Designing a book to be re-read
- Thread starter Harlequin
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Taking the long view - if a reader likes your work enough to reread it, they've very likely to purchase other things you've written.
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I don't think it's worth spending lots of time on trying to make sure your book is read multiple times. It's better that somebody read it once and love it rather than somebody having to read it multiple times to work out what it's about.
You CAN'T design a book to be re-read. Not the most brilliant author can. Readers are individuals; what works for one will turn off another. They will decide whether and how much they like our books, and whether they want to re-read them.
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Well yes, no one can guarantee a book will be reread 
But you can go out of your way to reward a reader who does choose to.
Eg in Fight Club or any other plot twist type novel. There's lots of foreshadowing for stuff and lantern-hanging going on, which all comes together in the big reveal. But realistically it takes a second reread to appreciate that (which I personally find rewarding to embark on, in such stories.)
But you can go out of your way to reward a reader who does choose to. Eg in Fight Club or any other plot twist type novel. There's lots of foreshadowing for stuff and lantern-hanging going on, which all comes together in the big reveal. But realistically it takes a second reread to appreciate that (which I personally find rewarding to embark on, in such stories.)
True. I'd say, however, that we should also go out of our way to give the rewards to the first-time reader. To make every reading, first and later, a deep and moving experience.
Of course, but that goes without saying. ;-)
I think anything with a twist (a la fightclub or only forward) ends up be default being rewarding for the second time reader, and can be enhanced further if an author chooses. PErhaps not though.
I think anything with a twist (a la fightclub or only forward) ends up be default being rewarding for the second time reader, and can be enhanced further if an author chooses. PErhaps not though.
James Joyce designed - may not be the right word exactly - Finnegan's Wake to be re-read and analyzed ad nauseam. He also ended up making the book most people give up reading, so YMMV. You can definitely write with an intent to reward re-reading, but people bring so much and find so much of their own in reading that you can't control much.
With a plot twist novel, I found it was worthwhile to get some betas who knew the twist, as well as ones who did not, so that I could make sure that the experience of reading both knowing and not knowing the twist would be rewarding. Although it's not truly rereading the novel, it did give me betas with a similar experience to rereading, at least as far as the plot twist was concerned.
I alternate between rereading lotr and my Wolfe books every 1-2 years. Whole academic texts have been written on both so no shortage of new tidbits each time.
Jane Eyre is another one I reread every so often. It's like a milestone marker; as Jane changes and gets older, so do I. Her decisions made no sense to me as a child, a bit of sense but still not really even as a teen, and now as an adult I feel I 'get' her, though I can't say I've found the peace/sense of self she acquires by the end. With every reread more of the book becomes 'mine'. Perhaps one day I will reread it and find that the ending belongs at last to me (as well as her).
It's not a very twisty novel, either!
Anyway, I digress. Ignore the pretentiousness.
Jane Eyre is another one I reread every so often. It's like a milestone marker; as Jane changes and gets older, so do I. Her decisions made no sense to me as a child, a bit of sense but still not really even as a teen, and now as an adult I feel I 'get' her, though I can't say I've found the peace/sense of self she acquires by the end. With every reread more of the book becomes 'mine'. Perhaps one day I will reread it and find that the ending belongs at last to me (as well as her).
It's not a very twisty novel, either!
Anyway, I digress. Ignore the pretentiousness.
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I'd think that can backfire. That Snowman novel, the Norweigan noir mystery hit a couple years ago, I liked until like the third 'oh you thought THAT was the twist? No, THIS is the twist, but wait, no, THIS is the twist,' nonsensical mess the ending turned into. I not only wouldn't pick that up again, I'd been interested in Nesbo midway through and by the time I was done, well, I've not touched anything he's written since, nor do I plan to.
Sounds like it was overdone and heavy-handed, and any plot device if applied repeatedly in the same way can be pretty darned unappealing.
My WIP has a singular twist that is revealed in the end, and I'm trying to drop extremely subtle hints in the writing so that if it is re-read it will be clear that it was intended all along. One 'twist' I abhor is the 'it was all a dream' (gag) escape; it's lazy and makes me want to burn the book when I encounter it.
