In a new post on Writer Unboxed, Donald Maass examines why readers read, and how knowing that can help us strengthen our writing.
Fiction can be entertaining, enlightening, inspiring, or challenging. Those are all good reasons to write, but why do we read? Maass prefers to state the question this way: “When readers read a novel, in what ways are they rewarded?” This question goes to the effect the writer wants to have on the reader. Do you want your readers to think about a problem? Do you want them to feel hope or be inspired to take an action? Do you want them to feel less alone in the world?
Maass zeroes in on one effect you might have overlooked: Readers like to feel smart. Elements that create that feeling can include puzzles, problems, questions, riddles, dilemmas, mysteries, projection, insight, and wisdom. So, how do you incorporate that into your writing?
Give your reader a puzzle to solve. There’s a reason murder mysteries are so popular. Give your characters problems that aren’t easily resolved. Humans feel smart when they overcome a significant challenge, particularly something that has vexed them over time. Ask interesting questions and pose moral dilemmas. Rather than simple right v. wrong, present your reader with two bad choices or two good choices. Which is better and why? Bits of insight or wisdom help us feel like we learned something.
Maass also offers some practical advice:
- Consider your main story problem, as well as the actions and choices your character must make. Add an impossible element to create a puzzle.
- Consider your story question. Is it easily solved? Add layers to make the answer less obvious or morally slippery. Make the question difficult to answer decisively. Let your character – and your readers – embrace their own solution, which might be one of many “correct” answers.
- Force your character to make difficult choices between two good outcomes or two bad outcomes. Make the choices equally attractive or repellant.
“Readers love to feel that they figured something out,” Maass writes.
