Into the Action: Bringing your Reader into the Scene, syndicated from @JeanNicole19
The following is syndicated from jeannicolerivers.com and is posted here with permission.
People read for adventure, for the chance to escape to a place that is exciting and different. Part of the art of being a writer of great stories is the ability to bring your reader into the scene, to place them dead center of a dramatic shootout or right alongside the main character as she fights off an attacker.
While there are many ways to bring your reader into a scene, I find the way that works best for me is to engage all of their senses.
People read for adventure, for the chance to escape to a place that is exciting and different. Part of the art of being a writer of great stories is the ability to bring your reader into the scene, to place them dead center of a dramatic shootout or right alongside the main character as she fights off an attacker. While there are many ways to bring your reader into a scene, I find the way that works best for me is to engage all of their senses.
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Sight: What should we see? The color, the brilliance, the movement of things paints a picture of the scene and your reader can easily bring it to life with their imagination if you give them the right images.
Sound: What should the reader hear? Is the room so quiet that you could hear the floors settling or is there the soft shuffling of unidentifiable movement all around?
Smell: What should the reader smell? Is there a sharp, burnt scent originating from the spark that caused the lights to go out?
Touch: What should the reader feel? Touch is very important; this allows the reader to simulate a physical feeling in their own body. Explain the searing pain that washes the victim’s back as the intruder drags her across the carpet giving her an excruciating rug burn.
Taste: What should the reader taste? Taste is often forgotten but extremely important and does not relate only to food. Explain how the man can taste the smoke caused by the fire that has trapped him in the basement threatening to consume him at any moment.
Of course you cannot, or at least should not try to engage each of the reader’s senses with every new event or idea that you explain, this will bore your reader and could be a distraction, but strategically placed descriptions that allow the readers to use their senses will draw them into the moment intimately.
Bringing your reader into the story by touching all of their senses will give the reader a more well-rounded adventure and the next time they want to take a trip out of their own world, your book will be the first one they reach for.
