Scriveners' Trappings

Lisa Cron#s book, Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence ...

 

First, the mistaken belief: From time immemorial we’ve have been taught that things like lyrical language, insightful metaphors, vivid description, memorable characters, palpable sensory details and a fresh voice are what hooks readers.

It’s a seductive belief, because all those things are indisputably good. But they’re notwhat hook the reader. The brain, it turns out, is far less picky when it comes pretty prose than we’ve been led to believe.

What does the brain crave? Beginning with the very first sentence, the brain craves a sense of urgency that instantly makes us want to know what happens next. It’s a visceral feeling that seduces us into leaving the real world behind and surrendering to the world of the story.

Which brings us to the real question: Why? What are we really looking for in every story we read? What is that sense of urgency all about?

Thanks to recent advances in neuroscience, these are questions that we can now begin to answer with the kind clarity that sheds light on the genuine purpose of story, and elevates writers to the most powerful people on earth. Because story, as it turns out, has a much deeper and more meaningful purpose than simply to entertain and delight.

Via Heiko Idensen