What do you look for in a book? A compelling plot? Believable characters? Good descriptions? Do you want to feel involved in the story? Perhaps all of these things. If that’s the case, you’re in good company because that’s what most readers seek. So, when writing, you need to think like a reader. Why? Quite simply, if you don’t involve your readers and invite them into the story, then you’ve lost one of the main reasons why you write: for readers to read what you write.

When I started writing my first novel, “Spring” (Publish America: 2005), the first book in my “Four Seasons” series, I worked painfully slow, making sure I was adhering to a ‘think like a reader’ process. At the time, I was a fan of cozy mysteries and enjoyed a good story that wove its tale around creative people, particularly artists. Although I enjoyed reading books about artists, I was disappointed there weren’t any books about musicians. My intent with “Spring” was to write a novel where the main character was a classical musician, and the mystery revolved around music and musical instruments. I have a sound knowledge of music, and I saw this as an opportunity to share my knowledge.

My believable character was a classical musician with incredible talent and a valuable instrument with a mystery behind it. In my synopsis, I presented my intent: “In 1725, Antonio Vivaldi wrote the music for The Four Seasons. He penned a poem for each of the four seasons: Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring. Each season has its reason, its significance, its purpose, and its own symbolism. Life is like the four seasons. Spring is Melanie Harris’s story. She is a talented young violinist with a valuable Grancino violin. There is a secret inside her violin, a secret only she and her mother should know, but somehow others have found out. The story follows a journey of Melanie’s growth as a musician, the people she meets, the friends she makes, and the losses she suffers. Vivaldi’s music is the cornerstone of Melanie’s musical career as well as her life as she takes her instrument and her music around the world. Each stage of Melanie’s life progresses like a season of the year, a musical/poetic symbol as in Vivaldi’s music. Melanie is the music she loves best, The Four Seasons.”

And the story evolved, taking into consideration the mystery, the music, the characters, compelling dialogue, engaging descriptive narrative, and everything I would expect to find in a good story. I believe I was successful, as my readers thought it was so good, that they wanted more, and hence came the remaining three seasons: “Summer” (Baico: 2007), “Autumn” (Baico: 2009), and “Winter” (Baico: 2012). (There are two more in the series, yet to be published.)

Here are some tips to help you think like a reader while you write:

Read. There’s nothing like reading to help writers become good at their craft. Study how other authors invite you into their stories.

Believable characters. There’s nothing like flat, fake characters to turn off a reader. Readers want to either love or hate your characters. In short, they want to care for the characters. So make your characters real with good character sketches and scenes that make them come alive.

Compelling dialogue. Without dialogue, a story is dull and uninteresting. Dialogue helps bring the story to life, makes it realistic, moves the plot forward at a good pace, and helps develop the characters. Listen in on real-life conversations and make notes on what makes these conversations believable.

Descriptive narrative. Not too much. You’re not Charles Dickens and today’s readers don’t want to be weighed down with pages of lengthy descriptions. Just enough to set the stage for events and invite the reader into the story.

Humor. A few belly laughs never hurt and it certainly lightens the severity of the unfolding drama. Readers enjoy some levity – not too much, though.

Happy endings? Well, perhaps not all the time. Life isn’t always one big happy ending. A surprise ending will entice your readers and have them demanding more.

Philosophy. Make your readers think. Not too much, but a little bit of thought-provoking drama never hurts the unfolding plot.

When reading a story, I find what works is when the story makes me feel like I belong. That’s what writers need to keep in mind when writing their stories. Invite your readers into the story and keep them there, with strong writing, good sentence structure, good grammar, and spelling (nothing is more off-putting than a book full of errors), and plot the moves smoothly in a logical manner without random jumps, and unexpected tangents that make no sense.