Maya Angelou once said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
This is very true among readers of fiction. Your audience might not remember your exact plot or each of your character’s names – or even your name – but they will remember how your story made them feel. Was it tense, frightening, moving, whimsical? This is what they’ll tell their friends.
In a recent post, television writer Jurgen Wolff says that focusing on what you want your readers to feel can be the gateway to developing your characters and atmosphere. Wolff suggests advertising as a great example. Ads make us want to have fun, fit in, show off, or avoid embarrassment. Triggering our feelings helps Madison Avenue sell us soda, cars, and personal hygiene products.
Your emotional connection to your reader will channel through your protagonist and, to a lesser but still important extent, your antagonist and supporting characters. “Knowing what emotions you want to evoke before you start writing can help you construct a good story and design the characters,” Wolff says.
He suggests creating a map of the emotions you want your protagonist to experience (suffer?) during the course of your story, which you can use to ensure that your scenes are hitting the right notes. Also, be sure to keep it varied. “Even in a horror film, for instance, you need some variety because nobody can be scared 100% of the time,” Wolff writes. “You need some moments when your protagonist (falsely) believes that now they are safe, before the monster or the ghost reappears. This need for variety is true for every genre.”
You should also identify the feeling you want to leave with your audience at the conclusion. That emotion should be a key factor in your climax.
