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Hack Your Reader's Brain: Bring the Power of Brain Chemistry to Bear on Your Fiction
"Absolute gold! Want to sell? Here are the major tools you’ll need as a writer." —Novelist Hannah Alexander
"Hack Your Reader's Brain is the first book I would suggest novelists read before or during writing. Jeff has broken the power of fiction down to the very basics of how good fiction actually affects the human brain, how it makes us feel if we do it right. Other writing books contain some of these points, but Jeff explains not just the how but the why. I don’t know if every author who follows his advice will write a best-seller, but he/she will write books people will read, talk about, and remember! Bravo, Jeff!" —Lyn Cote, USA Today Best-Selling Author of over 40 novels
When we write fiction, we hope it will be effective. We hope it will thrill our readers. We hope they will be engaged.
What if you were handed a tool that took the guesswork out of it and changed your hoping to knowing?
This is that tool.
The human mind works in predictable ways, and neuroscience has explained the brain chemistry behind them.
Hack Your Reader's Brain brings the power of cutting-edge research to bear on your fiction.
Know your opening will catch the reader's attention
Know your reader will become emotionally engaged with your hero
Know how to keep your reader engaged and when to give him a break
Know exactly what to do in the climactic moment
Know what your reader's brain absolutely must have at the end
Five-time Writer's Digest author and internationally acclaimed fiction teacher Jeff Gerke takes you away from all the noise and uncertainty of writing fiction and moves you to the position of knowing precisely what to do to keep your reader turning pages deep into the night.
Jeff’s books are my go-to for writing craft. If you hope to write an engaging novel, you need to read Hack Your Reader’s Brain. I’ll be re-reading it with every new book I write and I highly recommend it. Jeff dissects the essentials with the expertise of a surgeon and leaves you equipped to become a bestselling author." —Nadine Brandes, multiple award-winning novelist
“Writing is an art, but connecting with your reader’s emotions is a science. Jeff Gerke, one of the leading writing teachers in the country, will show you how to keep your readers riveted and engaged from beginning to end. And you don’t need a degree in neuroscience to benefit from this powerful book: Jeff breaks it all down into practical steps and principles you can instantly apply to your novel. If you’re looking for the secret to becoming a more successful writer, you’ve got to read Hack Your Reader’s Brain.” —Jim Denney, author of the Timebenders series and Writing in Overdrive
"What I loved about Hack Your Reader’s Brain is that Jeff practiced what he preached and hooked me from the first paragraph. I found myself nodding in agreement, relieved to have also found solace in knowing I wasn’t alone in my frustration. His approaches to catching the reader’s attention are doable.
"Hack Your Reader's Brain is the first book I would suggest novelists read before or during writing. Jeff has broken the power of fiction down to the very basics of how good fiction actually affects the human brain, how it makes us feel if we do it right. Other writing books contain some of these points, but Jeff explains not just the how but the why. I don’t know if every author who follows his advice will write a best-seller, but he/she will write books people will read, talk about, and remember! Bravo, Jeff!" —Lyn Cote, USA Today Best-Selling Author of over 40 novels
When we write fiction, we hope it will be effective. We hope it will thrill our readers. We hope they will be engaged.
What if you were handed a tool that took the guesswork out of it and changed your hoping to knowing?
This is that tool.
The human mind works in predictable ways, and neuroscience has explained the brain chemistry behind them.
Hack Your Reader's Brain brings the power of cutting-edge research to bear on your fiction.
Know your opening will catch the reader's attention
Know your reader will become emotionally engaged with your hero
Know how to keep your reader engaged and when to give him a break
Know exactly what to do in the climactic moment
Know what your reader's brain absolutely must have at the end
Five-time Writer's Digest author and internationally acclaimed fiction teacher Jeff Gerke takes you away from all the noise and uncertainty of writing fiction and moves you to the position of knowing precisely what to do to keep your reader turning pages deep into the night.
