Compelling WritingHow to bring that piece to the next level

You’ve seen it before; those books you just can’t put down, that leave you breathless, desperately wanting the next chapter; whether it’s stunning fight scenes or that mystery that keeps you on your toes. And it leaves you wondering how did those authors get so good? How did they bring their writing to that next level; that it simply draws you in?

The truth is, you can have one of the best plots in the world, a dramatic mystery, and stunning characters (all very good and extremely helpful, don’t get me wrong!) but it still doesn’t have that 3D aspect, where it draws you in and you personally become part of the story.

So how do you add this quality to your writing? Here a few helpful steps to get you started;

Write because you love it, not because you have to.

Basically, don’t write to achieve word count or the approval of others. Write because you LOVE to write.

Be involved in your story.

As weird as it may seem at first, if you’re not there with your characters, a part of their conversations, watching them, getting to know them, then your reader certainly won’t be. To put your reader in a position where they are there with your characters, you must first be able to give an eyewitness account of the story. So get to know your characters. Know how they think, what they hate, what they love, and what they want. As you go about your day to day, think about how they would respond to your situation – what they would say, and what they would do. Paint or draw pictures, whether in your mind, or on paper, of every place mentioned in

your book. Create a map of their world, no matter how much you hate geography. Know your way around the areas as they do. Familiarise yourself with the road marks on the way to the places they will travel. Be there with them, every step of the way, and as to your reader; they will soon become lost in your story.

Make your story something your reader cares about

There are two different ways you can do this; either write about something they already care about, or make them care about what you want to write about. Encourage sympathy for the character. About the only way you can know you are doing well on this step is by asking other people (friends, parents, other authors on writing websites) to read a scene or two and see how they feel about the character. If they don’t yet really care about them, then ask them for advice on how you could make it better and how could your character become more appealing.

Everything has its reasons

As an author, it’s very easy to make your characters work as puppets, doing exactly what you want them to do according to your plot. This is one of the best ways to ruin your story and make everything seem fake and uninteresting. First of all, to be realistic, your characters MUST have a mind of their own. Give them a free reign for a while. What would they really be doing on an afternoon off? Because they certainly wouldn’t want to go over to their grumpy grandmothers place only to accidently stumble on a secret world. No, every action made by your characters must have a valid reason; either something that really matters to your character, example: maybe their grandma gives them chocolate and lets them play computer games all day, even though she is a little bad-tempered sometimes. Or, the action is forced and they have no choice. This must also have a very valid reason behind it. Example: Perhaps their Mum has been admitted to hospital, their Dad’s at work and they’re too young to stay home alone, and as Grandma happens to live next door, so consequently, it’s off to her place. Also, one of the most key points in a story is the driving motivation of your character/characters what they want to achieve; what they’re working towards throughout the entire story. It doesn’t matter whether they what they want or not, what

matters is that their motivation is always clear and well developed by the author.

Practice

Write, write, write. No matter how skilled you have become, practice is the most key feature in bringing your writing to the next level. So write as often as you can, even if it’s just a few sentences.

I hope I have helped you on the road to bringing your writing to that next level.

Best Wishes,

Rebekah

Disclaimer: reading this article and following the steps practiced here is not going to make your story an instant best seller. This article is aimed at helping you to reach that next level, not achieving it for you. All things take time, and writing is no different.

Copyright © 2010 by the Teen Writers Club. All rights reserved.