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How To Write a Page Turner: Craft a Story Your Readers Can't Put Down
Infuse Your Fiction with the Powerful Tug of Tension!
Tension is the heart of conflict, the backbone of uncertainty, the hallmark of danger. It keeps readers guessing and characters on their toes. When you've got tension in place, stories leave readers breathless and wanting more. When it's missing, scenes feel inconsequential, plots drag, and characters meander.
Learning the craft of writing can sometimes feel like a paint by numbers approach--connect compelling character A to plot event B. To avoid writing that's formulaic, predictable, and slow, How to Write a Page Turner will help you sew the threads of tension tight for an unforgettable story. You'll learn how
• Recognize the essential tension elements of danger, conflict, uncertainty, and withholding, and add them to your fiction
• Create levels of tension in your characters through flaws, dialogue, power struggles, and more
• Build tension at energetic markers throughout the plot
• Use intimate imagery, strong sentences, and well-chosen words to build tension in exposition
While this book walks you through the key areas that need tension building, from character to plot, it also delves deeper, analyzing exceptional examples from contemporary fiction's most gripping page-turners. So as you dive into the inner conflicts of a character's deepest psyche, to the mechanics of how you reveal information to the reader, you'll also discover how to craft a story your readers can't put down!
Tension is the heart of conflict, the backbone of uncertainty, the hallmark of danger. It keeps readers guessing and characters on their toes. When you've got tension in place, stories leave readers breathless and wanting more. When it's missing, scenes feel inconsequential, plots drag, and characters meander.
Learning the craft of writing can sometimes feel like a paint by numbers approach--connect compelling character A to plot event B. To avoid writing that's formulaic, predictable, and slow, How to Write a Page Turner will help you sew the threads of tension tight for an unforgettable story. You'll learn how
• Recognize the essential tension elements of danger, conflict, uncertainty, and withholding, and add them to your fiction
• Create levels of tension in your characters through flaws, dialogue, power struggles, and more
• Build tension at energetic markers throughout the plot
• Use intimate imagery, strong sentences, and well-chosen words to build tension in exposition
While this book walks you through the key areas that need tension building, from character to plot, it also delves deeper, analyzing exceptional examples from contemporary fiction's most gripping page-turners. So as you dive into the inner conflicts of a character's deepest psyche, to the mechanics of how you reveal information to the reader, you'll also discover how to craft a story your readers can't put down!
240 pages, Paperback
First published February 11, 2019
90 people are currently reading
394 people want to read
About the author
Jordan Rosenfeld
17 books365 followersJordan Rosenfeld is author of the novels Fallout, Women in Red and Forged in Grace and seven books on the craft of writing, including the brand new Sound of Story: Developing Voice and Tone in Writing, How to Write a Page-Turner, the bestselling Make a Scene, Writing the Intimate Character, A Writer’s Guide to Persistence, Writing Deep Scenes and Write Free. Her freelance writing has been published in hundreds of publications, including: The Atlantic, The New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, Salon, Scientific American, The Rumpus, Writer’s Digest Magazine, The Washington Post and many more. She is also a freelance manuscript editor, writing coach and teaches online classes. Jordanrosenfeld.net. She blogs about midlife, creativity and writing at the Substack "Writing In the Pause."
Jordan holds an MFA in Fiction and Literature from the Bennington Writing Seminars, and a BA from the Hutchins School at Sonoma State University. Her essays and stories have appeared in literary journals such as the Blue Moon Review, Night Train, the Pedastal Magazine, Pindeldyboz, Opium, LitPot, Smokelong Quarterly, Spoiled Ink, the Summerset Review, Void Magazine, Zaum and in literary anthologies. Her fiction has also been performed by actors as part of the Page on Stage project in Santa Rosa.
For three years, Jordan hosted the literary radio program Word by Word: Conversations with Writers, which received an NEA Chairman’s grant for literary projects in 2005, on NPR-affiliate KRCB radio. She interviewed authors such as T.C. Boyle, Aimee Bender, Louise Erdrich, and Mary Gaitskill.
Jordan holds an MFA in Fiction and Literature from the Bennington Writing Seminars, and a BA from the Hutchins School at Sonoma State University. Her essays and stories have appeared in literary journals such as the Blue Moon Review, Night Train, the Pedastal Magazine, Pindeldyboz, Opium, LitPot, Smokelong Quarterly, Spoiled Ink, the Summerset Review, Void Magazine, Zaum and in literary anthologies. Her fiction has also been performed by actors as part of the Page on Stage project in Santa Rosa.
For three years, Jordan hosted the literary radio program Word by Word: Conversations with Writers, which received an NEA Chairman’s grant for literary projects in 2005, on NPR-affiliate KRCB radio. She interviewed authors such as T.C. Boyle, Aimee Bender, Louise Erdrich, and Mary Gaitskill.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
March 18, 2019
How to Write a Page Turner is an excellent guide for authors and students alike. Jordan Rosenfeld cleverly covers the elements and best practices of crafting a story readers will become engrossed in. Tension is the hallmark of the proverbial page-turner and this book adroitly covers weaving into one’s scenes the elements of tension with conflict, danger, uncertainty and withholding. The author presents best practices for creating tension in characters using character goals, character flaws and antagonists. Techniques to create effective tension in plots and tension in exposition using effectual words, inventive information reveals and emotive imagery are reviewed. The writing prompts are practical and pragmatic. Five stars.
