No matter how many creative writing courses you’ve taken over the years, one thing you’ve probably heard multiple times is how important it is to make sure you are putting your readers inside the heads of your characters. This is very true. It is vital to the creation of a good story. However, another thing that’s important, but often overlooked, is the technique of getting your character into the soul of your reader.
Image by Enrique Meseguer
It may at first sound like the same thing, but it isn’t. Your reader being in the heads of your characters simply means that they are seeing and feeling the things that your characters are seeing and feeling in a very vivid way. Obviously, the goal of that is to engross the reader and keep him or her engaged. Getting your character into the soul of your reader is a bit different, and is done by giving your character thoughts or dialogue that speaks so strongly to the reader that he or she feels the entire moment, not just the thoughts or the feelings of an individual character. A subtle difference, but an important one. The best way to make the reader feel the scene is to create dramatic moments that are subtle, but have significant impact.
In other words, it’s not always about making a big noisy scene that’s overly emotional. That sometimes ends up being nothing more than a dog and pony show. You can be dramatic without being "showy." So, since writers love nothing better than to use their own work as an example, I’ll use a scene from my book, Hot Winter Sun as an explanatory aid:
Two of the characters in my book are twins, and one of them is murdered. They are polar opposites. Robert, who is murdered, has a calm, practical, composed personality and is even-tempered. Julian, on the other hand, is impetuous, emotional and temperamental. In one scene, after the murder, Julian’s sister is imploring him to stay calm about a certain situation and her dialogue goes something like this:
“You must accept that it is out of your control, Julian, and draw on your calmer, more pragmatic side at this time,” Jenifry said.
Naturally, I could’ve made Julian respond in various ways, such as some sharp retort like, “That’s easier said than done!” Or “Don’t give me advice when you don’t know how I feel!” Any number of replies, provided they were emotional and sharply delivered, would be in keeping with his character, and ensure the reader stays inside his head. I wanted to do what I previously described, though, and make the reader feel the entire scene. I worked it this way:
“You must accept that it is out of your control, Julian, and draw on your calmer, more pragmatic side at this time,” Jenifry said.
“My calmer, more pragmatic side is in the family graveyard, Jenifry!” Julian replied, and a hush fell over the room.
Dramatic? Yes. Soap opera-ish or overdone? No. Sometimes, it’s the subtle things that bring the reader into the room and it’s all about the impact of the line. When you’re doing this technique, however, it’s important not to use the standard lines that everyone expects. That will just put your right back where you started.
In my novel, Robert’s widow eventually falls in love with Julian and like many people do, she initially tries to talk herself out of her feelings. In this scene, she’s thinking about her child and the war (English Civil War) and wondering what will happen in the future.
I could have written it this way, which would be the same-old, same-old:
Catherine was wondering about the future and if Julian would be part of it, but tried to convince herself it didn’t matter because she was not in love with him.
Although there certainly is nothing wrong with the way that’s written, it’s typical. It's been done to death. The sentence below gives it far more depth, but in a subtle way.
One day, Catherine was thinking about her child and wondering what would happen if they were forced to leave England. Then her thoughts strayed to Julian. Ultimately, she decided that if the three of them stayed together, she would ask no more than that, but didn’t want to probe her thoughts too deeply on that matter.
That clearly conveys that she’s falling in love with him and trying to avoid facing that fact, but it’s a far more interesting way to word it. It takes time to perfect techniques like these, and I’m certainly not suggesting I’ve done so, but I think it's worth it for all writers to keep at it. Sometimes these subtleties make a huge impact, and ultimately make one book stand out from the rest. Readers may not be able to put their finger on what it is, but they will almost always notice the difference. Write on!