How to Bore Your Reader to Death on Page One
You probably weren’t looking to know how to actually bore your reader to death on page one, but you could be curious how to NOT bore your reader away from your entire story in the first page or two.
We know it’s the most important page of our story, the opening, the one that gets shown to almost everyone.
The page that goes on trial every time someone picks up our story thinking, “Let’s see if this will be an interesting read.” The page that goes into the “sample” on Amazon.
Then how do we flub up this most important page?
Here are some tips to watch out for when revising the first page of your story.
Details…details…details.
A really boring opening might have 2 or 3 pages of details where we, the readers still have no clue where the story is going, what the conflict is (if any), or why we are even reading it.
It might sound like, “she saw the way the sunlight trickled over the valley. She noticed the fall leaves all over the ground. She couldn’t help but love the warm breeze that flowed over her face when she pointed her head toward the sun.”
And okay, we get that it’s beautiful and it’s a really nice day.
Details can work, but if they go on for the first 3 pages like this, it means death to your story. Even if there is a really amazing story after all the detail most readers won’t find it.
For the most part, save the paragraph of details for later. At the front of your story, work on your hook. Once you have that nailed down you are allowed to describe some world-building stuff to the reader, but not until you’ve earned their curiosity with a good hook.
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The great meeting seems clever, but it is overused.
Watch out for this cliché.
“Sophie is staring out the window. The cold rain is causing the windows to fog. She takes her finger and draws a heart then wipes it away. She hates being on trains, but the director called this morning and said it was urgent, needed to see her right away. What was so urgent that couldn’t be said over the phone?”
And this continues on for another 5 pages before we get to her meeting and she is handed her assignment that carries us into the actual story.
Apparently many authors attempt to do this kind of opening where the main character is called to a meeting and we follow them to it for far too long.
It would be better to start the story after the meeting has already happened and skip the journey to the meeting, or better yet have something surprising happen to our main character on the way to “the meeting” and they never make it to that meeting at all.
It seems like writers think the journey to the meeting is a good way to get to know the main character. Don’t fall into this trap.
It’s better to let us see the main character over the course of the story through decisions, dialogue, thoughts, and actions, rather than trying to tell us ALL about them in a car, bus, or train on the way to their first assignment.
Pointless dialogue.
Okay, maybe we shouldn’t say pointless, but that’s what it adds up to be when the reader drops the book after 4 pages of dialogue that didn’t give any evidence of it going anywhere.
I’m sure the dialogue was meant for the reader to start to understand the characters involved but unless it leads to more than “well, I guess we are done talking now. On to the next scene.” We are going to lose our readers fast.
Any chance your story had of being readable is now gone for the sake of introducing characters.
Try to stay on task. What’s the point of writing a story? Is it to introduce the characters? No. It’s to tell an INTERESTING STORY.
An interesting story has interesting characters that we get to know as time goes on. You don’t have to tell us about them if this is executed well.
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Final Thoughts
In openings like these, there seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding.
In stories, do we get to know characters? Yes.
Do we get to transport ourselves to amazing worlds? Yes.
But are those things the reason people read stories? No.
If it was, people would just read Wikipedia about the characters and worlds themselves instead of reading the story and finding out.
But people want to follow a character through an amazing story in a fun world.
The story has to do the work of telling them about the characters and the world.
We don’t tell them. They get to experience it. At least that’s the way it should be.
It’s like telling someone about a great character in a show you love instead of letting them watch that great character. It’s just not as enjoyable, and frankly, it’s a little boring.
Don’t do this to your story. Focus on the hook and let them experience the story.
How to Bore Your Reader to Death on Page One
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Hope this helps!
Happy writing!
Resources:
How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020
How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book
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How to Bore Your Reader to Death on Page One
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How to Bore Your Reader to Death on Page One
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