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Who wants to read a flat novel that leaves you on your sofa throughout the entire book?\n<\/p>Who wants to read a flat novel that leaves you on your sofa throughout the entire book?\n
Nobody, that\u2019s who.<\/p>\n
A really excellent story snatches you off your couch, plunges you into the story, and drags you\u2014flapping in the breeze\u2014along for the ride. You feel the tension along with the protagonist. You experience the disappointments and successes and fears and joys. You\u2019re right there beside that main character every step of the way.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s easier to say \u201cpull your reader into your story\u201d than it is to actually do it. Just like it\u2019s easier to say \u201cHis call surprised Jane\u201d than it is to say \u201cThe ringing phone yanked her head \u2018round so hard she pulled a muscle.\u201d Or \u201cThe sight of his number on the phone\u2019s ID tripped her heart so hard it skipped a beat.\u201d Or \u201cShe stared at the ringing phone. It was him. It had to be. She snatched up the mobile, juggling like a circus performer as it slipped through the sweat on her palms and almost crashed to the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
So how can you pull these kind of shenanigans with your reader and drop them flailing into your protag\u2019s adventure?<\/p>\n
One way is to use all five basic senses. Don\u2019t just tell the reader that the room is dark and creepy. Show the moonlight shining through naked windows, how the cast shadows stretch and curl like gnarled fingers over a debris-strewn parlor. Each footfall raises puffs of dust full of who-knows-what that tickle the protag\u2019s nose until she sneezes. Random floorboards creak beneath her feet as she tiptoes toward a rustling sound in the hall beyond the door. In the gloom, she bumbles face-first into a spider\u2019s web, goes into full-blown panic mode, and falls. When the floor rises up to smite her, she bites her tongue. The metallic taste of blood pumps her saliva glands into overdrive.<\/p>\n
Wherever your main character\u2019s scene is set, put yourself there with her. Let\u2019s pick an example. Say a beach in broad daylight.<\/p>\n
\u2022 What do you see? (Lots of sand. Probably trash\u2014ugh. Water, duh. Seashells. People on towels or blankets. Kids playing. Surfers. Birds. Lots of birds, especially if there\u2019s food to be had. Boats farther out in deeper water.)<\/p>\n
\u2022 What do you hear? (Waves crashing. Wind blowing. Gulls screeching. Kids squealing. People laughing. Maybe some music from a boom box. Do people use those anymore?)<\/p>\n
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\u2022 What do you smell? (Briny air. Fish. Gull poop. Possibly food, if there are vendors on the boardwalk. Beer. Coconut tanning lotion or sunscreen. Sweat.)<\/p>\n
\u2022 What do you feel? (Sand between your toes. Sand in your swimsuit. Sand in your hair. Sand stuck on your legs and butt from sitting down. Heat or even sunburn from the sun on your back. The slap of water against your arms and face, if you\u2019re swimming, or your legs if you\u2019re wading. That sticky salt-water residue on your skin if you\u2019ve been swimming, but are now dry-ish. Trickles of sweat between your shoulder blades, or down the sides of your face. The streaky remains of sunscreen on your shoulders.)<\/p>\n
\u2022 What do you taste? (Sand between your teeth. Face it, you\u2019re at the beach. That stuff gets everywhere. Beer. Water. Brine, if you\u2019ve been swimming. Corn dogs with mustard. Chips. Fruit. Whatever\u2019s left in your cooler.)<\/p>\n
Make notes for yourself, as fully fleshed out as you can. Then use input from every sense on your list to create the setting. The more vivid the scene, the more real it will be for your reader. Don\u2019t go overboard, though. Too much of a good thing can be just as bad as not enough. The ideal is to make reader live it without drawing attention to the words themselves. If they are aware of the writing, it\u2019s overdone. The difference can be subtle. Check out how other writers do this. Pick up your favorite book and thumb through it to your favorite scene. Nail down how that author painted the image for you, how they made you not just see it, but experience it. Take note of what they included, and what they left out, then ask yourself why. Would more have been too much? Less too little?<\/p>\n
Try to do this with every novel you devour. I know \u2026 it\u2019s hard to focus on that kind of detail when you\u2019re reading, especially the first time through. If it isn\u2019t\u2026well, then you\u2019ve probably never left your couch. Use that book as an example of how you can do better with your own work-in-progress.<\/p>\n
Next week, we\u2019ll take a look at putting tears in your readers\u2019 eyes.<\/p>\n