A Good Story Creates an Experience

A good story creates an experience and puts you in it, living and feeling it as if you were there.

Jerry Cleaver

I wonder how many books you’ve read that you’ve sat alongside and said as you were reading – this is good, or, this is bad. If you’re like me, you either get pulled into a story and carried along with it, or you struggle through for a while trying to find the point when it will grab you and if it doesn’t, you give up and put it aside.

As a writer, we tend to write from within and put those thoughts on the page. Rarely do we write from the readers’ perspective. If we stopped every few sentences and checked our writing from the view of the reader, we’d take forever to finish a book. That’s what rewriting and editing are for – to enhance the readability and engagement of the story.

Next time you sit down to read, take note of what you’re subconsciously thinking as you start a book. Consider what it is about the writing that is keeping you reading. If you’re a writer, take that information and try to emulate it in your own writing. The best teacher of craft is to read good stories and apply what you learn.

Now, go create an experience for your readers.

Check out Jerry Cleaver’s book here.