Three Techniques to Create a Page-Turner

A case study of the Hunger Games

'Narrative traction' is the name I use for the intangible page turning quality that draws readers through a book. A lot of people describe it as unfathomable, impossible to pin down but 'you know it when you feel it'. I read A.N. Wilson (just to pick one example) expressing bafflement that non-literary books that are poorly written can be nevertheless page-turners.

But to me, narrative traction is a distinct element of craft, requiring its own set of technical skills, just like other aspects of writing such as characterisation, dialogue or prose. So it shouldn’t be surprising that an author might be great at writing narrative traction, while having terrible prose, or vice versa.