A Quote by Catherine Drinker Bowen

Will the reader turn the page?

Catherine Drinker Bowen

Quote Topics

Page Reader Turn Will

Quote Author

Catherine Drinker Bowen
American - Writer
January 1, 1897 - November 1, 1973

Transitions are critically important. I want the reader to turn the page without thinking she's turning the page. It must flow seamlessly.

Janet Evanovich

You need to give the reader a reason to turn the page. In a diary, you are just yourself. You aren't trying to entertain. You aren't trying to get anyone to turn the page. I have over one hundred and fifty six volumes of my diary and I guarantee you that if you read them, you'd stop and never come back.

David Sedaris

The art of fiction is one of constant seduction. You must persuade the reader on page 1 to start reading - on page 50, or page 150 and yes, on page 850.

Marge Piercy

The only place where you can really surprise or shock the reader, or make someone laugh, is on the lower righthand corner - the very last panel - so as you turn the page, the payoff is in the upper lefthand panel. To pace every story so that there's a setup and a payoff at the page turn was a huge challenge; it's a part of the medium and you really have to learn what can be done in the medium.

Chuck Palahniuk

I want the reader to turn the page and keep on turning to the end.

Barbara Tuchman

No one reads to hear someone complain about the weather or how poorly their children are behaving. You have to give the readers a reason to turn the page. As a writer you have to invite someone to turn the page. And that is a skill you have to refine. That is why you have to read. You have to read to learn what it is that makes people turn the page.

David Sedaris

I want the reader to turn the page and keep on turning until the end.

Barbara W. Tuchman

It's fun to figure out a way to make something happen that will get the reader involved on a visceral level. When written well, an exciting scene on the page will actually have a physical effect on the reader - your heart will beat faster, your adrenaline will start to flow.

Nick Petrie

The first paragraph of my book must get me my reader. The last paragraph of a chapter must compel my reader to turn the page. The last paragraph of my book must ensure that my reader looks out for my next book.

Ashwin Sanghi

There is only one recipe for a best seller and it is a very simple one. You have to get the reader to turn over the page.

Ian Fleming

For me, the game would be to assume a very intelligent reader who can extrapolate a lot from a little. And that's become my definition of art; to get that pitch just right, where I can put a hint on page three, and the reader's ears go up a bit, as opposed to dropping it all on the first page.

George Saunders

I am the signet which marks the page where the revolution has been stopped; but when I die it will turn the page and resume its course.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Are you up to the challenge? Are you going to be a reproduction or an original? Will you strive to be innovative or imitative? Are you ready to take your turn on the page, turn up the heat, turn it on?

Phil Cousineau

I try to end every chapter with an air of suspense. I try to leave the reader wanting to turn the page.

Nelson DeMille

Yes, the fear of its blankness. At the same time, I kind of loved it. Mallarmé was trying to make the page a blank page. But if you're going to make the page a blank page, it's not just the absence of something, it has to become something else. It has to be material, it has to be this thing. I wanted to turn a page into a thing.