Our guest today is Rabbi Ilene Schneider, one of the first six rabbis
ordained in the U.S.. She has retired and taken up writing full time She has won too many awards to list here. Suffice it to say, she knows about writing stories people will read. She lives, and writes, in New Jersey. Listen to a woman who knows what she is talking about.
THE SECRET TO WRITING A STORY PEOPLE WILL READ
A short while ago, a friend, who is a fan of mysteries, asked me if I had ever read any books by a specific author. The author has won numerous awards and is the name you do not want to see on a “best of year” ballot with yours. You may as well take her out for a celebratory drink before the voting ends. Yet, despite her status as a “must read,” and even though I have heard her speak at conferences, I had never read her series. I told my friend I’d download the first book in the series to my Kindle and try it.
That was two weeks ago. I am now on the fifth book in the series. I finish one and immediately click the link to download the next. There is no more than a minute lag between my reading.
My only explanation for why I had not read the books earlier is they are described as police procedurals. I do enjoy some, but have also found too many that seemed as though I would like them, until they devolved into “torture porn.” I am a fan of the problem-solving part of police procedurals, but not of detailed descriptions of every indignity, injury, and horror visited upon the victims. I have become cautious about reading books categorized as police procedurals unless recommended by friends with tastes similar to mine.
This books in this latest series I’m reading are more like cozies, although the protagonist is not an amateur but a homicide detective. The author has incorporated several other aspects of cozies, though: humor, much back story, digressions, continuing characters who change and develop, just enough misdirection to be interesting without too much obfuscation, a satisfactory ending in which justice is done.
During the third book, however, there was an error of fact. Errors, whether they are from sloppy copy editing or lack of research, are a pet peeve. I once stopped reading a critically acclaimed Jewish-themed novel that misidentified a Jewish holiday. I guess the critics who praised the book weren’t Jewish.
I got to the error in this book. Stopped. Swiped my finger to the left to the previous page. Reread the event that bothered me. Stopped. Stared into space. Read again. It hadn’t changed.
True, it was something that is “common knowledge,” but a misconception. Or misinformation. Or just untrue. One of the characters found a nest full of duck eggs on the ground. Anoher character said to leave them alone, “Their mother will reject them if you 
touch.” Later, someone did touch them and yet another character said, “Then the birds came back and wouldn’t sit on the nest … Just as you predicted.”
Sorry. Untrue. Birds, with a few exceptions such as Turkey Vultures that rely on their sense of smell to find carrion, have a poorly developed olfactory nerve. They rely on sight to find food. If you find a nest that fell onto the ground with eggs or hatchlings, replace it in the tree or put it under a bush where it will be safe from predators. The parents will find the nest. In fact, they’re probably observing you.
Had it been a book by any other author, I likely would have deleted it from my Kindle without finishing it. But I continued to read, hoping that a character would correct the mistake. No one did, but not only did I finish Book #3, but I will continue to read the series.
To explain why, I need to refer to Game of Thrones, both the TV series and the books. The elements in the story – graphic blood and gore, torture, explicit sex, zombies, ghosts, magic, dragons – are ones I do not enjoy, will not read or view 
on a big, little, or tiny screen.
So why did I binge watch the first season and why have I read all the books? For the same reason I continued reading the cozy police procedural and will continue until the series ends.
Both authors are fantastic story tellers.
And that is the secret to writing a story people will read.
JIM: Please visit her website/blog at:
http://rabbiauthor.com
or email her at
rabbi.author@yahoo.com.
And throw in a comment of your thoughts on how to convince the reader to … read your stories.
I, too, get spun out of the story when I find an error (my most recent pet peeve is reading that someone “drove” a motorcycle–having friends who are bikers helped me prevent writing that myself, but now it drives me nuts when I read it!)
Excellent writers/storytellers can help a reader ignore (or at least forgive) elements that would normally cause the reader to set the book down. Therefore, the goal of every writer is to be an excellent storyteller!
Interestingly enough, I have known some people who are wildlife experts who also said to leave nests/eggs alone. Been that way for decades. I believe some of that thinking has changed in recent years. Recently, I also saw this discussed on an episode of the Maine Warden series on Animal Planet where the topic came up and one of the many year veterans commented about how folks had always believed this to be true and yet experts did not think so anymore.
Thanks, Ilene. We need to first start with a story that people will read. You’ve helped us on that front. Next, we can work on discoverability.
When I figure out how to convince others to read my books, I’ll let you know. Suffice it to say, that once read, folks enjoy my stories. When I’m dead and gone, maybe I’ll be famous!!! These books sound great. I’ve read another ‘rabbi’ series and enjoyed it.