: Re: My readers are losing interest halfway through. What is a list of possible remedies? I see a pattern among my readers, specifically where they tend to stop reading - it is about 2/3 through

@Moriarity138

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For me as a reader (or a viewer), when my interest flags, it's because there are no longer any emotional stakes that I care about. Lots of action might be happening, but it's all the same to me how it turns out. Conversely, you can have a long, compelling stretch without any real action or plot development, as long as the emotional interest is there.

My guess is that this section of the book is doing a lot of plot work, but not much else. It might also be things that are interesting to you, but not to the reader. I actually had a very similar problem recently with my non-fiction manuscript. The beginning and end were compelling, but the middle flagged, even though many of the things I was most interested in talking about were only in the middle section. The problem was that they didn't fit into the overall arc of the book. Eventually I made the tough decision to cut the middle section entirely, and save it for a different book. I'd suggest the same for you. Just drop the entire slow section, and chalk it up to "world-building." If you do need to replace it with something, try doing something completely different --like spending several chapters on a single crucial hour of time that takes place right before the final climax (just as an example).

For a good look at how compressed good storytelling can be, try reading short short stories and also listening to story-songs (country music is especially good for this). For instance, check how much plot is contained in the following tiny packages, and how long a span of time can be elided between one paragraph and the next (or one verse and the next).

100% Perfect Girl - Murakami
Fast Car - Tracy
Chapman
Long Time Gone - Darrell Scott

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