3 Ways to Ignite Readers' Connections With Your Characters and Give Them a Shoulder-to-Shoulder Experience

Story is about 

• emotionally compelling characters
• who face seemingly impossible hurdles 
• because enormous stakes are on the line (thank you Christopher Vogler and Michael Hague)

WEARING THE PROTAGONIST'S SHOES: Readers want to be entertained and to feel something. They want to put their feet in the shoes of the protagonist and have an experience - brain science + Lisa Cron's book Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence has proven this. 

So let's deliver that! 

3 WAYS: Here are three ways you can pull your readers in for a shoulder-to-shoulder experience with your protagonist:

 

1.      

1.  HUG CLOSE: Delete words (when it makes sense) that keep the reader at arm’s length. To draw the reader closer, so that they have a shoulder-to-shoulder experience alongside your protagonist, consider deleting:

·       She heard

•       She saw

•       She felt

•       She knew

The reader does not want to be a spectator who is told what is happening and what the character feels, the reader wants an experience, they want all the feels.

 

Be judicious. Only remove (saw, heard, felt, knew) whenever reasonable. It’s not an “always” rule, it’s a try-it-and-see-if-you-give-your-reader-a-closer-experience exercise.

 

Questions to ask yourself:

·       Does keeping or removing such words make sense at that moment in your plot?

·       Is the reader being held at arm’s length?

·       How can I invite the reader closer?

  

2.      2.  REAL TIME: Put reader in “real” time. To prioritize the reader in storytelling, keep them

close and allowing them to have experiences at the exact same time as the protagonist(whenever possible).

 Putting a reader in “real time” allows the reader to experience an event alongside the protagonist, even if you’re writing in past tense.

 

For example, rather than saying:

 

"She heard snakes hissing in the castle turret … …” instead, put the reader  shoulder-to-shoulder with the protagonist, and let them hear the hissing at the same moment.

 

Example from The Very Last Castle by Travis Jonkers illustrated by Mark Pett.

 

“Hiss, Hiss, Hiss,”

“Snakes,” said Ibb’s grandfather.

Notice that not only is the reader experiencing the snakes at the same time as Ibb (even though the story is in past tense), but also the story transforms into more of a performance piece!

 

3.      FEEL don’t NAME: Let readers feel emotions rather than hearing you, the author, name the emotion. Give us those gripping, exciting, threatening, heartfelt moments whenever possible by selecting strong verbs rather than by naming the experience. For example:

 

Instead of “He was excited” you might change to “He pumped his fist” or “He bounced from foot to foot.”  

 

Search your manuscript for “to be” verbs and see how you might transform those verbs to workhorses for your story.

 

STRONGEST CURRENCY IN STORYTELLING: “In storytelling, emotion is the

strongest currency. It lasts longer than novelty or tension, and it makes the rest of the story more engaging…” but for emotion to work, there “has to be something in the scene worth getting emotional over…Readers should witness characters reasoning and coming to conclusions, rather than simply hearing a summary of their thought process…Readers need the context provided by thoughts and feelings. Without understanding what the character is thinking and feeling, they won’t know what to think or feel either.” Quotes from Narrating a Close Point of View and The Power of Close Perspective by Chris Winkle.

Don’t cork up the character’s feelings and don’t belabor feelings either. Pay attention to what the illustrator is going to deliver and note when simple and/or power verbs deliver the emotion!

 

Reminder: The Emotional Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression  can help you with ideas for using body feels and/or movements for expressing emotion.  

 

Happy writing!

 

Cheers,

Kim

 

The 20 Best Questions to Ask Your Character When Writing a Novel

 

Action and plot are great, but without compelling characters, you’ve got zippo. 

You can transform your characters beyond ideas or paper dolls to living/breathing beings by giving them hopes, dreams, flaws, friends, foils, motives, stakes, passions, and more! How? Create a character bible! 

Many authors lean into character bibles rather than outlines to help them suss out their story. You can, too! 

By asking your protagonist a series of questions, you can uncover what your character wants, why they want it, what lengths they’ll go to get it, and what secrets they’re keeping. As you continue to get to know your character, you’ll discover what lies your protagonist believe about themselves, what they’re hiding in their sock drawer, and what decision they’ll make when given an impossible choice. 

I once attended a lecture on character lead by Marie Lu (author of NYT Bestselling series, Legend), and she said she spends two or three months creating a character bible before she starts writing a new story. By the way, in this episode of 88 Cups of Tea, she shares how music helped her create her villain’s voice. 

Invite me to speak at your school or conference! I lead a character bible workshop. First, I dissect the five benefits for crafting a character bible. Next, I walk participants through the process of unlocking your character’s motives, so they can create believable plots, rich stakes, and compelling stories.  Lastly, I provide worksheets so participants can continue building their characters at home. I look forward to an invitation to your conference or workshop! Contact me here.

In the meantime, here are some questions you can use to get started interviewing your characters:

1.        Write a paragraph describing R.O.A.R.S. (race, orientation, abilities and disabilities, religion, sex). How do they identify? What are their feelings/attitiude about their personal ROARS? 

2.       What are the top five things your character notices about their home, and who else lives there? How do they feel when they bring others inside their home? What sounds do they notice in their bedroom?

3.       What is your protagonist's flaw?

4.       What’s their most precious item in their room and why does it hold value to your protagonist? What are they hiding in their bedroom, where are they hiding it, and who are they hiding it from?

5.       Who's their best friend and what’s that origin story? How does their best friend support them and how do they disappoint them? What is the one thing that could change their relationship?

6.       Who is your protagonist's nemesis and why? 

7.       What’s the one thing your protagonist's doesn’t want the antagonist to know and what might it mean if it is found out?

8.       What's your protagonist's favorite smell and why (does it evoke a memory)? What is a particular smell that brings up bad memories and/or good memories?

9.       What is their source of comfort? What does your protagonist value the most? 

10.    What is the mystery, lore, or the gossip in their town?

11.     Where is their "safe place" and what would happen if that safe place was removed, disappeared, burned down, or was taken away?

12.    What’s the one thing they don’t want their best friend to know and why? What’s the one thing they don’t want their parents to know and whyt?

13.    Who is the foil character, and how does this character make the protagonist shine?

14.    What’s your potagonist’s proudest moment and why?

15.    What's their most embarrassing moment and why?

16.    What’s something that they can freely laugh about regarding their personality or quirks? 

17.    What’s something that really bothers them when others laugh about it? 

18.    What are the TOCs in their home (Traditions, Observations, Celebrations) and how does your protagonist feel about these events? – they can be real or made up.

19.    What do they carry in their pocket? What's their favorite thing to wear and why?

20.   What does your character want more than anything else, and what is at stake if they don't get it? 

Put the goods to work and think like Lisa Cron, author of Wired for Story, Story Genius, and other books on writing. She says to make sure every scene includes what your character wants, even if it's just a cup of water + every

 scene has stakes. The reader should know what your character thinks will happen, what they hope will happen, and what is at stake.