The Accidental Writer: Engage Your Readers!
Good writing engages the reader at all possible moments. I’ve been doing some editing lately, and I’ve been focusing on adding more engagement into the prose.
Lets look at an example.
David panicked when he saw the angry mob.
This sentence works on one level. It gives a bit of information about the character and what he’s feeling, but what if you wrote:
David’s eyes grew wide as he surveyed the dozen irate men. His skin turned clammy, his chest tightened and the noise in his head escalated into a roar. His eyes skittered around the alley as he thought, what am I going to do?
The second passage is better. It engages the reader on a deeper level and makes him or her feel what the character feels.
Here is another example.
Jonathan felt the disgruntled crowd move in on him.
Another sentence full of telling that is mostly narration. How about this instead:
Two dozen people circled closer to Jonathan. As one man pushed another, two angry red-faced women started shouting at each other, spit flying from their faces. Three beefy sailors pointed at him with sneers on their faces as they moved within arms reach.
It is harder to write the scene with more showing, but it is essential to create writing that engages.
And an engaged reader is a happy reader.
You can check out my political thriller, Fourteenth Colony, at Amazon and other places where books are sold.
You can also follow my ramblings on Twitter @JeffAltabef
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