February 22, 2019
Why do some books keep you awake till the small hours while others gather dust on the bedside table? Rosenfeld shows how writers can keep their readers hooked. (Tension is the key, I discovered.)
I actually found this book quite gripping itself. There were lots of examples from novels (many of which have been very recently published), giving the impression that Rosenfeld has current market knowledge.
I particularly liked that there was a ‘roadmap’ for a ‘page turner’ – starting with the set-up, passing the ‘point of no return’ and ‘dark night’, and on to the ‘triumph’.
I found it quite inspiring. I’ll certainly be looking out for some of these tactics in the next novel I read and - yes - maybe I will even write one myself!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC
I actually found this book quite gripping itself. There were lots of examples from novels (many of which have been very recently published), giving the impression that Rosenfeld has current market knowledge.
I particularly liked that there was a ‘roadmap’ for a ‘page turner’ – starting with the set-up, passing the ‘point of no return’ and ‘dark night’, and on to the ‘triumph’.
I found it quite inspiring. I’ll certainly be looking out for some of these tactics in the next novel I read and - yes - maybe I will even write one myself!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC
March 22, 2019
This is a good book to read not only for aspiring authors, but any student or person who just wants to write better. It has a lot of good information and uses text from published books as examples. Some of the excerpts are not clean, and I wish she would have chosen other material, but her point get across nonetheless. If you have read some of the author’s previous works, you might find some of this content redundant. If you haven’t, than I think you will enjoy this book.
This would be a book worth purchasing to refer back to often when writing
“How to Write a Page Turner” is interesting and is a hard to put down page turner (see what I did there?).
Thanks for Jordan Rosenburg and Writer’s Digest Books for a free ARC.
This would be a book worth purchasing to refer back to often when writing
“How to Write a Page Turner” is interesting and is a hard to put down page turner (see what I did there?).
Thanks for Jordan Rosenburg and Writer’s Digest Books for a free ARC.
September 27, 2019
I have just finished reading Jordan Rosenfeld’s ‘How to Write a Page Turner’. I thought the advice in it was invaluable.
Not only that, but it is detailed; too many ‘how to’ books for writers are not sufficiently specific. You might be told to ‘infuse the pages with tension’ and to ‘keep raising the conflict’ besides, ‘creating memorable characters’ , but the writers might just as well say ‘be talented’ ‘write with flair’ or some such thing.
This advice is also concise. There is no waffling and rambling. You are told exactly what to do and how to do it.
The author’s main argument is this: what is needed to create a page turner is tension, tension all the time. We are often told that tension and conflict are what drive a plot forward, but in fact, conflict is arguably another aspect of tension.
The author breaks down the specific forms of tension into four elements, danger, conflict, uncertainty and withholding. She describes how these can be utilised, and in further chapters goes on to discuss in detail tension with characters, plot tension, and tension in exposition.
In the part on plotting, there is an especially helpful bit on a plotting device that may well prove priceless for people like me, who generally start out without any but the vaguest plot in mind.
Ms Rosenfeld divides the sections of a book into various ‘Energetic Markers.
Firstly, there is the Set Up: that is, your character’s ordinary world. This is closely followed – usually, within approximately 30 pages –by the Inciting Incident, namely, some sort of threat to the order of that character’s ordinary world. About a quarter of the way through comes the Point of No Return, that is, when your character becomes inextricably caught up in a course of action or events from which there is no returning to the old status quo. In due course, the Dark Night and the Triumph follow.
The latter is when your protagonist takes on the antagonist, be that antagonist an arch evil dictator or a series of impersonal conventions. This does not necessarily lead to a happy ending, but should be some sort of moral triumph.
(This interests me, as Nineteen Eighty Four, in the final confrontation between O’Brien and Winston Smith, far from there being any sort of moral triumph for the forces of good, they are in the person of Smith completely destroyed; he not only betrays Julia, but he comes to love Big Brother. The reader is left with a sense of complete despair).
There is detailed advice about how to maintain that tension at each of these points. Obviously, however, with regard to keeping up a reader’s interest, the most important part is the beginning. If people are going to stop reading, it is usually in the first quarter of the book (here, I think I can claim a record; at least two people stopped reading halfway through That Scoundrel Émile Dubois when I thought that I had really ramped the excitement up, with vampirism and time warps raining down.)
Ms Rosenfeld provides some important hints about retaining reader interest early in the novel. She points out that here, to keep your readers’ attention, you must have as much excitement as you can. You must make the character sympathetic, not by giving a lot of detail about past trauma, etc – but by putting him or her in a situation where there is tension from the start, due to unhappiness, some sort of imminent threat, external or internal, and perhaps due to some unspecified past event that has brought about this state of unease or threat.
She describes how large chunks of back story, an excess of exposition, or an unexplained or not sufficiently relevant inciting incident can lose readers’ attention in those first, crucial pages up to the ‘call to change’ in the inciting incident.
There are also some excellent hints about style and the use of imagery to create gripping word pictures.
Another interesting aspect of Rosenfeld’s approach is her recommendation that rather than thinking in terms of plot development – apart from through those ‘Energetic Markers’ that is – the writer should think in terms of individual scenes, each of which must have its own goal and arc of tension, the combination of which create the plot structure.
My main criticism of this book is that I didn’t understand why the author made reference to, but chose to use almost nothing in the way of example from classic, brilliant writers ike Mary Shelley, Margaret Atwood and Stephen King.
