3 Things That Will Help Readers Engage With Your Story
It can feel like there is a lot to learn if you are just dipping your toe in creative writing. Whether you’re writing your first novel, or have a couple under your belt, there is always opportunity to develop your creative writing skills and craft knowledge.
Writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint, and to help you become the best writer you can be, you’ll need to learn a few fundamental skills.
Without these key pieces of knowledge, your stories may not reach their potential or have the desired impact on the reader.
So here are 3 simple tweaks to help make your book more readable.
#1 Include descriptions alongside dialogue
Descriptions alongside dialogue are not the same as a dialogue tag (eg: John said, I yelled) or an action beat (eg: Jo shrugged, I nodded). A description is something more to develop the way the dialogue is delivered or received.
For example:
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think you’d care,” I admitted.
Jack’s face fell. He stared at me, brow furrowed deeply, and for a moment it seemed he couldn’t decide whether to be angry or hurt.
I held my breath, waiting for his reaction.
“Beth…” He laid a hand on my shoulder. “I'll always care.”
This above scene briefly develops the conflict of emotions Jack feels to give more emotional impact to the scene. Not showing Jack’s reaction would create a lack of emotional response from the character and therefore less impact on the reader. Since we are not in Jack’s point of view, it is especially important to develop his reactions to create a closeness between his character and the reader.
#2 Take opportunities for characterisation
Characters can be developed in many different ways. Using internal monologue is one of the best ways to get into the point of view character’s head and delve into their thoughts and feelings. Another is to use what is happening around them.
For example: If your character is on a crowded train and sees a group of youths being impolite to an elder passenger, you can explore your character’s response to this. What do they think? How does the treatment of the passenger make them feel? Do they want to do something but decide not to? If so, why? There are always opportunities to expand on a character’s morals, values, beliefs, opinions, and attitude.
Like the above point, it’s important to develop the character’s internal and external responses. This could be their inner thoughts exploring a particular feeling like anger or grief, or a visceral, physical reaction to show a feeling like fear or stress.
#3 Balance your backstory
Backstory refers to information about the character or world from before they are introduced to the reader. These are often things like a character’s childhood and past experiences that have shaped them to be the person they are now, or important historical events that have shaped the current state of the world.
Backstory is a vital element to many stories. However, it should be introduced sparingly and at the right times.
For example: If your character has a strained relationship with a member of their family, you may show how their relationship is strained through a one-on-one interaction and pique the readers’ interest, but you don’t reveal the reason for the estrangement until it is important for the reader to know.
If you reveal backstory information too soon or at the wrong moment it could lack the desired impact. Instead, you want to include it when it has been built up to and the reader needs to know it for further clarification or to progress the story.
We often have a short window in which to hook the readers’ attention and convince them to keep reading. By creating dynamic dialogue, coherent characters, and balanced backstory, you can help your reader ground themselves in the story.
If you’re unsure how to achieve these, they are some of the many areas of storytelling I look at closely in my 16-Week Planning and Drafting Coaching. I’ll help you see how your story can be developed for greater readability. You can learn more about how the coaching works here.
