Popular book series like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew ended each chapter with a cliffhanger to compete with the then-new medium of television. The attention economy has only grown more competitive in the smartphone era. Attention has been systematically sliced and diced, each sliver fed an algorithmically chosen tidbit from an endless feed. Eyes flit across the shallow and sensational, conditioned to score quick dopamine hits in Pavlovian fashion. In such a daunting media environment, how does one’s writing grab that most coveted of prizes, sustained attention? The answer is to make the beginning simple and startling, hooking the reader and drawing them in. Then, gradually add layer after narrative layer, each lively enough to provide ample entertainment value in its own right while simultaneously laying the groundwork for a bigger payoff to come. In our September 13th meeting, Dan White will guide us through the process of holding a reader’s attention from the first page to the last.
Dan White is the author of The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind and Almost Found Myself on the Pacific Crest Trail (Harper Collins), a Northern California independent bookstore bestseller and Los Angeles Times “Discovery” selection, and Under The Stars: How America Fell In Love With Camping (Henry Holt & Co.), which Cheryl Strayed described as “the definitive book on camping in America.” His writing has been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Outside, Poets & Writers, Catamaran literary magazine, and the Washington Post. He teaches Zoom-based memoir, personal essay, and fiction-writing classes from his home in Santa Cruz.
When: Monday, September 13th at 7pm
Where: Zoom – Members will be receiving an email with the Zoom invite
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