Jeff’s books are my go-to for writing craft. If you hope to write an engaging novel, you need to read Hack Your Reader’s Brain. I’ll be re-reading it with every new book I write and I highly recommend it. Jeff dissects the essentials with the expertise of a surgeon and leaves you equipped to become a bestselling author." —Nadine Brandes, multiple award-winning novelist
“Writing is an art, but connecting with your reader’s emotions is a science. Jeff Gerke, one of the leading writing teachers in the country, will show you how to keep your readers riveted and engaged from beginning to end. And you don’t need a degree in neuroscience to benefit from this powerful book: Jeff breaks it all down into practical steps and principles you can instantly apply to your novel. If you’re looking for the secret to becoming a more successful writer, you’ve got to read Hack Your Reader’s Brain.” —Jim Denney, author of the Timebenders series and Writing in Overdrive
"What I loved about Hack Your Reader’s Brain is that Jeff practiced what he preached and hooked me from the first paragraph. I found myself nodding in agreement, relieved to have also found solace in knowing I wasn’t alone in my frustration. His approaches to catching the reader’s attention are doable.
- GenresWritingNonfiction
76 pages, Paperback
Published September 9, 2017
23 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 14, 2021
I didn't read this for two and a half years. 2.5 years, it's been clotting up my To Read shelf. I imagine it was the same self-destructive compulsion that prevents writer aspirants from doing any actual writing. In any case, I'm real mad about it. 78 pages is nothing, and the book was great.
Gerke suggests that nobody cares about writing as a craft except for failing writers, editors, agents, insufferable self-styled literati, critics, and anyone else you can file under "Wholly Irrelevant". Normal people just care about the story, and accomplished writers do whatever they want anyway. That's what makes them accomplished.
And when we say normal people, what we mean is "literate women". Women make up 80% of the fiction reader's market. Gerke suggests this is due to the innate requirement for empathy in reading fiction, that the feminine mind is more calibrated toward oxytocin responsiveness, and a number of other evolutionary biology talking points that would get him flayed, drawn, and quartered on a modern college campus.
I was partial to his analogy of the glue and the vice. Empathizing with your character bonds the reader to the character and causes them to forgive all the other of your book's myriad failures. Once again, I cannot stress enough, while Gerke may be a shitlord I am excruciatingly woke, and I am talking about readers in general, and not about women. So get that right out of your head. The glue is the tragic Freudian backstory that makes you "aww poor baby" about the protagonist and brings the work to life. The vice are the quick and dirty tricks employed to hook the reader in the moment, danger and surprise, that force the reader to momentarily relate to the character. For example, looking down the barrel of a gun. The implied lethality and tension in a sentence like that clamps the reader's attention in place, at least for a few more paragraphs. Intersperse your story liberally with poisonous snakes and car crashes, or less literal representations of danger like sitcom-caliber social embarrassment, then hit 'em with the tearjerker origin story and bam! It's a best seller, no matter how garbage your prose may be.
It's really heartening to hear I don't have to give a shit about adverb quantity or using "said" instead of "opined". j/o (just opinin)
Gerke suggests that nobody cares about writing as a craft except for failing writers, editors, agents, insufferable self-styled literati, critics, and anyone else you can file under "Wholly Irrelevant". Normal people just care about the story, and accomplished writers do whatever they want anyway. That's what makes them accomplished.
And when we say normal people, what we mean is "literate women". Women make up 80% of the fiction reader's market. Gerke suggests this is due to the innate requirement for empathy in reading fiction, that the feminine mind is more calibrated toward oxytocin responsiveness, and a number of other evolutionary biology talking points that would get him flayed, drawn, and quartered on a modern college campus.
I was partial to his analogy of the glue and the vice. Empathizing with your character bonds the reader to the character and causes them to forgive all the other of your book's myriad failures. Once again, I cannot stress enough, while Gerke may be a shitlord I am excruciatingly woke, and I am talking about readers in general, and not about women. So get that right out of your head. The glue is the tragic Freudian backstory that makes you "aww poor baby" about the protagonist and brings the work to life. The vice are the quick and dirty tricks employed to hook the reader in the moment, danger and surprise, that force the reader to momentarily relate to the character. For example, looking down the barrel of a gun. The implied lethality and tension in a sentence like that clamps the reader's attention in place, at least for a few more paragraphs. Intersperse your story liberally with poisonous snakes and car crashes, or less literal representations of danger like sitcom-caliber social embarrassment, then hit 'em with the tearjerker origin story and bam! It's a best seller, no matter how garbage your prose may be.
It's really heartening to hear I don't have to give a shit about adverb quantity or using "said" instead of "opined". j/o (just opinin)
January 18, 2018
3.5 stars.
