Making Your Stories More Interesting

     Hi! Today's post is for any of you that enjoying writing and want to make you stories more interesting. I am by no means an expert at this, but I have been learning some things recently, and thought maybe these tips could help you, since they are definitely helping me!

     Tip 1. Use cliff hangers as often as you can. This one may seem obvious, but it's really not something I use as often as I should. Make your chapters end in such a way that the reader needs to come back. If a chapter ends with everything going fine, they may not even think about it throughout the day, but if it ends with a cliffhanger, they'll be longing to finish it, and will get back to it as soon as they can. 

     If your story is on their mind all day long, it will be almost like a friend to them, even if they don't realize it. 

     Tip 2. Make your characters come alive. Describe how they look and what they wear. Show their thoughts and personalities. Make them realistic enough to be the reader's friend. Also, show their exact conversations instead of just mentioning them. Here is an example:

     Don't:

     Mary Beth asked Emily if she could borrow her book. They were walking home from school in the mud. Emily said she could, as long as she took good care of it.

     Do: 

     "May I please borrow your book?" Mary Beth asked Emily as they walked home from school.

     "Sure, you can borrow it!" Emily said, skipping over a mud puddle. "Just be sure to take good care of it."

     You may notice that in the second example, you actually get to know the girls a bit more. You can imagine them walking home from school together, and see Emily skip over the puddle. You can also use this trick for when they do things. Instead of saying something happened, show it happening. 

     Don't:

     Miriam worked in the garden, weeding the flowers and picking tomatoes, green beans, and cucumbers. It was beautiful weather. She put the weeds in her compost pile out back.

     Do:

     "I think I'll work in the garden for a bit," Miriam thought to herself as she pulled on her boots and headed out the front door. A cool breeze brushed past her as she headed over to their fenced-in plot. "It feels beautiful out here," she thought, as she knelt down and began to pull some weeds from around the strawberry plants. After she had filled a bucket's worth, she took them out back to her compost pile, and gave it a stir. Then she went back to the garden and gathered a few juicy red tomatoes, some long green cucumbers, and a handful of green beans. "These will be perfect to put with supper tonight," she thought to herself as she walked back to the house to wash them.

     Doesn't Miriam seem so much more alive in the second example? Have you ever been in the middle of a really good book and actually missed the characters? I know I have! Sometimes when I finish a book, I'm sad because I had gotten so close to the characters. If you can get your readers to feel like the characters are friends, then they will miss your book and be sure to come back and finish it as soon as they can.

     Tip 3. Vary the length of your sentences. Here is a Pin I found about this that I thought was really interesting: 

     Isn't it neat how much difference you can make just by varying your sentence length? 

     These are all the tips I have for now, but I hope you found them helpful. Do you like to write? What are some ways you use to make your stories more interesting? What are some ways you've noticed your favorite author making their stories interesting?

     Have a good February!

Laura