“Writing A-Z: F is For Fascination and Feelings
What’s the most fascinating thing you’ve ever read? Did it make you want to read more? Did it cause you to pause, and research what you just read? Isn’t this our goal when we write? Don’t we want our readers to be so enamored of and fascinated by what we’ve written that they can’t put it down? We want them to say — to others or themselves, “just one more chapter.”
But what are some ways we can make our story fascinating to others? Many of us live fairly “ordinary” lives without much drama, trauma or intense experiences. Even if that’s not the case, simply retelling the story can end up sounding rather mundane.
One of the best ways to make our stories fascinating is to add color, details, feelings, memories, descriptions. When we create a scene — fictional or otherwise, when we give life to the characters — what they looked like, how they dressed, even peculiarities or pet peeves — we bring them to life. So much of our past couple of years have been spent on-line and our world has become one-dimensional! When we add senses and emotions to the story, we not only bring to life the person or the scene we invite the reader into the scene!
Addressing the feelings of the characters can be a bit tricky. Going off of our fascinating theme, how do we let readers know what the characters are feeling, without stating the obvious? “He put his fist through a wall because he was angry,” isn’t interesting, only informative. By adding the source of the anger, details about why this was his reaction vs. yelling, walking out of the room, slamming the door, or going for a run humanizes the character. We may not be able to relate to that rage, but adding context puts responses and actions into perspective.
No need to go overboard or gratuitously use descriptive language, just to add words to the page. What makes the characters fascinating, is to reveal them as if peeling an onion. Offering a window into someone’s mind helps the reader begin to forge a relationship with the character.
Words matter! We have a commitment to our readers to use our words in ways that will uplift them, inform them, entertain or teach them. They’ve entrusted us with their time, and it’s our responsibility to make sure that time is well-spent!
When we are telling stories, it’s important to be sure our characters are offered context and substance. Stating someone was a drug addict who ended up in prison and moving on leaves out the back story — how did they get involved with drugs? What were the drugs they used? What did their life look like when they were actively using? What is their current situation? Why are family celebrations especially joyful for them? Why is it a super big deal when they close on a house — what was their journey? Context matters and adds richness and dimension to our characters.
I shared about this topic a few weeks ago on the Clubhouse app. If you’d like to listen to the replay for the full discussion, visit the link to the replay.
You can find me in all the on-line places at linktr.ee/themarymoss
