This blog is written by Linda Style, co-founder of Bootcamp for Novelists Online, for Bootcamp students and anyone interested in writing and would like to to talk (mostly) about writing related topics. I can't guarantee I won't talk about other things, but I can always relate it to writing in some way. If you'd like to post something yourself, email me at bootcamp4novelists2@yahoo.com or through our website - BootcampforNovelists.com. I love to have guest bloggers as well.

Monday, May 16, 2011

THE ART OF SEDUCTION...

He grasped me firmly but gently, just above my elbow, and guided me into a room, his room. Then he quietly shut the door and we were alone.

Soundlessly, he approached from behind and spoke in a low, reassuring voice close to my ear.

“Just relax.”

Without warning, he reached down and I felt his strong, calloused hands start at my ankles, gently probing, and moving upward along my calves slowly but steadily. My breath caught in my throat. I knew I should be afraid, but somehow I didn’t care. His touch was so experienced, so sure.

When his hands moved up onto my thighs, I gave a slight shudder, and partly closed my eyes. My pulse was pounding. I felt his knowing fingers caress my abdomen, my ribcage. And then, as he cupped my firm, full breasts in his hands, I inhaled sharply. Probing, searching, knowing what he wanted, he brought his hands to my shoulders, slid them down my tingling spine to my panties.

Although I knew nothing about this man, I felt oddly trusting and expectant. This is a man, I thought. A man used to taking charge. A man not used to taking ‘no’ for an answer. A man who would tell me what he wanted. A man who would look into my soul and say …

“Okay, ma’am,” said a voice. “All done.”

My eyes snapped open and he was standing in front of me, smiling, holding out my purse. “You can board your flight now.”

Okay, you’ve probably all read that story before, and now you’re thinking it's a really weird thing for me to post and wondering what possessed me to do it. And... because you’ve read this far, I’m going to tell you.

You read this far because something in the title, or perhaps that first line...or even the photo...promised you something. You read even further because what you were reading was interesting in some way. Maybe it was titillating, or you thought it was funny…or maybe you know me and thought it was a bizarre thing for me to post. Or…maybe you really wanted to know what was going to happen next?

The excerpt is fiction…it’s a joke…a scene some think could be taken straight from a bad romance novel (or good depending on your point of view). But, for purposes of this blog, it’s an example of how to engage the reader and keep him reading. It's a very simple example in the art of verbal seduction.

The story started big and kept on going. You knew there was more to it, but you didn’t know what, so you kept reading. You kept reading because the beginning promised you something and you wanted to know if the story was going to fulfill its promise.

And it did with the punchline. But that’s not all…

You’re still reading because you know that story wasn’t all I was going to say. Why? Because with my blog title, I made a promise that I’m going to tell you something about the art of seduction. And…because this is a writer’s blog, I've made an unspoken promise to say something about writing.

So, I will.

Novelists must be experts in the art of seduction.

Whether you’re writing a romance novel or straight fiction, writers must persuade the reader to keep flipping pages. We do it by seducing him, trifling with his emotions. We toss out the emotional hook and draw him in. Whether we make the reader laugh, cry, or feel he needs to know more, we are engaging him emotionally.

Think about it. If we read something that makes us angry, or makes us rail at injustice, we are emotionally engaged. When we’re emotionally engaged, when we care about something…or the person we are reading about, we want to know what’s going to happen next and we keep reading.

We anticipate.

Anticipation causes tension and suspense. Tension and suspense, wondering what happens next is what compels us to keep flipping pages.

The relationship between your most wonderful character and the reader must be an emotional experience, one you tap into from page one. If we make a promise to the reader at the beginning of our story that something interesting is going to happen, he’ll keep reading.

Just like you did here.

Hey…if I got you to read this far, you know it works. Think about it. Why do you keep reading? What is it that pulls you into a story and keeps you reading?



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I'll be talking a lot more about this in my next online class “Infusing Your Story With Emotion” beginning May 27th. For more information about the class, go to http://www.bootcampfornovelists.com/ls-courses/l-course-5p-emotion.html

For more information about all classes, and about me, go to http://www.bootcampfornovelists.com/