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mbarker Original Posting July 1, 2018
Writer's Digest, June 1990, on pages 32-34, has an article by David Madden talking about how to craft compelling stories. The subtitle says, "The best stories pull readers into a fictional world and keep them there. Follow these tips to create such stories – fiction that is instantly accessible, tangible, and real."
David starts by pointing out that readers want an illusion of reality in fiction. They want reality, but with extremes of action and emotion that everyday life usually doesn't offer. So you need to write stories with an urgency, that grab the reader and make them pay attention to your fictional world, that make them forget that they are reading words on a page.
David suggests that we instill such immediacy in fiction primarily in three areas, in structure, description, and writing style. Then he provides tips for each area.
In structure, we need to get off to a running start. Concentrate on captivating the reader, not the easiest way into the story. Check your openings for these elements. Clear and consistent point of view, so that readers know who they are seeing the story through. Conflict! Characters in conflict means action, and readers love it. Exposition and background. Unfortunately, those long detailed descriptions of characters and loving settings are not really all that interesting. "A single sentence, if well imagined and worded, can do that far more immediately." In real life, we pick up details, single observations, and slowly build the picture. Do the same thing in your stories. You might try burying some of it in dialogue, but be careful of the talking head dialogue.
Next, compelling description. Use action, moving objects, and make it come alive. Here are some other tricks you might use. First, charged images. These usually get built up throughout your story, and often tie everything together. Second, rhythmic, evocative descriptive sentences are much better than mechanical simple sentences. Third, use all the reader's senses. Visual is fine, but don't forget smells, sounds, feels, tastes… Fourth, filter the description through the point of view. Use the point of view, that character, to look at the scene. And, fifth and final, be brief.
For writing style, remember that you are guiding the reader. The way you arrange your words, phrases, and sentences builds a sense of immediacy. Here's some guidelines and techniques. State things in chronological order. Use active phrasing. Keep your transitions crisp. Yes, you want to mark the time and place, and move readers from one to the next. Do it quickly. Impinge phrases, run phrases and words into each other, forget the connectives. Juxtapose elements. Two words, images, or events separately may not have much impact, but side-by-side, see if you can evoke something else! Reversal, and surprise, are useful for keeping attention. Repetition is a good way to emphasize something. But, avoid distractions and deadeners. Yes, fancy words can be fun for the writer, but they're just a distraction for the reader.
Keep your fiction immediate. One way to avoid getting lost in your own wording. "You can, I am convinced, overcome much of this occupational hazard by imagining as you begin to write an audience of strangers. Try to feel their living, breathing presence, and respond to their craving for an immediately intense experience."
So. Make the opening drag you in, and then keep you there. Make the description come alive! And finally, tighten up the writing until it disappears.
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