a focus group reading of the first two chapters of Vandar

Vandar

A focus group reading of the first two chapters

I was fortunate enough to have a chance to trial one of my novels with a group of 26 teenagers, aged 12-13, in a school. I read them the first two chapters of Vandar, and gave then a table to record their views on. They did not know that I wrote the story.That was especially usefull as teenagers are very honest in their opinions of things. Here is a summary of what they thought.

Would you read more of this story? Thankfully most said they would like to read/hear more. Those who were maybe answers wanted to read the blurb before deciding. Those who did not want to read more indicated on their form that they did not like stories from that genre. The two maybe votes were from people who don’t normally read much.

If this was a book in the library, would you take it out? The yes vote was lower here, although I am told that has more to do with never taking out a library book. At least three people asked me if the book was in print, and where they could get it. A few more said they would decide after seeing the cover, and reading the blurb. That was how they chose books.

Did they correctly identify the target audience of 12/13 yrs to adult? Anyone selecting that age group was a yes vote. Lots of those who did not give correct answers, were actually within two years of the target age group. This means that I am mostly getting it right. As this was a set two, they read very well, and that may account for the results. The majority of those who missed the target bracket, chose 1-2 years earlier.

The teenagers were then asked to suggest genres for the story. At this point, they have not met any classic fantasy creatures or characters, and no magic has been used, so it was difficult to get the fantasy angle. However, some of them did! They had heard about a battle with some gory detail, and there had been a reasonably fast pace with action. They did not have an overview of the story, no ‘blurb’. They seem to have all realised I is set in a pre-industrial world.

The next question asked them to identify their favourite charter. The fact that they are fairly evenly split tells me that I have created my characters well, and that there is one for everyone.

All participants were also asked to give the book (well the first two chapters), a score out of ten. The lowest mark was six, but most people gave an eight. I was very flattered to receive three ten out of ten marks.

Below are some comments from the teens, and some observations gathered from the feedback forms.

· There was good characterisation. Most readers grasped the way the character thought, felt, and how they would act. A few noticed that they spoke in a particular way. Many said they would keep reading because they liked the character and wanted to know what happened to them next.

· Some commented on the use of foreshadowing, and they liked how they got Clues as to what may happen next.

· Most thought that the description was good, with lots of detail. One person said it helped them to create good mental images. However another said that it slowed the book down and could make it boring.

· Most of the participants liked the detail in the story when the village was sacked, but some said they found it gory.

· Almost all participants like the action. It was consistently brought up as the part of the story they liked best.

· Several people commented on how the language was old fashioned, and it suited the setting and story. As this was deliberate, I was very pleased!

· People said that they liked the way that the characters spoke to each other, and that having lots of dialogue made the story more interesting.

· They all agreed that the book could have the most marvellously written, prize winning story inside, but they would not choose it to read unless it had a good cover, and a blurb that hooked them in.

· Finally, some people wrote that they liked the challenging vocabulary that was used.