Writing Tools: WEbook Writing Secrets
Make Your Own Book Club Guide
By Marieke
Many serious novels, especially those that tackle social subjects, come with a reading guide, which supplies questions for book clubs, students, and other committed readers. If you’re writing a novel, why not make up your own reading guide as you go along? Imagine the questions your readers may have about your book’s themes and characters – this will help you find the strengths and weaknesses of your story.
Here are some suggestions for questions to
include in your “Writer’s Reading Guide”:
1. How do the first and last scene frame your novel?
2. Why are the main characters friends? And what do they fear from each other?
(After the Reading
Guide to The Kite Runner by
Khaled Hosseini )
3. Discuss the topic of marriage as it is represented in your novel.
4. What are your thoughts on the structure of your novel?
(After the Reading
Guide to The Joy Luck Club by Amy
Tan)
5. What rules, both written and unwritten, do the characters follow in the
novel?
6. In what ways do the settings affect their residents?
(After the Reading
Guide to The Cider House Rules by
John Irving)
You can find more reading guides on readinggroupguides.com.
Ready to start writing? Sign up today!