Instead, she quoted extensively from a range of less distinguished authors. Some were excellent, but unfortunately, some, far from making me want to turn the page, made me want to stop reading on the spot.
It may have been that I was in a particularly cranky mindset when I read this. Still, in the extracts I came across sentences without subjects or verbs. As Ms. Rosenfeld shows from her advice that she has an expert knowledge of grammatical rules, I think there must be a general understanding that in YA fantasy these can be abandoned for effect.
There were also fantasy worlds apparently based vaguely on European feudalism that even from the extracts sounded economically impossible with such a small economic surplus (unless they maintained their oversized courts largely through magic). There was an astonishing historical anachronism in a serious historical novel that made me snort into my tea.
Many of the characters seemed to be flaccidly self-indulgent and self-pitying (I hope these were the tension creating flaws that they needed to overcome). Finally, a large number of the names were (seemingly unintentionally) ludicrous.
As these are best selling books, my objections are obviously a minority viewpoint. A couple of the books sounded so interesting that I may well get round to reading them myself.
Overall, then, I would recommend reading this book for the excellent advice about tension, and only skimming through the extracts.
Not only that, but it is detailed; too many ‘how to’ books for writers are not sufficiently specific. You might be told to ‘infuse the pages with tension’ and to ‘keep raising the conflict’ besides, ‘creating memorable characters’ , but the writers might just as well say ‘be talented’ ‘write with flair’ or some such thing.
This advice is also concise. There is no waffling and rambling. You are told exactly what to do and how to do it.
The author’s main argument is this: what is needed to create a page turner is tension, tension all the time. We are often told that tension and conflict are what drive a plot forward, but in fact, conflict is arguably another aspect of tension.
The author breaks down the specific forms of tension into four elements, danger, conflict, uncertainty and withholding. She describes how these can be utilised, and in further chapters goes on to discuss in detail tension with characters, plot tension, and tension in exposition.
In the part on plotting, there is an especially helpful bit on a plotting device that may well prove priceless for people like me, who generally start out without any but the vaguest plot in mind.
Ms Rosenfeld divides the sections of a book into various ‘Energetic Markers.
Firstly, there is the Set Up: that is, your character’s ordinary world. This is closely followed – usually, within approximately 30 pages –by the Inciting Incident, namely, some sort of threat to the order of that character’s ordinary world. About a quarter of the way through comes the Point of No Return, that is, when your character becomes inextricably caught up in a course of action or events from which there is no returning to the old status quo. In due course, the Dark Night and the Triumph follow.
The latter is when your protagonist takes on the antagonist, be that antagonist an arch evil dictator or a series of impersonal conventions. This does not necessarily lead to a happy ending, but should be some sort of moral triumph.
(This interests me, as Nineteen Eighty Four, in the final confrontation between O’Brien and Winston Smith, far from there being any sort of moral triumph for the forces of good, they are in the person of Smith completely destroyed; he not only betrays Julia, but he comes to love Big Brother. The reader is left with a sense of complete despair).
There is detailed advice about how to maintain that tension at each of these points. Obviously, however, with regard to keeping up a reader’s interest, the most important part is the beginning. If people are going to stop reading, it is usually in the first quarter of the book (here, I think I can claim a record; at least two people stopped reading halfway through That Scoundrel Émile Dubois when I thought that I had really ramped the excitement up, with vampirism and time warps raining down.)
Ms Rosenfeld provides some important hints about retaining reader interest early in the novel. She points out that here, to keep your readers’ attention, you must have as much excitement as you can. You must make the character sympathetic, not by giving a lot of detail about past trauma, etc – but by putting him or her in a situation where there is tension from the start, due to unhappiness, some sort of imminent threat, external or internal, and perhaps due to some unspecified past event that has brought about this state of unease or threat.
She describes how large chunks of back story, an excess of exposition, or an unexplained or not sufficiently relevant inciting incident can lose readers’ attention in those first, crucial pages up to the ‘call to change’ in the inciting incident.
There are also some excellent hints about style and the use of imagery to create gripping word pictures.
Another interesting aspect of Rosenfeld’s approach is her recommendation that rather than thinking in terms of plot development – apart from through those ‘Energetic Markers’ that is – the writer should think in terms of individual scenes, each of which must have its own goal and arc of tension, the combination of which create the plot structure.
My main criticism of this book is that I didn’t understand why the author made reference to, but chose to use almost nothing in the way of example from classic, brilliant writers ike Mary Shelley, Margaret Atwood and Stephen King.
Instead, she quoted extensively from a range of less distinguished authors. Some were excellent, but unfortunately, some, far from making me want to turn the page, made me want to stop reading on the spot.
It may have been that I was in a particularly cranky mindset when I read this. Still, in the extracts I came across sentences without subjects or verbs. As Ms. Rosenfeld shows from her advice that she has an expert knowledge of grammatical rules, I think there must be a general understanding that in YA fantasy these can be abandoned for effect.
There were also fantasy worlds apparently based vaguely on European feudalism that even from the extracts sounded economically impossible with such a small economic surplus (unless they maintained their oversized courts largely through magic). There was an astonishing historical anachronism in a serious historical novel that made me snort into my tea.
Many of the characters seemed to be flaccidly self-indulgent and self-pitying (I hope these were the tension creating flaws that they needed to overcome). Finally, a large number of the names were (seemingly unintentionally) ludicrous.
