The other shoe

Tom lives alone in an apartment. Joe lives in the apartment above him. Joe works the 3-11 shift at the factory. Every night he gets home at about 11:15. Tom routinely goes to bed at 11. Every night, as Tom lies in bed, he hears Joe tromping up the stairs to his apartment. It is the same every night. Joe comes home, sits down on his bed, directly above Tom's bedroom, and takes off his heavy work shoes. And every night, the shoes hit the floor, one at a time, with first one thud and then another. It is part of Tom's nightly routine to listen to Joe's ritual. Thud, thud. Tonight is no different. Joe gets home at 11:17 and Tom lies and listens. Thud. Tom listens some more. Nothing. Tom sits up in bed, listening, listening. Nothing. And Tom begins to wonder about this man he hardly knows. What happened to the second thud? The listening continues. Nothing. Tom is sure he heard one thud. One shoe off. He is also sure there was no second thud. Now Tom gets up, turns on a light and sits on the edge of his bed. And he waits. And he waits some more...for the other shoe to fall...
What you have just read is the simplest of plots. We can picture Tom in his apartment and Joe in his. There is an easy-to-understand narrative - and there is drama as we wait for the other shoe to fall.
If you want to keep your readers turning pages, no matter what you're writing, make them wonder when the other shoe will fall.

The engaging powers of writing

Samuel Johnson said, "The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new."
Let's look at that sentence for a moment. Johnson uses the word "engaging" - getting the reader connected or tuned in, and he refers to "powers of an author" for, indeed, a few well chosen words have the power to change the world.
"Making new things familar" means to allow the reader to understand what you're writing about. When you are reading something, the content should not remind you of your first day in algebra class. It has to be simpler than that.
"Making familiar things new" means to shed new light on old subjects or write with such a fresh approach that the old seems new.

Four questions

"A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he may write, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:
"What am I trying to say?
"What words will express it?
"What image or idiom will make it clearer?
"Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?"
-- George Orwell

Put yourself on a schedule

There are three good ways to improve your writing.
1. Observe.
2. Read.
3. Write.
Be a curious observer of the world around you. Always have a notebook handy to write down some of your observations. I know a fellow who whistles constantly and he's good at it. He can whistle recognizable tunes. It occurred to me that people who whistle are happier than people who don't. Or, put another way, I've never seen or heard an unhappy whistler. I had all of these thoughts from one observation of a man whistling. I might write about a whistler some day.
Reading is essential if you want to improve your writing. It is a way of recognizing and appreciating good writing and learning what to do - and not to do - in your own writing.
Writers must write just like jugglers must juggle and dieters must diet. Put yourself on a reasonable schedule. You'll be amazed at your results. If you commit to writing for a half-hour each day, by the end of one year you will have written for more than 180 hours. Find a comfortable place to write and a time of day that works better for you. (I'm an early morning person).
And if you have to snack, get something other than Cheetos!