As a writer, evoking any kind of emotion from your reader is always a
fantastic accomplishment! Tears, smiles, giggles, gasps… these
reactions are forever present when we’re reading a good book. Nothing
quite compares to excitement, however. It’s one of our favorite things
to feel while we’re reading! Here are five ways to conjure up reader
enthusiasm in your writing.
It’d be awesome IRL too. Something that
is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the character in your book,
would probably be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for your reader as
well. And those kinds of opportunities are exciting no matter who you
are!
For example, if the character in your book is all of a sudden given VIP
access to their fave band’s concert, that’s pretty exciting, right? If
we were reading a book where that happened, we know we’d feel pretty
darn gleeful!
Same goes for if your character was given the opportunity to be in a national magazine or write an article for it. Hellooo awesomeness!
Believable plot twist. Since you already know how to create a believable plot twist – we wrote about it before – it’s time to incorporate it for excitement purposes. Nothing is quite as awesome as that instance in time when you’re like whaaaat! That’s insane!
You know that moment when you realize Bella is pregnant, or that
Wormtail is Ron’s pet rat? Yeah, those were totally exciting moments!
Your character finally gets what they want. Sometimes the
downhill snowball effect is a good tactic to use when writing. Ya know,
everything bad that could happen to your character just keeps happening.
They do extra chores to earn more allowance so they can go to a
concert. The concert gets canceled but your character doesn’t realize
until they’ve driven 6 hours to get there. Then it starts raining, they
get a flat tire, someone steals their purse…
Then all of a sudden, BAM, the best thing ever
happens to your character. They run into the band that was supposed to
be playing, or they find a lottery ticket jammed in their glove
compartment, a gift they forgot all about, and it’s a million dollar
winner. Whatever it is you make happen, your reader will be left yelling
YAY! in their room by themselves!
Build up to the moment. Taking time to build anticipation is a
great way to evoke excitement in your reader. Maybe your character has
spent most of the book studying/freaking out about a huge exam. Then
there’s the moment when the grades are announced. Ahhh we need to know!
Or your character has spent most of the book getting ready for the
school dance. Getting the perfect date, the fabulous dress, the gorgeous
shoes… Then all of a sudden it’s the night they’ve been waiting for and
their date shows up looking handsome and holding a bouquet of flowers. Oh em gee! So much cuteness!
Your reader’s excitement is so much that they have to run a lap around
their living room just to calm themselves down and continue reading.
Cute boys doing funny things. Nothing makes us more giddy then
uber hot guys being total goofs. Have you ever laughed out loud in a
total obnoxious way just because the boy in the book you’re reading did
something totally cute and hilarious? No? Hmm…maybe it’s just.
Written by Virginia Van de Wall
No comments:
Post a Comment