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Moving the story forward is called raising the stakes. Let's say your story is about war, and your character has joined the army because he/she feels it is their patriotic duty. What will your character do to protect the interests ofthes country? How much are they willing to give up? How far will they go? It should not be a once and done event, but little tensions that will grow and keep the reader turning pages.

The same would work in a romance. What will your characters do to be with each other? How hard will they fight to get what they want? Who will they hurt to be with the one they love?

One way to achieve this is by using the rule of the three. This creates a pattern in your story telling. Your character may face three major challenges, each increasing the tension.   

It is by creating these tensions, little ones leading into bigger ones until you get to the biggest of all, is what moves a story forward. To do that, your story should be high stakes.

Sherry

My friend, who served in Vietnam, just wrote a memoir called "Thing I'll Never Forget." His name is Jim Dixon. If you have a kindle, (and the author produced an ebook) you could download a sample and see if it works for you. It starts with his decision to join the army, boot camp, all the way to his last day in Vietnam, and after.

Sherry

Rachel,
About 2 1/2 years ago I discovered Outlander. I devoured the first book and the second, a third - 8 books. (Can't wait for #9) When I finished all 8 books, I read them all over again.  If an author does a great job of moving the story forward, (along with great characters, excellent writing, unexpected twists and turns, a genre that I love) I am a willing reader. In only one of those books (7) did I feel the way you described.

I am writing a historical novel now. I had every intention of writing one book book that would be concluded by the last page. But I can see now there is no way I can complete the story. I hope to come to a satisfactory ending for my readers, but because it's history the story continues.

However, the crux of my initial posting is how does an author get a reader to turn 500 pages. Just having a beginning, middle and an end is not enough. How do you get the reader to go from the beginning to the middle and make it to the end.

Sherry

Thank you all for your comments.  I really appreciate them.  I know that life gets in the way.  Mine certainly does.  Your thoughtful responses have allowed me to see things differently.

Sherry

Ann - I thought I did the profile information.  I'll look into it.
Marilyn - Thanks so much for your pick-me-up. I appreciate your sticking with me.  I will be posting more. I have about 31 chapters waiting to go up.
Thanks

Thank you all for your suggestions and encouragement.  I'm not ready to give up and will continue to review.  I understand that it can be time consuming when all you want to do is write.  And then there's life which gets in the way.

Sherry

Dirk,
Like you, I am about 90% done with my novel and there will also be a sequel because there are some issues that have to be solved. But I will not hold off looking for an agent to get it published.

If your book does very well, you may decide to forgo your other project and write the sequel.  In addition, you could work on both projects.  I know of an author that does this all the time.  She usually takes 3-4 years between books but she also publishes novellas and other books in between.

But I would publish this novel.  It will take time for you to have it edited and get the marketing done. In addition, we all know that life can interfere with our plans. Get it out there.
Sherry

Mark,
Happy to help out. It's wonderful to get lots of reviews and the encouragement to improve your writing.
And as for looking back at earlier chapters - we all cringe when we read our early stuff.  But that's good.  It means we've grown as writers.
Sherry