Why crafting an experience for your readers is just as fundamental as plot.
When people discuss writing fiction, they often speak of plot, story structure, character arcs, and show don’t tell.
But a piece of advice I don’t see at all is how to craft an emotional journey for your reader. How to stoke feelings within them so your work sticks in their minds. Hell, I didn’t even think about this aspect of fiction writing until I read Donald Maass’s The Emotional Craft of Fiction.
In his book, Maass argues that the emotional experience of the reader is just as important as plot, setting, theme, dialogue, etc. Yet, it’s often neglected. Not so much as ignored but invisible to the writer.
A question a writer should be asking is how can I get readers to go on an emotional journey of their own?
Readers don’t read novels the same
Your job as a writer is to craft a unique emotional journey through your story and words.
It’s the experience of reading a story that allows it to remain in a reader’s mind. The emotions they experience as they react to the words on a page.
The emotional language you use makes a difference to the reader’s experience. Readers don’t so much as read as they respond. You can’t be the author of how they feel, but you can try to provoke them to feel something.
Ask yourself this:
- When was the last time a piece of fiction moved you?
- Do you remember every aspect of that piece of fiction, or do you remember how it made you feel?
- Do you think it would be different for readers reading your fiction?
These questions alone made me realize that the emotional experience is just as fundamental as plot. Mastering the emotional craft of fiction will make your fiction stick in the minds of your readers. It will make your writing stand out where it didn’t before.
If you can master the emotional craft of fiction, your writing will matter to people because they will remember how it made them feel.
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