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What Every Reader Wants From Every Story They Ever Read
Story formulas from masterpieces of fiction
The first lesson my Copywriting mentor taught me changed the way I thought about writing.
All writing must elicit an emotional response in your reader.
His advice pertained to copywriting and sales; you cannot sell without rousing emotion. But all writing is selling. The first sentence in your story sells your reader on the second one. The second sentence sells him on the third. And so on.
A reader wants her emotions aroused. We sign up for that mental torment when we pick up a book or open an article.
Spot the formulas
You can train yourself to spot the meta formulas writers use to trigger these emotional swings. As you read a book or watch a movie, pay attention to your emotions. Whenever you feel that sock to your gut, take note of it. Backtrack the chain of events that led up to that emotional surge.
If you try this exercise, you will discover patterns. Writers tell different stories but use similar structures to draw out emotional responses. Of course, execution matters just as much as the structure, but knowing these formulas is a good place to start.
