The Irresistible Novel: How to Craft an Extraordinary Story That Engages Readers from Start to Finish

Description

Discover Your Voice and Enthrall Readers! The craft of writing is filled with various debates- Should I include a prologue? Should I delete all adverbs from my manuscript? Just how much backstory--if any--can I include in my story? These questions--and their often-contradictory answers--can cause confusion, frustration, and even paralysis in the writer. The Irresistible Novel frees you from the limits of so-called "rules" and instead provides you with a singular goal- You must engage your readers from beginning to end. Filled with down-to-earth discussions on the various debates of writing, as well as innovative research on neuroscience and reader response, this book shows you how to- .Navigate the various debates on writing fiction--showing versus telling, purple prose, outlining, writing description, and more--to decide what kind of novelist you want to be. .Hack your reader's brain to hook her interest and trigger emotional engagement from the very first page. .Incorporate enduring elements of storytelling from masters like Joseph Campbell, Aristotle, and Carl Jung. Readers want to be swept away by your stories. When you eschew the rules and focus on your readers' desires, you're free to write truly irresistible fiction.

Author's bio: Jeff Gerke is an author of fiction and nonfiction including such books as the Operation: Firebrand novels. He has worked as an editor for numerous publications and is the founder of Marcher Lord Press, an indie publishing company dedicated to producing the finest in Christian science-fiction, fantasy, and other genres. He is also the author of Plot Versus Character, The First 50 Pages, and Write Your Novel in a Month. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"Jeff Gerke's The Irresistible Novel encourages authors to break from restrictive "rules" in pursuit of the true goal--to engage one's readers from beginning to end. Chapters explore different points of view on everything from nuances of grammar (and why their paralyzing rules should not always be strictly obeyed) to mapping a story path with respect to engaging the reader's brain chemistry." --Midwest Book Review