These days, many readers are also writers. They've either published on Kindle or have a book in progress. This post is a reminder to all of us who write romance. Don't forget the foundation.
Everyone spends so much time crafting the hook - the first bit of the book designed to draw in readers. A lot of attention is paid to plot development, the cover and the blurb. But the truth is, a writer can do a phenomenal, grand-slam job at all of these things, and still lose readers partway through the book. How to keep the readers?
Hooking the reader is important. But, like hooking a fish, some books get thrown back. Some of those throw-aways have great hooks, gloriously developed plots, a killer blurb and a gorgeous cover. They're thrown back because they lack a solid foundation. What's the foundation? A romance is about a story between a hero and a heroine, surrounded by friends, family, associates and/or enemies. The stars re the hero and the heroine. They're the foundation, and they must be carefully crafted to garner emotion and empathy from the reader. If a reader doesn't care about the characters, he or she will never care about the story.
Oh, it's fine to throw in quirky characters. They're fun to write and to read. But the hero and heroine are where the story begins, continues and concludes. They can be, and often are flawed. A flaw is a fault that can be overcome. What writers don't want and readers won't finish are fatally flawed characters. Readers will put down a book where a rogue hero is too full of himself, too condescending, too self centered - too big of a bastard. They'll also put down a book where the heroine is too big of a bitch. She can't be too stupid, too selfish, too vain, or just too full of herself. And neither the hero nor the heroine can be bland. Bland inspires nothing, ever. Flaws are spices. A dash of this or a pinch of that may make a dish a winner. Too much spice will kill the flavor.
Suspense authors may be most often guilty of lacking a foundation. They spend so much ink on the murder or the mystery, on how the leads find the clues, are put in peril, and then solve the case. But if the best-plotted and most meticulous suspense isn't led by a hero and heroine whose relationship readers root for, the book is likely to be cast aside. A romantic suspense is first and always a romance.
Don't make the mistake of focusing so heavily on the architecture, the design, and the decor that you don't put in a floor. A reader is unlikely to give a throw-away author a second shot. Writers can't build a career on readers who don't return. Hook 'em and keep 'em by remembering that romance readers love the genre because they want to live the story. If they don't want to live the story, they won't finish it. Build the foundation first and make it strong with fascinating, empathetic leads. Then worry about the rest of it. The story flows from the charcters or it doesn't flow at all.