The other day a Reddit post grabbed my attention. I have no memory of what I was looking for when I stumbled across the post, but there it was: a very, very short post (probably less than 250 words) with a humble request for advice. Not an “am I the ahole” (AITA) post… This was something different.
The writer had encountered a problem with a friend and wrote to ask for advice how to solve it. Now normally, I belong firmly in the camp of “don’t take advice from strangers on the Internet,” but something about this post moved me. I mean, really moved me. I cried a few actual tears reading the story.
There was nothing specifically sensation about the author’s question. There was no hard-luck story or anything like that. The author was relating a situation that happened in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign he was playing with friends. He explained the character, the context for the character’s struggle, and posed a question to the interwebs about how to solve it.
I wasn’t having a particularly emotional day, I promise! But when I read the character’s journey, it moved me. I was immediately struck by the fact that in literally fewer characters than I’ve probably used to write this post, the Reddit author had created a hook so strong that I felt something for those characters.
I gave the post some thought and knew there were valuable lessons on craft to be pulled from how the paragraph moved me. Here’s what I discovered:
The story created emotional impact by connecting the characters to something immediately recognizable.
When you write a story in one short paragraph, you don’t have a lot of time to set the stakes, create a hook, and dive deep into worldbuilding. In just a few sentences, though, this author gave me so much. And he did that by tugging on heartstrings that his audience would already bring to the topic.
We can do the very same things in our books. This is the reason why tropes are so popular and what character archetypes are so satisfying. You don’t have to recreate the wheel with every sentence, every paragraph, or even every premise. But give the people what they want: something they can connect to immediately because it’s relevant to the audience.
What does this mean and how can you use this to write with more impact?
No matter your genre or sub-genre preference, you need to know your reader. What do they read books like yours for? Escape? Entertainment? Fantasy fulfillment? Adventure? Create that experience quickly and easily on the page, and you’ll have a reader who is hooked.
Write a story that always has an emotional consequence for the protagonist.
Even horror novels tug on the heartstrings. If readers didn’t care about the characters, we would not care about seeing the horror defeated—or at least faced, if not overcome. Creating emotional resonance for that main character means that something is at stake: A cleric is forced to renounce their oath. A detective faces the one cold case that’s haunted their career. A wedding planner is planning the wedding for their ex-fiance. Immediately obvious emotional resonance leads to faster engagement.
Make me care!
At the end of that Reddit post, the author posted a question. What should my characters do now? The very best stories explore that very question.
A cleric is forced to renounce their oath.
Why? What happened that threw this character who by definition is infused with power gifted through a sacred bond. What could possibly happen after that sacred bond is broken?
A detective faces the one cold case that’s haunted their career.
Why does this matter? Is the detective connected in some way to the suspects or the victims? What will eat at this person throughout retirement if they cannot solve this particular case at this time?
A wedding planner is planning the wedding for their ex-fiance.
Oh, boy. I see so many ways this could go tragically—or comedically—wrong. Or right? It depends on your perspective and the answer to the question why do I care about this character?
I’m winding down a writing class that I’m teaching at Stanford and an editing class at UCLA right now and what’s most on my mind these days is how unbelievably talented the people I’m fortunate to work with are. There are amazing stories all around us. Some are even in Reddit threads. Whatever writing or editing issue you’re struggling with, I hope you’ll post here and ask a question or seek out trusted author and editor friends for help.
The world needs your stories. In scrolling through Reddit for goodness only knows what, I came across a tiny, tiny story that moved me, touched me, and gave me something beautiful. I can’t wait to read work from you that does the same.