By Michelle Griep, @MichelleGriep
Okay. I admit it. Science is just not my thing. Can I get an amen? Anyone? Anyone?
But you know what? Even writerly word geeks like you and I can learn from science to improve our writing craft. In fact, there are 3 specific nuggets of brain science that can be helpful for engaging a reader with your story.
- Catching the reader’s attention.
The brain is constantly scanning for two things: danger and surprise. If the brain doesn’t detect either, then whammo. The book gets put down, likely never to be picked up again. But if you incorporate danger or surprise—or especially both—right from the get go in your story, then you’ll hook the reader immediately.
- Connecting the reader to the protagonist.
Once you’ve got the reader hooked, you need to reel them in. You do that by giving your character something the reader can connect with, something that makes them think “Dude! This character is just like me!” You need to show how the character is likable and also like the reader.
- Presenting a story of struggle or challenge.
Life is hard. It should be for your hero as well. You’ve got to give him a challenge that is just about impossible, against odds that are crazy-go-nuts, with a villain who’s blocking his success at every turn.
See? That wasn’t too overly technical. Apply these 3 tips into your current manuscript and you just might have a rocket scientist fangirling all over you when it gets published.
Having lived with a family who hated her, love is finally within reach. Abby sets off on a journey across England to marry one of the most prestigious gentleman bachelors in the land—until highwaymen upset her plans and threaten her life.
Horse patrol captain Samuel Thatcher arrives just in time to save Abby. But to him she’s simply another victim in a job he’s come to despise. Tired of the dark side of humanity, he intends to buy land and retire.
Abby pleads with him to escort her on the rest of her journey. He refuses until she offers him the thing he desperately needs to achieve his goal: money. Delivering her safely will earn him more than enough to settle into a quiet life.
So begins an impossible trek for the cynical lawman and the proper lady. Each will be indelibly changed by the time they reach her betrothed if they don’t kill one another first—or fall in love.
Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She is the author of historical romances: The Captured Bride, The Innkeeper’s Daughter, 12 Days at Bleakly Manor, The Captive Heart, Brentwood’s Ward, and A Heart Deceived, but also leaped the historical fence into the realm of contemporary with the zany romantic mystery Out of the Frying Pan. If you’d like to keep up with her escapades, find her at www.michellegriep.com or stalk her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.