As these are best selling books, my objections are obviously a minority viewpoint. A couple of the books sounded so interesting that I may well get round to reading them myself.
Overall, then, I would recommend reading this book for the excellent advice about tension, and only skimming through the extracts.
March 20, 2019
4.5 Stars
Super fast, to the point, and enjoyable. More of a guide to tension as opposed to a general writing advice book, it focuses on how to ramp up tension in different ways and maintain it, only touching briefly on other aspects. I genuinely love the approach of writing specialized advice books for different areas of writing instead of lumping them all into one title.
I would say this is more of a reference book you can refer to again and again while writing or revising your books, as more of a field-guide than a one-and-done read. It features examples from current popular books which I think will especially help beginning readers grasp what they're being told and absorb it. Check this out if you're looking to keep your skills sharp, a refresher is always nice.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy!
Super fast, to the point, and enjoyable. More of a guide to tension as opposed to a general writing advice book, it focuses on how to ramp up tension in different ways and maintain it, only touching briefly on other aspects. I genuinely love the approach of writing specialized advice books for different areas of writing instead of lumping them all into one title.
I would say this is more of a reference book you can refer to again and again while writing or revising your books, as more of a field-guide than a one-and-done read. It features examples from current popular books which I think will especially help beginning readers grasp what they're being told and absorb it. Check this out if you're looking to keep your skills sharp, a refresher is always nice.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy!
March 20, 2019
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
An excellent read! I was worried this book wouldn’t stand out in the sea of writing books I’ve recently read, but I was pleasantly suprised! The book breaks down the many doffernt ways you can create tension. I especially appreciate the section on creating tension in the dialogue.
Great for both beginners and experienced writers.
An excellent read! I was worried this book wouldn’t stand out in the sea of writing books I’ve recently read, but I was pleasantly suprised! The book breaks down the many doffernt ways you can create tension. I especially appreciate the section on creating tension in the dialogue.
Great for both beginners and experienced writers.
March 26, 2020
I had the pleasure of listening to Jordan Rosenfeld at a writing conference. I was so impressed that I bought two of her books. How to Write a Page Turner is a superb how-to guide for crafting a novel. Easy to understand with the use of excellent examples. Jordan gets it right. Follow her methods to write a best seller.
April 28, 2019
I have a journalism degree and have been writing marketing copy and news article type stories for more than 20 years. But being tired of the "same old thing," I decided that I would take on a new personal challenge: to write a fiction book. Because fiction writing is so different from what I've done in the past, I've been poring over books that will help me learn all about the craft of fiction writing. That's why Jordan Rosenfeld's "How to Write a Page-Turner: Craft a Story Your Readers Can't Put Down" caught my eye. I was happy to have the opportunity to read and review it, thanks to NetGalley and Writer's Digest Books.
"How to Write a Page-Turner" is filled with ideas and information that will turn your writing into compelling stories that the reader can't put down. Rosenfeld discusses the essential element of tension, and how to achieve it with scenarios that involve danger, conflict, uncertainty and withholding.
She shows how you can use your book's main and minor characters to create tension, not only through power struggles, but also through the use of specific words, timing and internal struggles.
Then she moves on to discuss how you can add tension to your story through plot elements. A well-placed and unexpected twist in the story can keep readers on the edge of their seats, for example. She also talks about how important it is to eliminate unnecessary words, which can deflate the rising tension.
There's so much information in this book that I read it twice. I love that at the end of each chapter, there are some recommended exercises to help you apply the techniques she's mentioned. She recommends taking your current work in progress, and asking yourself a variety of questions about tension and timing. This is very helpful.
For each of her suggestions, she includes passages from fiction books which successfully created tension using her recommended techniques. It was very helpful to read tight, descriptive passages that often built tension in just a few words or sentences. These passages were so compelling that I found myself jotting down the names of these books and adding them to my "Books I've Got to Read" list.
And that's the biggest disadvantage of this book: I now have a huge list of well-written books that I'm dying to read. When am I going to have time to write my own fiction story? (smile)
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in writing a fiction book that will capture and hold your readers until the very end!
"How to Write a Page-Turner" is filled with ideas and information that will turn your writing into compelling stories that the reader can't put down. Rosenfeld discusses the essential element of tension, and how to achieve it with scenarios that involve danger, conflict, uncertainty and withholding.
She shows how you can use your book's main and minor characters to create tension, not only through power struggles, but also through the use of specific words, timing and internal struggles.
Then she moves on to discuss how you can add tension to your story through plot elements. A well-placed and unexpected twist in the story can keep readers on the edge of their seats, for example. She also talks about how important it is to eliminate unnecessary words, which can deflate the rising tension.
There's so much information in this book that I read it twice. I love that at the end of each chapter, there are some recommended exercises to help you apply the techniques she's mentioned. She recommends taking your current work in progress, and asking yourself a variety of questions about tension and timing. This is very helpful.
For each of her suggestions, she includes passages from fiction books which successfully created tension using her recommended techniques. It was very helpful to read tight, descriptive passages that often built tension in just a few words or sentences. These passages were so compelling that I found myself jotting down the names of these books and adding them to my "Books I've Got to Read" list.
And that's the biggest disadvantage of this book: I now have a huge list of well-written books that I'm dying to read. When am I going to have time to write my own fiction story? (smile)
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in writing a fiction book that will capture and hold your readers until the very end!
