: Re: How do I get my readers through the early, "hardship" part of my fiction? A reader of one of my works told me, "It was very interesting, the last two thirds of it anyway." Her fear was

The Wizard of Oz:

What makes the first part of The Wizard of Oz engaging is the wicked witch, on her bicycle, stealing Toto.

Each of the Oz characters is introduced in Kansas, within Dorothy's normal life. Also - She runs away from home. Also - Auntie Em thinks Dorothy will die. So, there are a lot of stakes here, in boring Kansas. Dog is stolen, kid runs away, mother-figure thinks daughter-figure will die. There's also tension/humor with falling into the pig trough, and a nice song that kids to this day still sing in talent shows.

And a tornado.

Kansas is crammed full of things. Consider the possibility, too, that TWOO reached for contrast, quite literally with B&W v color, but also with the characters, who don't grow. Except Dorothy, who learns her lesson. Each character represents a thing, and contrasts with each other thing, and that's it.

I'd say make the science part incredibly fun in the first third. Have some lab accidents, some funky experiments, liquid nitrogen on hand, helium, goofy stuff she plays with even though she shouldn't. Have some nerdy characters that she bounces off of (contrast). Have a non scientist around, perhaps a hot and funny guy that does paperwork but has no interest in science per se. (again - for contrast; romance is optional). One of the built in advantages about contrasting characters is that the dialog becomes more interesting - there is more opportunity for conflict and viewing issues from several sides.

Have your MC speculate about scientific reasons for things like vampires, zombies, other paranormal stuff. Have her dress up as something ridiculous on Halloween, in the lab.

I hope she has sass, like Abbie on NCIS or similar.

Recently I reworked a 'boring' part of my story using suggestions from many answers. That section moves really nicely now. It's actually a little amusing, even though the protagonist is bored out of her mind.

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: How to avoid pages of dialogue? I'm starting my story with my protagonist found (by the police), bleeding at a crime scene. When he wakes up, he has no recollection i.e. he's lost his memory.

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: What are ways to shade the narrator in alternating chapters of dual POV? I've heard advice that in an alternating third person limited POV, the narration alone should be enough to seat the

: Re: How do I get my readers through the early, "hardship" part of my fiction? A reader of one of my works told me, "It was very interesting, the last two thirds of it anyway." Her fear was

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: How many people who participate here on Writing SE have become successful authors? I'm not asking for an exact figure, but I just want a rough idea of how well the people here have done.

: How to avoid pages of dialogue? I'm starting my story with my protagonist found (by the police), bleeding at a crime scene. When he wakes up, he has no recollection i.e. he's lost his memory.

: Is there a way to license fictional characters, settings, ideas, et cetera? I hope this is not too vague, but I'm wondering if there is a way to release fictional creations in a way that

: What are ways to shade the narrator in alternating chapters of dual POV? I've heard advice that in an alternating third person limited POV, the narration alone should be enough to seat the

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