What do you hope for when you turn to read the first page of a new book?
Your first thought in response to that question might be that it depends on the book. You may hope that the book will interest you, entertain you, inform you, make you laugh, make you cry, shock you, scare you, excite you, surprise you, keep you in suspense. You may hope that it will offer you an escape from your real life for a while, or that you will learn new things about storytelling and the art of writing. Maybe you hope that the characters will be real enough for you to care passionately about them, or that the story will be so gripping that you will be up reading till the small hours, unable to put it down. Perhaps you simply hope that you will be able to understand it and keep up with the plot. If it’s a best seller, you will probably hope that it lives up to the hype. Maybe you hope that it will sweep you along on the breathtaking magical journey that was promised on the back cover. Perhaps you hope that it will give you something to think about, and talk about with friends. Perhaps you hope that it will inspire you to get back to writing your own novel.
I hope for various combinations of all of those things when I read a book, but underneath it all, the string that ties it all together, what I ultimately hope for, is that the book will change me in some way. It might give me a new perspective on something in the world, it might make me more tolerant, less judgmental. It might make me reconsider some long held opinions. It might make me more open to new things, more willing to step out of my comfort zone. It might make me more aware of things I had been ignorant of. It might help to make me a better writer. It might make me determined to stop procrastinating and start doing. It might make me more empathetic, more grateful, more accepting. When I turn to read the first page of a new book, I hope that I will have changed for the better, in some small way, by the end of it.
To look at that from the other side, when you write a book, how about asking yourself “What change do I hope to bring about in readers of this book?”. It’s quite a responsibility when you look at it like that.
What do you hope for when you turn to read the first page of a new book?