Suzyvadori

Last week, I watched the Artemis II mission launch (the first crewed launch to circle the moon in 50 years) live because my dad texted me to ask if I was watching, and I appreciated the reminder to tune in to an important moment in time. The first time I remember ever watching a live launch was in 1986, when my classmates and I watched the Challenger explode before our eyes on the TV that was wheeled in from the library for us to witness.

Thankfully, last week’s launch went off without a hitch, after a few delays, but I still watched breathlessly, as if my very attention and presence could send good vibes out into the universe, to the brave astronauts and their families for their safe passage.

There’s something about watching things LIVE that is irreplaceable, in terms of the human experience.

• ⚾ Tuning in to Sporting Events
• 🎤 Attending Concerts
• 🌍 Being present for important moments for your town, your country, or the world
• 🤩 Living your own life in the present

When an event unfolds LIVE, its outcome hasn’t been written yet.

• ⚾ Who will win the tournament?
• 🎤 What songs will your favorite artist play, and how will they differ from the recordings you love?
• 🌎 What details will you absorb that you can recount to those who missed this moment?
• 🤩 How can you bottle each moment of your life to relive the wonderful bits and bobs?

The LIVE experience lets you feel truly ALIVE. 🎉

You can create this LIVE effect in your writing with a few techniques.

• 🎉 To make readers hold their breath
• 🎉 To let readers experience the emotions of the moment, feeling truly ALIVE

This is what will give your story its magical quality. One that moves your readers and moves them to tell others about your book. About what they experienced while reading it.

Your story follows its own arc. But your job as a writer is to make decisions that will immerse us, such as:

• ✏️ Deciding where to zoom in and slow your story down – letting us be in the moment
• ✏️ Showing us the world through your point of view (POV) character’s eyes, coloring everything they encounter with their experience and lens
• ✏️ Not including spoilers – watch for the order you give readers information.
  • • ▶️ In dual timeline stories, it’s very difficult to create tension in the past, because again, we know that your characters lived to tell the tale. Readers will only care about the backstory you’re sharing if it helps them predict what your characters will do in “story present”.
    • ▶️ If you show us what happens at the top of a scene, and then drop back to show how it unfolds, you diffuse tension, because we know the outcome (the rocket launch is successful!)
• ✏️ Using all the techniques of Show, don’t Tell writing to keep readers present in the moment. Think you know these? Check against my 7 Ways to Find Telling in Your Writing, I bet you’ll learn a few new ones!

If you take the time to draw your readers in and show them around, they’ll love your book even more, even if they don’t know why.

Want a guided tour of how to apply these techniques to your story in progress? My Wicked Good Fiction Bootcamp shows 40+ techniques to elevate your book for your readers. Grab it today, and by the time the Orion capsule returns to splashdown on Earth, you’ll be well on your way to making your book the best it can be. The course is asynchronous, and you can complete the lessons on your own time, but my team and I are in there to answer questions and review your work along the way, so you won’t be going solo.

What LIVE events have you witnessed in your lifetime? Leave a comment below to tell me!