March 11, 2019
Jordan Rosenfeld's How to Write A Page Turner is one of those books on writing that you need by your side at all times when writing and editing your book! What a great resource for beginning and intermediate writers! There is something to learn and take away from every section. Rosenfeld mainly focuses on developing tension (also called suspense) throughout the story, not just in the scenes. She breaks it down into four parts: Essential Tension Elements, Tension with Characters, Plot Tension, and Tension in Exposition. There are so many great examples within each of these sections. Rosenfeld really gives you a well-defined understanding of how to apply them to your dialogue, scenes, character development, overall plot, and settings.
Overall, this book provides a lot of key nuggets on taking your writing to the next level. I highly recommend this book to writers who need help in igniting that page-turning spark with their readers. Perfect for teens and adults! Definitely a must-have in print!
*Received a DRC for an honest review
Overall, this book provides a lot of key nuggets on taking your writing to the next level. I highly recommend this book to writers who need help in igniting that page-turning spark with their readers. Perfect for teens and adults! Definitely a must-have in print!
*Received a DRC for an honest review
August 27, 2019
Lots of concrete examples and actionable tips. Will write a longer review when (if) I try some of the techniques here, but these are a few books that was cited as a good example. I haven't read them, but if you have and you don't consider them good writing (in terms of getting you to turn the page), then this book probably isn't for you:
- A court of thorns and roses by Sarah J. Maas
- The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir
- Desert Places by Blake Crouch
- The Last Illusion by Porochista Khakpour
- Beartown
- Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
- A court of thorns and roses by Sarah J. Maas
- The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir
- Desert Places by Blake Crouch
- The Last Illusion by Porochista Khakpour
- Beartown
- Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
June 30, 2019
One of the best books written on perhaps the most important element of writing: tension.
Want to read
March 29, 2019I was very happy to have gotten the opportunity from NetGalley to read this book, it is just the kind of book I have been looking for!
What a great book for someone like me, who's looking for as many advice and as much help I can get on how to write a book!
It was full of great tips, and good inspiration, very well written and easy to understand.
What a great book for someone like me, who's looking for as many advice and as much help I can get on how to write a book!
It was full of great tips, and good inspiration, very well written and easy to understand.
March 10, 2019
An ARC ebook copy of this book was provided by F+W Media via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
A useful, well arranged and full of examples guide to tension and how to breathe it into the plot, scenes, characters and style.
I recommend it for anyone who already has some experience in writing novels/novellas, for it is easier to identify techniques you are already using and compare them to the new ones that you may discover in this book.
I think this book works perfectly for people who are editing their draft and also for those who are still working on their novel/novella and have writer's block and are looking for inspiration. The amount of variety and details in how to make your book more engaging and appealing is incredible. Plus, you may have read some of the books used in the examples, and it is a great opportunity to analyse through a different lense a work you may (or may not) have enjoyed!
Upside: At the end of every chapter, there is a summary of the main points covered, so you may read that to see if you need to read in more detail certain sections of the book.
Downside: Some of the examples were quite short and didn't illustrate properly what was explained in the sections. Also, I think that, depending on the genre you are writing, the "Now, you" exercises can be too extreme. A book doesn't need to have every type of tension builder.
I will definitely be using this book when I begin to write fiction again.
A useful, well arranged and full of examples guide to tension and how to breathe it into the plot, scenes, characters and style.
I recommend it for anyone who already has some experience in writing novels/novellas, for it is easier to identify techniques you are already using and compare them to the new ones that you may discover in this book.
I think this book works perfectly for people who are editing their draft and also for those who are still working on their novel/novella and have writer's block and are looking for inspiration. The amount of variety and details in how to make your book more engaging and appealing is incredible. Plus, you may have read some of the books used in the examples, and it is a great opportunity to analyse through a different lense a work you may (or may not) have enjoyed!
Upside: At the end of every chapter, there is a summary of the main points covered, so you may read that to see if you need to read in more detail certain sections of the book.
Downside: Some of the examples were quite short and didn't illustrate properly what was explained in the sections. Also, I think that, depending on the genre you are writing, the "Now, you" exercises can be too extreme. A book doesn't need to have every type of tension builder.
I will definitely be using this book when I begin to write fiction again.
April 26, 2019
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
How To Write A Page-Turner is a style manual and tutorial guide for story crafting by Jordan Rosenfeld. Released 19th March 2019 by F + W Media, it's 240 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
Apart from workshops and classroom instruction, there's a dearth of good technical information for the aspiring author. This book looks at different types of tension, how to create and maintain dramatic tension (and how much is enough and not too much), and gives tips and written examples along with the tutorial text.
This -is- a technical writing manual, and will probably have limited interest for people who aren't writers or aspiring writers. The writing examples are clearly written and the sections encourage the reader to use the lessons on their own characters and plots. The author also cleverly uses actual excerpts from illustrative passages from other works of fiction (credited of course) to illustrate the points she's making. I was interested enough in some of the works she quotes with which I was previously unfamiliar to go and follow them up.
This is a useful guide. Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
How To Write A Page-Turner is a style manual and tutorial guide for story crafting by Jordan Rosenfeld. Released 19th March 2019 by F + W Media, it's 240 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
Apart from workshops and classroom instruction, there's a dearth of good technical information for the aspiring author. This book looks at different types of tension, how to create and maintain dramatic tension (and how much is enough and not too much), and gives tips and written examples along with the tutorial text.
