Tears and Surprise

Readers are essentially looking for one thing. Entertainment, in whatever form. To be entertained, they have to want to read the story. I myself have skipped over long paragraphs of a story I actually enjoy because it was too detailed or simply set aside a book on account of it not creating the desire to know what happens next. Inversely, I've clung to a book, unable to read it fast enough even though I know how it ends.

Delivery. That is the key to captivating readers. Sometimes delivery in the form of how or why.

Of course, different readers look for different things, but if a writer follows a type of captivation, such as story or love of a character, then they can hold onto readers. So how does a writer follow their set captivation? What if they don't want to stay in that set? Or they're using a mix? Be brave. Be bold.

Robert Frost said something I keep in mind whenever I write. "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader."

I've found that when I'm surprised, horrified, overjoyed or whatever else, my readers usually are as well. If a writer delivers the characters or issues in a way that's real and strong, then the story goes forth in a captivating matter. People make stupid choices. Deliver stupid choices. Deliver what happens because of them. Whatever you do, just deliver. And if you're the reader and you find the writer isn't delivering, find someone that does.

But that mostly just covers events and such, not the style or the storytelling itself. We can go into that some other time because I'd rather not talk everyone to death. Until next time.