Humans... have basic cravings. If you can speak to these cravings, you’ll win a reader for 300 pages... what are some game-like qualities writers can apply to their manuscripts to make them more addictive?
Clear goals. Characters are always in pursuit of something...
Cause and effect. Characters’ actions have consequences. Always.
Obstacles and rewards. Obstacles speak for themselves. But rewards are just as important. Finding a tool, weapon, magical object, or guide adds excitement and gives readers an emotional boost... even a contemporary novel can use them, although they’ll come in a different form.
The right level of difficulty... keep the challenges coming at the very edge of your character’s ability to deal with them.
A conflict-rich environment... think of games: if you land on the black square, you get bounced back six spaces. If you jump on the yellow crate, you accidentally release a monster. The setting dispenses dangers and rewards at every turn.
http://internspills.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-books-work-hunger-games-part-2.html
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