This -is- a technical writing manual, and will probably have limited interest for people who aren't writers or aspiring writers. The writing examples are clearly written and the sections encourage the reader to use the lessons on their own characters and plots. The author also cleverly uses actual excerpts from illustrative passages from other works of fiction (credited of course) to illustrate the points she's making. I was interested enough in some of the works she quotes with which I was previously unfamiliar to go and follow them up.
This is a useful guide. Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
January 21, 2020
Discover ways to increase the tension in your story to create an exciting book.
The author breaks this book down into four sections: Essential Tension Elements, Tension With Characters, Plot Tension and Tension in Exposition. The sections include how to create more tension, examples and tension takeaways.
According to the author, there is one important truth about storytelling: “A good story is a created , stylized and crafted version of reality but is at once sharper and more intense as well as condensed, carved down to is most interesting essentials …”
At the end of a section, Jordan Rosenfeld asks the reader how they can apply to lessons learned in that section to their own asked the reader how they can apply to lessons learned in that section to their own work (i.e. “I guarantee there’s a place in your story (or scene) where you can take that element of tension up a notch. Challenge yourself to find one new place in the beginning, middle and end to add more danger.”
This book is definitely recommended.
I received an ARC from Writer’s Digest Books (F&W Media) through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.
The author breaks this book down into four sections: Essential Tension Elements, Tension With Characters, Plot Tension and Tension in Exposition. The sections include how to create more tension, examples and tension takeaways.
According to the author, there is one important truth about storytelling: “A good story is a created , stylized and crafted version of reality but is at once sharper and more intense as well as condensed, carved down to is most interesting essentials …”
At the end of a section, Jordan Rosenfeld asks the reader how they can apply to lessons learned in that section to their own asked the reader how they can apply to lessons learned in that section to their own work (i.e. “I guarantee there’s a place in your story (or scene) where you can take that element of tension up a notch. Challenge yourself to find one new place in the beginning, middle and end to add more danger.”
This book is definitely recommended.
I received an ARC from Writer’s Digest Books (F&W Media) through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.
March 10, 2019
I'm not a writer, I'm interested in writing from an academic point of view. Some books grab me and don't let me go for a single heart stopping moment until I finish breathlessly at 4am. Others leave me cold, even a long awaited novel from a beloved author. I want to know why and often I can't really put my finger on the difference.
This book has helped to open my eyes to what makes a story good, why some books endure, why some characters are unforgettable and why others flop. Between the easy conversational style and the many useful examples, I have learned so much. From now on I will be reading with a new appreciation for tension, scene dynamics and plot construction. I now understand why I find some characters dull, and others feel like real people. I can see exactly why some chapters are slow and turgid and how they could be improved. How To Write A Page-Turner is priceless for aspiring writers, and just plain fascinating for the rest of us.
This book has helped to open my eyes to what makes a story good, why some books endure, why some characters are unforgettable and why others flop. Between the easy conversational style and the many useful examples, I have learned so much. From now on I will be reading with a new appreciation for tension, scene dynamics and plot construction. I now understand why I find some characters dull, and others feel like real people. I can see exactly why some chapters are slow and turgid and how they could be improved. How To Write A Page-Turner is priceless for aspiring writers, and just plain fascinating for the rest of us.
March 22, 2019
If you want your readers to lose sleep because they can’t stop reading your book, How to Write a Page-turner will explain step-by-step how to it.
Beginning with the four types of tension (danger, conflict, uncertainty, and withholding), the book explains exactly how to add each one to the characters, plot, and wording of your book. With copious examples from books of various genres, it is easy to see how other authors have used the described techniques to good effect.
I have never read a Writer’s Digest Book that wasn’t a great tool. How to Write a Page-turner is no exception. This book assumes that you are editing your draft manuscript to ratchet up the tension. However, it would also be an interesting read for those still struggling to write that first chapter. 4 stars!
Thanks to Writer’s Digest and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Beginning with the four types of tension (danger, conflict, uncertainty, and withholding), the book explains exactly how to add each one to the characters, plot, and wording of your book. With copious examples from books of various genres, it is easy to see how other authors have used the described techniques to good effect.
I have never read a Writer’s Digest Book that wasn’t a great tool. How to Write a Page-turner is no exception. This book assumes that you are editing your draft manuscript to ratchet up the tension. However, it would also be an interesting read for those still struggling to write that first chapter. 4 stars!
Thanks to Writer’s Digest and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 1, 2019
I love to read books on writing since I am a beginner writer myself. This book is a good addition to a writer's library for reference and advice on how to plan to write a book a reader won't fall asleep reading.
The information is presented logically and the chapters work well together. The only quibble I have is the long passages from other books as examples of the points the author is making. I also think the points could have been made in more of a list format for easier reading.
A good book for beginner writers, I rate it 3/5 stars.
The information is presented logically and the chapters work well together. The only quibble I have is the long passages from other books as examples of the points the author is making. I also think the points could have been made in more of a list format for easier reading.
A good book for beginner writers, I rate it 3/5 stars.
May 15, 2019
How To Write A Page-Turner
by Jordan Rosenfeld
If your new to writing or looking for help in writing for English Class, this book will help you through the process. It will take you through creating elements for a story. Building the plot using the created elements. Then your onto developing your characters and their place in the plot.
