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Q&A How do I know what I'm writing is interesting to the reader?

What is interesting to the reader completely depends on the reader (the targeted and reached audience). For instance, people at a library will like different kind of books than people commuting by ...

posted 7y ago by Fowl‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T07:33:41Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/32137
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Fowl‭ · 2019-12-08T07:33:41Z (about 5 years ago)
What is interesting to the reader completely depends on the reader (the targeted and reached audience). For instance, people at a library will like different kind of books than people commuting by train.

The only way to know if people find your book interesting is to let people read your book (or parts of it, and then hope it represents the full quality of your book). Let 10 people rate your book (chapter) on a scale from 0 = most boring stuff I've ever read to 10 = most interesting I've ever read. Let 10 other people rate a book with a similar amount of pages. Don't disclose which is your book. Then perform a T-test between the two groups.

If you're targeting a wide audience use popular narrative techniques. You might look at popular recently publicized books for techniques and constructs.

If you're targeting a niche audience, use in-group language and technical terms. Communicating with an in-group language that is understood by the reader gives a sense of belongingness.

If target audience is only one person writing an interesting book is the easiest. When there are 2 or more persons there will always be disagreement.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-12-25T02:01:21Z (almost 7 years ago)
Original score: 2