Yes, me too, and for the reasons that my relationship with it changes as I age. Do you have any thoughts on how to craft a story so it strikes at different phases of the life experience? I never thought about that until now!
(I've also been in love with Mr. Rochester since whenever I first read it back in grade school, but that could be a new thread.
)
Hm. Well, I guess the big one for Jane Eyre is that it follows her life so it has enormous scope (280k word count, too.) So it has that sort of life stage element built in. I think it might be hard to have that aspect otherwise, although naturally there are other types of books which age well.
You can't intend to write a "re-readable" book because people re-read books for different reasons. Most often books are re-read because they are very enjoyable. Winnie the Pooh for example. It's just cute as a button. Or Bridget Jones Diary, because it makes people roll with laughter. Or Pride and Prejudice because (everybody knows, right?), Mr.D. Some would re-read certain romance novels because of certain steamy scenes in there. Reasons vary.
Books that were an easy "read-through" could easily make the reader go back and re-read again and again if they get enough fun out of it.
Now, writing a book that has subtleties is a different matter. Actually, if the writer has done their job well, the reader would remember that little detail at the right moment (when the detail comes into play for the Big Reveal). So, technically, an observant reader won't "need" to re-read. The actual amount of people who re-read in order to dig up all the fine detail is very small. There's probably much more people discussing re-reading (and the hidden gems they found) on the internet than actually re-reading. If you purposefully aim to attract them, then you are limiting your readership by default (by aiming at a smaller group). Especially considering how easy it is to go wrong by burying subtle details even deeper and putting extra effort in making them be invisible at first read.
Books that were an easy "read-through" could easily make the reader go back and re-read again and again if they get enough fun out of it.
Now, writing a book that has subtleties is a different matter. Actually, if the writer has done their job well, the reader would remember that little detail at the right moment (when the detail comes into play for the Big Reveal). So, technically, an observant reader won't "need" to re-read. The actual amount of people who re-read in order to dig up all the fine detail is very small. There's probably much more people discussing re-reading (and the hidden gems they found) on the internet than actually re-reading. If you purposefully aim to attract them, then you are limiting your readership by default (by aiming at a smaller group). Especially considering how easy it is to go wrong by burying subtle details even deeper and putting extra effort in making them be invisible at first read.
I'd contest that's a logical fallacy; false premise ;-) Writing a book which is rewarding to reread does not mean it MUST be less readable or approachable by one-time readers.
There's no extra effort needed to "bury" details. By default, a naive reader's understanding will always be less than someone who's read the book once. There will always be things missed the first time, for every book, but (for me) it's a question of what point you start getting diminishing returns for rereads. Usually, more than two is already diminishing for me, but some books hold up well (like in the case of Jane Eyre, which alters with time and perspective.)
A lot of interpretation and analysis in books occurs on aspects that the authors don't themselves intend, and either put in intuitively or without consideration. If an author uses reoccurring motifs, certain readers might pick out patterns or ideas which are present in the text without the writer having necessarily thought to put them there on purpose.
Thinking about those diminishing returns, and I will point out that sometimes I reread to go back to the familiar. Even though I'm not necessarily discovering something new (or thinking I am because I forgot about whatever it was) I'm rereading to return to those things I enjoyed before. That's not really something you can write for, other than to hope your book is something people will enjoy over and over again, but it is a way to enjoy rereading.
When it comes to plot twists, I don't only enjoy looking for those hidden clues, but I also enjoy imagining what it was like to read for the first time. You can never get back the magic of the first read, but you can remember how you felt and imagine what others might feel if they read it.
When it comes to plot twists, I don't only enjoy looking for those hidden clues, but I also enjoy imagining what it was like to read for the first time. You can never get back the magic of the first read, but you can remember how you felt and imagine what others might feel if they read it.
Interesting discussion. I was thinking about this the other night when I finished re-reading a novel and wondered *why* I love it so much. It was written in the 20s and isn't that well-known. It was the author's only novel, literary but not well put together, *and* he never finished it (published after his suicide). So what is it about this novel that makes me re-read it?
