I've been blogging about how to make writing more literary. A while ago, we looked at the normal world. Whether you're writing from a hero's journey perspective or not, there's usually a point at which your story really kicks into high gear, and you've confirmed your genre. You don't want the normal world to be exactly boring because you'll lose your reader. That is the time to really make your reader care as you develop your character and make them and their world interesting. But then, the drop comes, like a drop in music. The shift comes from the normal world to the real story, and that is when you should really engage your reader through the story.
That drop can happen in any of a number of ways. If you're writing literary fiction, it may be when a new character enters to alter the dynamic or when the first major choice on which your story is based is made. This is when Hamlet meets his father's ghost or Macbeth first decides to kill the king. If you're writing a romance, that drop may come when the protagonist meets their romantic pairing or when they go into the underworld, figuratively or literally, where they will meet or engage with their future significant other in the plot. Romeo meets Juliet. If you're writing an adventure story--western, sci-fi, fantasy, horror etc.--it should absolutely be when your story goes from world and character introduction to the first step into the underworld. Harry Potter meets Hagrid or is introduced into the Wizarding World on Platform 9 3/4. Either could be seen as a drop.
By this point, you should have made your character engage emotionally with your protagonist through the normal world, through loss, through humor, through empathy, curiosity, etc., so when the conflict comes, we care what happens. Sometimes, the drop comes, and there's no significant difference. They step into the underworld, and the character and reader don't realize it until they're in the thick of peril or engagement. Sometimes, the character doesn't realize it, but the reader does because they've spent the first several pages waiting for the protagonist to meet the future significant other. If the drop is too slow, too uninteresting, you could lose your reader. I held on with a sci-fi version of Pride and Prejudice until Lizzy showed up, and that moment was flat and dull. I walked away. Sneaking up on the reader can be good if it's done with subtlety instead of awkwardness or boredom. Especially if there's a solid payoff. However, it can also hit like a tsunami, launching the reader into a wild adventure
Whatever is driving your story starts kicking into high gear. There should be some kind of ramping up, some increase in intrigue, suspense, excitement, tension, or the like. If your story is character-driven, there should be an increased awareness of their desire for things to be different. Val Jean yearns to break free of his prison cell, both exterior and interior. If your story is plot-driven, your character might just then realize the world is broken, whether or not they realize they will have to fix it. Harry Potter learns about Voldemort as part of learning about his past. If your story is question-driven, this is when the central question is posed. It's that moment the femme fatale walks into the gumshoe's office with her mystery. If your question is milieu or world-driven, this is usually when the protagonist enters the strange world. Gulliver sees the little people, or Gandalf introduces the Hobbit to a world outside his Hobbit hole.
One way or another, the author needs to be aware of that drop and take pains to make it mean something. This is when the story really starts. What do you do in your story to mark the entry into the underworld or the introduction of the other romantic lead? What do you do to really engage the reader to a higher degree? If you can't find anything, is there some way you can improve or rework that part to make the reader care?
