- Characters we root for: We need to have at least one character through whose eyes we experience the story, someone who we empathize with and root for, the person who serves as the connection between what they are going through and the world of the story. Such characters help us go the journey with them till the issue/crisis is resolved (or not)
- Conflict: Drama is conflict, without conflict or promise of it then what’s the point of keeping us there? Make the conflict relatable that we as an audience put ourselves in the character’s shoes and ask ourselves. ‘what would I do if I was the character/s in the story?
- Grey areas: Choose subject matters that don’t have obvious answers, this will hold our interest as an audience as we listen and follow both sides of the debate to see which one holds more weight.
- Suspense: You’ve got to hold your readers interest and curiosity. If I’m not curious about what’s happening next, then I’m not going to stick around. I’ve in the past written a blog post on how to hold your readers’ attention. Find it on my website www.damarisirunguo.com
- Great Pacing: You need to find the proper balance of the pacing of your story, we have to breath but at the same time we have to stay on the edge of our seats. Finding that balance is your lonely task as a writer. Study the genre you’re working and see how the other writers in that specific genre do the pacing of their stories. Keep studying and reworking your story until you find that rhythm.
- Use humour: If you are gifted with a hand in humour or writing witty dialogue then by all means drip feed it across the series. It’s not only comedy that needs humour. Every genre can do with some laughs so spend some time working on appropriate humour for the piece of work you’re writing.
- Teach us something we don’t know: If you have a budget for spectacle scenes then use that. If you don’t have a budget then give us some new useful information, drip feed it across the story so that we can feel a little bit more intelligent by the end of the experience.
Hope you’ve found those tips useful. If you’d like more tips on writing. Head over to my website www.damarisirunguo.com
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Happy Writing and Creating!
Awesome read. Now for type of characters and their purpose within and without the story