I think it's because of the radical transformation of the main character. And I mean radical. She goes from a shy civil servant to basically an anarchist. It was fascinating to see the build-up to how she got that way, what about her world and society (post WWI Austria vs dirt rich Switzerland) drove her to change so much inside. The book was about BIG THINGS. I don't know that so many novels are about the big things anymore. The loss of youth, the dignity of work, inequalities in a society, hypocrisy of government, how patriotism is used to manipulate regular people etc. Some current books may touch on it, but how many really dig down into that stuff and do it with such fierce honesty and fury? So many of the novels that try this today tend to be speculative (sci fi/fantasy/etc), which is great. But the stories end up in a safe space for looking at some of these issues when maybe authors could look at them more directly for our world now. It's a much greater risk to do that, and harder. (Sorry I'm off topic!)
Anyway, I don't write with the intention of having anybody re-read my books. I just want to tell a good story, an important story, something that makes the reader chew over what they think and feel about things like family, nation, duty and so on. Without preaching, driven by characters who change a lot. If readers learn about themselves in a story, I think they'll go back to it, or at least think about it.
ps On plot twists, I like them only if they're still honest, not just clever or for the sake of a twist. I've read too many books that build up to this big twist, and it essentially dismantles the whole story before it, and you end up feeling manipulated, not excited or satisfied. So it has to be done well.
I think it's because of the radical transformation of the main character. And I mean radical. She goes from a shy civil servant to basically an anarchist. It was fascinating to see the build-up to how she got that way, what about her world and society (post WWI Austria vs dirt rich Switzerland) drove her to change so much inside. The book was about BIG THINGS. I don't know that so many novels are about the big things anymore. The loss of youth, the dignity of work, inequalities in a society, hypocrisy of government, how patriotism is used to manipulate regular people etc. Some current books may touch on it, but how many really dig down into that stuff and do it with such fierce honesty and fury? So many of the novels that try this today tend to be speculative (sci fi/fantasy/etc), which is great. But the stories end up in a safe space for looking at some of these issues when maybe authors could look at them more directly for our world now. It's a much greater risk to do that, and harder. (Sorry I'm off topic!)
Anyway, I don't write with the intention of having anybody re-read my books. I just want to tell a good story, an important story, something that makes the reader chew over what they think and feel about things like family, nation, duty and so on. Without preaching, driven by characters who change a lot. If readers learn about themselves in a story, I think they'll go back to it, or at least think about it.
ps On plot twists, I like them only if they're still honest, not just clever or for the sake of a twist. I've read too many books that build up to this big twist, and it essentially dismantles the whole story before it, and you end up feeling manipulated, not excited or satisfied. So it has to be done well.
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bmr1591
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I'm writing a (potential) series, so there are a lot of things in Book 1 that make no sense, but further down the line, (hopefully) the reader will have the 'holy crap' moment and make the connection, then want to go back and reread to see what else they potentially missed. So if that's 'designing to be reread', then I guess I do it, but I'm not wanting someone to reread Book 1 over and over and over and over again necessarily. Don't get me wrong, if they love it, awesome, but I'd rather readers say "When's Book 2 coming?" than "I just want to reread Book 1".
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I wonder how often people re-read books with twists in them. With a twisty film it might take two and a half hours tops to rewatch but re-reading a book takes more time and people tend to not have enough time to read all the different books they want to. Coming-of-age stories tend to hold up well with re-reads because they make us feel nostalgic or books which have incredibly detailed worlds (e.g. Harry Potter).
Well, a twist was just an example. Jane Eyre probably qualifies as coming of age though so fits that coming of age bill.
I am always surprised to hear hp described as incredibly detailed re worldbuilding. I would have said its strength is characters and story rather than setting, but I digress.
I am always surprised to hear hp described as incredibly detailed re worldbuilding. I would have said its strength is characters and story rather than setting, but I digress.
IMO the best way to design a book to be re-read is to make it interesting. For me, I re-read novels that spoke and affected me in some way, or were just a great story.