Million Dollar Outlines - 2013

Part 13: Climbing The Emotional Richter Scale

Bestsellers register high on the emotional-Richter scale.

Now, there is nothing wrong in writing stories that don't adhere to a formula. You can do just fine writing mystery novels set in the present day that feature an old woman as a protagonist, for example. It has been done with some success before. The audience is wide enough so that you can make a living at it.

There's nothing set in stone that says that you have to set your books in another time and place in order to sell. Contemporary stories for teens can work well.

You can also decide that you're only interested in writing to teenage girls rather than have a broad audience, ala Stephenie Meyer.

But here's something interesting. You can't ignore one thing: you still have to score high on the emotional Richter scale if you want to create a bestseller.

Some authors will say, "Well I don't want to appeal to my readers' emotions, I want to appeal to their intellect." But when you appeal to a reader's intellect—when you surprise them with insights, or make them feel as if their head will explode from a revelation, or when you twist your story in dizzying directions that they'd never imagined—your intellectual insights invariably lead to powerful emotional responses.

So you have to carefully consider each scene and ask yourself questions like, "What is the emotional draw behind this scene?" If it's drama, and I'm writing a romance, how well will my reader respond? If I tell a joke, is it a good joke, one that really keeps the reader laughing, maybe even days later? Or in my comedy, are there enough humorous notes. We've all been lured to movies that are advertised as comedies and then found that all three of the good jokes we saw in the commercials are the only ones used in what is otherwise a drama. We felt cheated.

So how well does your story stack up to others in its genre? If you're writing horror, how strong are your horror beats? Will you surpass films like Jaws, The Shining, and Aliens?

You may also find that your story can be strengthened if you add entire new dimensions. For example, let's say that you're writing a comedy. Will it help you get your 20-something audience if you add a romance line? Or what happens if you create a bit of adventure?

When you look for ways to expand your audience, you'll find that you make surprising and valuable changes to your story.

For the past 30,000 words I've been discussing some of the basics of audience analysis. Hopefully by now you recognize a few truths:

First, telling stories can be a very healthy activity. Through it, your audience can be entertained, emotionally strengthened, educated, and can grow through shared experiences. Stories bind communities together and can help create a consensus about how we should act and feel.

So as you create your stories, you need to consider what it is that your audience wants and needs. That should be a huge priority in your mind.

We can show that audiences of certain ages and sexes will crave slightly different things—wonder, humor, horror, romance, adventure, intrigue, drama.

And we also know that by studying what has been popular in the past, we can gain some insights into how to create powerful stories for the future.

Don't restrict yourself to any one medium. If you want to write a powerful novel, you can draw inspiration outside books. One of the most popular books in years was The Hunger Games. Author Suzanne Collins reported that the idea came as she was switching between two channels on television. One of the channels had footage from the war in Iraq, and it became juxtaposed over a popular reality television show—and combined to create a runaway bestselling book!

So as a storyteller, you draw your inspiration from wherever you can find it.

Putting It All Together

For the past 30,000 words I've been discussing some of the basics of audience analysis. Hopefully by now you recognize a few truths:

First, telling stories can be a very healthy activity. Through it, your audience can be entertained, emotionally strengthened, educated, and can grow through shared experiences. Stories bind communities together and can help create a consensus about how we should act and feel.

So as you create your stories, you need to consider what it is that your audience wants and needs. That should be a huge priority in your mind.

We can show that audiences of certain ages and sexes will crave slightly different things—wonder, humor, horror, romance, adventure, intrigue, drama.

And we also know that by studying what has been popular in the past, we can gain some insights into how to create powerful stories for the future.

Don't restrict yourself to any one medium. If you want to write a powerful novel, you can draw inspiration outside books. One of the most popular books in years was The Hunger Games. Author Suzanne Collins reported that the idea came as she was switching between two channels on television. One of the channels had footage from the war in Iraq, and it became juxtaposed over a popular reality television show—and combined to create a runaway bestselling book!

So as a storyteller, you draw your inspiration from wherever you can find it.

This is the final post on this book. I appreciate all of you who follow and read my stories. the rest of this book and all of my other books can be found at this link: 

http://amzn.to/2pBimbW