Challenge the reader’s mind
- Flow with the stream and lead ones to the destiny
Finally, let your imagination take charge of your pen, as Edward says, “the pen is mightier than the sword.”