by Angela Ruth Strong, @AngelaRStrong

Authors may be readers, but after writing has been our job for a while, we start to read like editors rather than simply for enjoyment. We can miss the opportunity to tell our most powerful story because we’re too busy deleting apostrophes and highlighting overused words. So I asked an online group of readers what they think we should know. Here’s what they said.

1. Make your characters relatable. Readers are tired of characters who could double as models. If they’re skinny, they shouldn’t get to eat pizza and donuts in every chapter. They also shouldn’t all be rich or rescued by someone wealthy. Most importantly, readers want to see character growth, which means that our characters need to have weaknesses in the beginning as well as learn to use their strengths by the end.

“You don’t have to say how the guy’s shoulders and chest bulge beneath his perfectly fitting t-shirt, and therefore he’s attractive. So tired of that kind of description. I want more ‘he had the kind of sense of humor that threatened to make me pee myself at times’ kind of descriptions.”

2. Plots should be believable. Readers want to be surprised by a great ending that makes so much sense they should have seen it coming. Tension should build up in a way that fits with the climax so it doesn’t wrap up too easily or too quickly. And they definitely don’t want any happily-ever-afters to feel contrived.

“We don’t like an unrealistic or predictable plot.”

3. Details matter. In order for your story to feel real, the reader needs to be able to immerse themself in everything from the language to the history to the geography. If the setting isn’t established early on and/or authentic to what the reader already knows, you lose them. Readers sometimes go so far as to draw their own family trees of your characters, and they look forward to the Author’s Note that explains what part of your historical fiction was based on fact.

“Writers should know that readers can google easily verifiable details.”

4. Reading is subjective. In researching for this blog, I asked writers on social media what they wanted readers to know. Within hours, I had over two-hundred comments, but things got a little heated. One reader would complain about too much romance, and other readers would defend the genre. Or one reader would claim shorter chapters were better, and another reader would argue for longer chapters. The comment section of the thread was shut down, but not before debates sprung up over epilogues, escapism, novellas, coffee, and even the term “slacks.” Clearly different stories are going to reach different people. And that’s how it should be so we all have the ability to speak specifically to our own readers.

In looking for a quote to sum this point up, I’m going to have to go with the comment: “Pandora’s box, meet Angela.”

5. You’re appreciated. In spite of any controversy and what may have come across as criticism, readers stepped up to thank you for what you do. Your work matters.

“That draft you hate? We love it. It might be our favorite book ever. God will do so much more with it than you ever imagined.”

This list may come across as basic, but let’s get back to the basics. These five things are what readers want us to know, which makes them exactly what we need.

---

Husband Auditions

In a world full of happily-ever-after love, Meri Newberg feels like the last young woman on the planet to be single, at least in her Christian friend group. So when she’s handed a strange present at the latest wedding–a 1950s magazine article of “ways to get a husband”–she decides there’s nothing to lose by trying out its advice. After all, she can’t get any more single, can she?

Her brother’s roommate sees the whole thing as a great opportunity. Not to fall in love–Kai Kamaka has no interest in the effort a serious relationship takes. No, this is a career jump start. He talks Meri into letting him film every silly husband-catching attempt for a new online show. If it goes viral, his career as a cameraman will be made.

When Meri Me debuts, it’s an instant hit. People love watching her lasso men on street corners, drop handkerchiefs for unsuspecting potential beaus, and otherwise embarrass herself in pursuit of true love. But the longer this game goes on, the less sure Kai is that he wants Meri to snag anyone but him. The only problem is that he may not be the kind of husband material she’s looking for . . .

Angela Ruth Strong sold her first Christian romance novel in 2009 then quit writing romance when her husband left her. Ten years later, God has shown her the true meaning of love, and there’s nothing else she’d rather write about. Her books have since earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been optioned for film, won the Cascade Award, and been Amazon best-sellers. She also writes non-fiction for SpiritLed Woman. To help aspiring authors, she started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho, and she teaches as an expert online at WRITE THAT BOOK.