Concise advice on the topic of what readers' brains crave and how to keep them glued to the page. Expected more indepth info, it was rather short, more like an overview.
If you look for more info on brain chemistry and storytelling, I recommend Lisa Crons "Wired For Story".
Concise advice on the topic of what readers' brains crave and how to keep them glued to the page. Expected more indepth info, it was rather short, more like an overview.
If you look for more info on brain chemistry and storytelling, I recommend Lisa Crons "Wired For Story".
September 18, 2017
Superb!
This is a great break down of the core elements needed in constructing a story using brain chemistry to show you why!a very interesting read.
This is a great break down of the core elements needed in constructing a story using brain chemistry to show you why!a very interesting read.
Read
February 9, 2025What the author says makes sense. However, as a reader these things won't make me read a book from start to finish. If I'm not into the writing style of a book I will simply not bother with it (I'm a First POV, showing not telling kind of girl)
This is his "formula":
1) Sprinkle a bit of danger and surprise (especially at the beginning of your story)
2) Create a likeable character so we can empathize with their vulnerable side
3) Give your protagonist a challenge to overcome
4) Don't forget to add tension and follow the sine wave style
5) Create anticipation with bomb tick trick etc
6) Repeat this formula until the end, which...
7) Give your reader a satisfying (happy ending)
At the end of the day, it still is just another formula for you to try.
This is his "formula":
1) Sprinkle a bit of danger and surprise (especially at the beginning of your story)
2) Create a likeable character so we can empathize with their vulnerable side
3) Give your protagonist a challenge to overcome
4) Don't forget to add tension and follow the sine wave style
5) Create anticipation with bomb tick trick etc
6) Repeat this formula until the end, which...
7) Give your reader a satisfying (happy ending)
At the end of the day, it still is just another formula for you to try.
July 11, 2020
Every Fiction Writer Should Read This!
Easy to read, simple organization, fun exercises to practice, and specific examples most writers should recognize. Just pick it up -- the author did with this nonfiction what he told us to do in our fiction. He engaged me right at the beginning and kept me reading -- I didn't even want to go to sleep with my creative juices stirred to overflowing!
Easy to read, simple organization, fun exercises to practice, and specific examples most writers should recognize. Just pick it up -- the author did with this nonfiction what he told us to do in our fiction. He engaged me right at the beginning and kept me reading -- I didn't even want to go to sleep with my creative juices stirred to overflowing!
May 23, 2021
Taps into what we authors really NEED
I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to take one of Jeff Gerke’s writing workshops and this book distills his writing gold wisdom into pure form.
This is the answer to all of us, as authors, groan when some poorly written book gains unbelievable popularity.
I’ll be using and returning to this s gem of a book as I write abd rewrite
I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to take one of Jeff Gerke’s writing workshops and this book distills his writing gold wisdom into pure form.
This is the answer to all of us, as authors, groan when some poorly written book gains unbelievable popularity.
I’ll be using and returning to this s gem of a book as I write abd rewrite
October 22, 2018
This was a great read. I loved the brain science and the suggestions for “hacking” the reader. I have already included some elements in my work in progress that I hadn’t previously considered. Hopefully I can keep it up.
May 31, 2017
Applying science to fiction; brilliant!
Applying science to fiction; brilliant! As an editor, this is a great resource to help my clients with reader engagement!!
Applying science to fiction; brilliant! As an editor, this is a great resource to help my clients with reader engagement!!
December 6, 2016
Usual well-researched, food-for-thought writing craft book by Jeff Gerke. Excellent points made with clear examples. A quick but worthy read for writers of all levels. A novice writer could do much worse than start here. A pro may learn something new about the whys and wherefores.
December 13, 2016
Short, but sweet! Some great suggestions for writing a book readers won't be able to put down. I like that there's actually some science behind what makes a page-turner. I'm inspired with some new ways to hack my readers' brains!
March 28, 2022
Expected More From An Otherwise Great Writing Instructor
Really felt there was more that could be offered than what amounted to a pep talk. There's little that is actionable.
Either of Lisa Cron's book are far better reads on the subject.
Really felt there was more that could be offered than what amounted to a pep talk. There's little that is actionable.
Either of Lisa Cron's book are far better reads on the subject.
October 15, 2023
Read this one before you read the craft books. :)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews