Cupcakes and Writing: Salted Caramel

For me, cupcakes are kind of like my writerly mascot.  I decided to combine two of my favorite things, cupcakes and writing, and each Wednesday another cupcake flavor will be compared to an aspect of writing.  Well, until I run out of flavors, or inspiration, whichever comes first.  Bon appetit!   

If you've missed any of the first three Cupcakes and Writing posts in the series, you can find them in the archive here.

Salted Caramel: Creating a Page Turner

I had my first salted caramel cupcake just the other day.  Whoever thought of combining chocolate, caramel, and salt is just plain genius, because though it sounded like a weird combo, together, it was awesome!  And that salt on top made me thirsty for more.  I wonder if that's the point...

Anyway, thinking about salt, and how it makes you thirsty, made me think about books that you just can't put down, books that hook you and don't let you go.  And that led me to think about how the the three main components of a compelling read with the three unique ingredients of a salted caramel cupcake...

Conflict

Blake Snyder, author of Save the Cat (a book I highly recommend for any writer who hasn't read it yet!) says that every single chapter of a book should have conflict.  It could be at the beginning, the middle, or the end, but it needs to be there.  It could be an internal struggle, or a conflict with a friend, or the antagonist or, well, you get the idea.  Once I realized that, I went back through my WIP and checked to make sure that I had some kind of conflict in every chapter.  And it really did make my story stronger.  Because I know for me, whenever I read a book with conflict, I'm glued to the pages, because I'm eager to find out how they resolve the conflict, if there'll be more tension along the way, and how it'll affect the characters.

Pacing

Pace isn't just about how quick the plot unfolds, or if you're slowing it down to add description.  Pace is also about character development.  A lot can be revealed about a character in one conversation if you let it, or you can just let it remain a scene of dialogue.  Every word you choose to grace the page is critical to building the scene you are going for.  If you want a page turner, then ensure every word moves the story forward.  Tara Hudson, author of Hereafter and Arise says that "every three pages or so should be something exciting.  New action, new character, etc.  And in between should be an even balance of description, dialogue and action."  Easier said than done, Tara, but so true!

The Cliffhanger

I hate these and yet I love these at the same time.  So many times I'll say to myself Ok, I'll start dinner when I finish this chapter.  And then I get to the end of the chapter, and ahhhh! something amazing and suspenseful just happened and I have to keep going, dinner can wait another 5 minutes, right?  And the next thing I know I'm to the end of another chapter and ahhhh! no way did I see that coming, I have GOT to see what happens next.  Let's just say that there have been nights we have had something lame like PB&J for dinner since I couldn't put a book down.  (Lucky for me the hubster doesn't complain.)   But all this comes about simply because where you would think there's a natural place in the story to take a reading break it suddenly doesn't feel so natural. You want to stay tuned, see what happens next.  It's how successful TV shows keep viewers coming back week after week, and counting down until the next episode or the next season, just so they can FINALLY find out what will happen.  Once I realized that, I added a cliffhanger to the end of my first chapter, and then quite a few amid the rising action and climax.  Maybe then I'll make someone else suffer the I'll put the book down when I finish this chapter--wait, must keep reading... syndrome....

Anything else you can think of to make a story into a more compelling page turner?