This would make a great reference tool.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.
#Netgalley
by Jordan Rosenfeld
If your new to writing or looking for help in writing for English Class, this book will help you through the process. It will take you through creating elements for a story. Building the plot using the created elements. Then your onto developing your characters and their place in the plot.
This would make a great reference tool.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.
#Netgalley
April 14, 2019
Sometimes just thinking of a story isn’t enough to grab readers and keep them excited with your words. We all have to start somewhere and that place is to just begin writing, but when you go back to reread and find holes, lack-luster descriptions and disjointed chapters, you might need a boost.
There are a lot of How-to books on writing that I could recommend, but this newest one really blew my socks off and gave me a renewed desire to write!
There are a lot of How-to books on writing that I could recommend, but this newest one really blew my socks off and gave me a renewed desire to write!
July 19, 2019
This book has much to recommend. It breaks down the importance of tension from overarching plot to characters to scenes to sentences. Numerous examples are provided from published texts. There's some excellent advice, and should be taken in small sips to prevent drowning . . . but it's all solid, and rooted in strong, evocative writing.
March 13, 2019
I think young aspiring writers or students preparing for their GCSE will find this a useful tool. I wasn't always sure about the choice of text used as example but I can see how that was designed to appeal to a younger audience. Overall a neat little guide full of easy to apply tips.
May 11, 2019
Does give a lot of different topics on writing a book. Uses examples/scenarios of other books to show what is being talked about. Tension Takeaways / Now You - a page at end of chapter - bullet points/ summary to help reader out. A nice look at seeing different things one could put into your book.
April 17, 2019
This is a fab book for those looking to write their own New York Times Best Seller. It goes through everything you need and is good to read all the way through to get your head in the right space and keep by your side throughout as a reference point.
March 11, 2019
This was a very informative book. I was stuck on a draft. I was working on and after reading this book I found some great ideas to get writing again.
March 20, 2019
How To Write A Page-Turner
Craft a Story Your Readers Can't Put Down
by Jordan Rosenfeld
Release date: March 19th, 2019
I received a complimentary ARC copy of How To Write A Page-Turner,
Craft a Story Your Readers Can't Put Down by Jordan Rosenfeld from Net Galley and F+W Media/Writer's Digest Books.
If you are a novice or seasoned writer who wants to publish dynamic and interesting novels... How To Write A Page-Turner is the perfect book for you.
There are novels that keep you riveted, you know the ones, the stories that keep you flipping pages into the wee hours of the morning? How To Write A Page-Turner teaches you all about keeping the tension in your story high, creating a story that is innovative as well as riveting and leaving your readers glued to the page.
I have quite a few writing books (okay, approx half my office) and I have to say this will definitely be in my writing library as a go-to book for a long time. Filled with excellent tips on creating and maintaining tension in your writing, HTWPT feels different from the plethora of “how-to” books already out there.
Jordan divides her book into four parts: Essential Tension Elements, Tension with Characters, Plot Tension, and Tension in Exposition. Each part breaks it down even further, covering everything from character development, writing effective dialogue, plotting your tension at just the right spots in your novel as well as word usage, sentence structure and writing imagery. She also gives a review at the end of each chapter as well as exercises/tips for you to implement in your own writing, to help you appraise and polish your WIP to until it's a page-turner fraught with tension!
I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to all writers looking to take their writing to the next level.
Craft a Story Your Readers Can't Put Down
by Jordan Rosenfeld
Release date: March 19th, 2019
I received a complimentary ARC copy of How To Write A Page-Turner,
Craft a Story Your Readers Can't Put Down by Jordan Rosenfeld from Net Galley and F+W Media/Writer's Digest Books.
If you are a novice or seasoned writer who wants to publish dynamic and interesting novels... How To Write A Page-Turner is the perfect book for you.
There are novels that keep you riveted, you know the ones, the stories that keep you flipping pages into the wee hours of the morning? How To Write A Page-Turner teaches you all about keeping the tension in your story high, creating a story that is innovative as well as riveting and leaving your readers glued to the page.
I have quite a few writing books (okay, approx half my office) and I have to say this will definitely be in my writing library as a go-to book for a long time. Filled with excellent tips on creating and maintaining tension in your writing, HTWPT feels different from the plethora of “how-to” books already out there.
Jordan divides her book into four parts: Essential Tension Elements, Tension with Characters, Plot Tension, and Tension in Exposition. Each part breaks it down even further, covering everything from character development, writing effective dialogue, plotting your tension at just the right spots in your novel as well as word usage, sentence structure and writing imagery. She also gives a review at the end of each chapter as well as exercises/tips for you to implement in your own writing, to help you appraise and polish your WIP to until it's a page-turner fraught with tension!
I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to all writers looking to take their writing to the next level.
June 9, 2020
Books on writing fiction seem to fall into two general camps. On the one hand are the ones by fictioneers who, after a long career, sit down to impart some core tenets of writing that they have learned after a lifetime of working. On on the other hand seem to be those texts by those who apply themselves as much to understanding the mechanics of writing as to the actual crafting of stories.
The curriculum vitae of Jordan Rosenfeld (or at least the abbreviated version presented in her bio in the "About the Author" section) points out that she has written more books about writing fiction than actual books of fiction. That's not so much a red flag as it is a good point to note that there is a difference between wisdom and advice, and provided one expects a lot of the latter in "How to Write a Page Turner," and not too much deep wisdom, you could do much worse.
