I was reading a Richard and Judy Summer Read, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, from a relative's bookshelves. It started off very slow with clunky language and I was going to give up but I got into it. There was nothing else to read anyway. Why did the editor let it be so sloppy and slow at the start anyway? Many people would have given up after a chapter or so.
Anyway, I digress. What I realised as I was reading it was that the author had used two classic ways into a story for a reader.
1. She introduces the reader to an unusual or new world/environment by means of a new person also being introduced. e.g. The father explains to his daughter how he came about a mysterious book which leads into his story (which leads in turn to his mentor's story which I think is a bit too many layers, but whatever)
2. If there is some concept that is hard to grasp (or verging on the unbelievable), she has a character say they didn't understand (or believe) it and have it explained to them and therefore also to the reader.
Interesting but common techniques I'll be using for a couple of holes I've dug myself in my novel.
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