SPA Girls Podcast – EP349 – How To Build Reader Connection With Your Characters

Subscribe: RSS

Building a deep connection between your characters and your readers is what
creates raving fans, books that stick like glue to the sales charts and fuels word-of-mouth recommendations. So how do we do this? Today we’re talking about tools and resources we use to build reader connection with our characters.

“When readers recognize the character’s emotional state as one they’ve experienced in the past, it creates a sense of shared experience. Readers will connect with the character, even on a subconscious level, because of this thing they have in common. This is a common way for empathy to begin.” ~ Bella Puglisi,

Know your characters and what makes them tick
show not tell
make them sympathetic & relatable
character interviews – Wendy does them quarter of the way through the book she’s writing
Use character’s senses
Make character have to choose between making a bad choice or a worse choice
re-read your favorite books for inspiration

Recommended resource:
The Connection between Character Emotion and Reader Empathy
(https://www.livewritethrive.com/2019/02/04/the-connection-between-character-emotion-and-reader-empathy/#:~:text=When%20readers%20recognize%20the%20character’s,way%20for%20empathy%20to%20begin.)

Writing For Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias : https://www.karliglesias.com/

How To Make Readers Feel Emotion: https://theeditorsblog.net/2011/01/30/creating-emotion-in-the-reader/

💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us Patreon.

If you join us as a $10 Patreon patron, you’ll have access to us (warts and all!) in our private facebook group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing and answer your questions.

www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

All SPA Girls Podcast Episodes, Resource Links and free Self-Publishing Info at www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com