Tag Archive - Inspiration

8 Elements That Get Readers Invested in Your Story

Today’s guest post is by Stefan Emunds.

Readers don’t just invest money but also time and effort. They suspend their disbelief and invest trust—meaning, they give you, the writer, the benefit of the doubt that you will deliver on your story promise.

They invest intellectually by figuring out clues and blinds, twists and turns, and they foresee climaxes. Last but not least, they invest emotionally by rooting for story characters and weathering conflicts and tension.

Reader investment is your goal. Reader investment means success.

You want to get total strangers to read the first chapter of your book and hook them enough to read the second. And the third. And the fourth. And so on. Reader investment means reader engagement.

These are the chief engagers:

  • Empathy
  • Curiosity
  • Tension
  • Inspiration and motivation
  • Sense of wonder and beauty
  • Emotional thrill
  • Excitement
  • Satisfaction
  • Feelings

Let’s take a look at each of these engagers. Continue Reading…

7 Ways to Quickly Increase Your Creativity

Today’s guest post is by author Jon Biddle.

The floodgates of creativity open wide when you are young and stay open. Then, as you age, the outlet runs dry. You get stuck in patterns, bad habits that kill that creative flow something gifted you with.

Creativity is a high form of intelligence, and when you are functioning at high levels, it is great to be active. But before you can think creatively, you need to have access to the right high energy. You need to be in a state of flow when the possibilities that come with creativity are present.

Creativity is about having fun and learning to enjoy the process. Creative writing is about experiencing the joy and the feeling of pride when one passes a concept through the word processor or pen and doesn’t become frustrated and depressed as one may do when trying to turn an idea into something tangible.

This last effort is really important. The worst thing you can do is give up after you get the initial spark of motivation.

Everyone gets a spark, but most of us diminish the motivation because we don’t believe in ourselves. Continue Reading…

3 More Ways to Spark Passion in Your Writing

For this week’s Throwback Thursday, we’re looking at an excerpt from a previous post titled Ways Writers Can Spark Creativity.

Writers are always seeking the spark of creativity that will translate into a flame of brilliance as they write their stories. Although much of writing is just hard work and concentration, that doesn’t mean passion for story has to be pushed aside or is inaccessible due to the “nuts and bolts” of crafting a novel or other piece of writing.

Over the past few weeks we’ve been looking at what passion looks like in writing and some of the ways writers can tap into the passion of their story.

Granted, it helps for a writer to be writing on a subject they feel strongly about. It may be a theme the writer wants to explore as a way to share her heart on the subject. Or it may be an exciting “what if” plot that gets her creative juices going envisioning the diverse and intriguing ways characters might react when put in such situations or crucibles. Continue Reading…

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