Especially good was the part on "Tension in Exposition." Books in the "How-To" genre tend to focus inclusively on the practical aspects of creating a narrative, so it was a pleasant change to encounter solid advice on how not to neglect the "music" of the word, to pay attention to things like euphony and enriching your text with literary grace notes in even the most mass market and mercenary of outings.
A lot of this stuff is intuitive/native, which you'll discover as you write, but it's still nice to get reminders now and again on what to do and what not to do. For no matter how advanced one becomes in their field, they are never too far along to learn something new, or to be reminded of something they had forgotten.
I found Jane Cleland's "Mastering Suspense" to be a superior work on the same subject, but you could do much worse than finding your way to Jordan Rosenfeld's "How to Write a Page Turner." Recommended.
The curriculum vitae of Jordan Rosenfeld (or at least the abbreviated version presented in her bio in the "About the Author" section) points out that she has written more books about writing fiction than actual books of fiction. That's not so much a red flag as it is a good point to note that there is a difference between wisdom and advice, and provided one expects a lot of the latter in "How to Write a Page Turner," and not too much deep wisdom, you could do much worse.
Especially good was the part on "Tension in Exposition." Books in the "How-To" genre tend to focus inclusively on the practical aspects of creating a narrative, so it was a pleasant change to encounter solid advice on how not to neglect the "music" of the word, to pay attention to things like euphony and enriching your text with literary grace notes in even the most mass market and mercenary of outings.
A lot of this stuff is intuitive/native, which you'll discover as you write, but it's still nice to get reminders now and again on what to do and what not to do. For no matter how advanced one becomes in their field, they are never too far along to learn something new, or to be reminded of something they had forgotten.
I found Jane Cleland's "Mastering Suspense" to be a superior work on the same subject, but you could do much worse than finding your way to Jordan Rosenfeld's "How to Write a Page Turner." Recommended.
April 27, 2019
How to Write a Page-Turner is an invaluable resource when it comes to the craft of writing fiction, whether short stories or a longer work (novella, novel, etc). It breaks down the principle elements of tension within both plot and characterisation, and offers tools and techniques to tighten your story and build/increase tension, where required.
Drawing on a number of examples from within fiction, Rosenfeld illustrates how to use tension, danger, inciting incidents, and conflict to elicit an emotional response from your reader. Bullet points at the end of each chapter offer useful summaries and points of reflection, whilst prompts and exercises encourage you to try out the elements for yourself, either within your main work or a shorter piece of experimental flash fiction.
This book is packed full of advice, tips, and tricks about the art of using tension effectively within your creative writing. It is a goldmine for any writer seeking to take their writing deeper and make their stories more powerful. A brilliant addition to any writer’s bookshelf.
I received an e-ARC from the publisher, Writer's Digest, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Drawing on a number of examples from within fiction, Rosenfeld illustrates how to use tension, danger, inciting incidents, and conflict to elicit an emotional response from your reader. Bullet points at the end of each chapter offer useful summaries and points of reflection, whilst prompts and exercises encourage you to try out the elements for yourself, either within your main work or a shorter piece of experimental flash fiction.
This book is packed full of advice, tips, and tricks about the art of using tension effectively within your creative writing. It is a goldmine for any writer seeking to take their writing deeper and make their stories more powerful. A brilliant addition to any writer’s bookshelf.
I received an e-ARC from the publisher, Writer's Digest, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 13, 2022
What this entire book comes down to is pretty simple: tension. To keep people reading, you need to keep their interest, and to do that, you need tension. Which is definitely one of those "easier said than done" things, especially because, at least for me, "tension" equates to more negative emotions and that's not always true for fiction. Romantic tension, relationship tension, cliff-hangers, passive aggressive dialogue... things I don't always associate with tension are actually full of it when put into fictional narrative. This book does a good job breaking down all the spots you can insert tension, how to do it properly, how not to do it, and how to tell if what you've already written is a bit lacking. You would think being pounded over the head with one word for 250 pages would get tedious but it actually didn't for me. Rosenfeld's tone isn't lecture-y and there are a wide variety of examples used to help space out his own instructions/arguments. A read that felt a lot quicker than it was--I felt like I had read so much but only covered 4-6 pages. A dense read that doesn't feel like one, which is rare.
May 23, 2019
How To Write A Page Turner isn't your run-of-the-mill fiction how-to book. No way. Not this one. I found the author's instruction anything from dull and dry. Jordan Rosenfeld has a style similar to that of Donald Maas when it comes to explaining details in layman's terms. He writes in such a way--you want to keep reading. (Amazing how that works for a book designed to train writers on the very same topic!)
I especially like how Mr. Rosenfeld uses tension and conflict examples from genre books all across the spectrum. Examples that solidly make his points throughout the book. If you want your reader to keep turning the pages of your work, this book tells you the secrets to good writing. I will keep this edition close to my desk as a reference. It's that good. I've read hundreds of craft books over the years but few make it to my hallowed reference pile.
I especially like how Mr. Rosenfeld uses tension and conflict examples from genre books all across the spectrum. Examples that solidly make his points throughout the book. If you want your reader to keep turning the pages of your work, this book tells you the secrets to good writing. I will keep this edition close to my desk as a reference. It's that good. I've read hundreds of craft books over the years but few make it to my hallowed reference pile.
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