As a writer, you want your stories to connect to your readers on two levels. One level is the intellectual: the events in your story should make sense in the world you've set it in and your readers should be able to see logical connections between the events. The other level is the emotional; your readers should be able to relate to what your characters are feeling and should feel a full range of emotions themselves as they read the story.
Let's start with emotion. Why do you need sappy sentiment in your story? I know some people love this stuff, but to be honest it just makes me tune out, especially if there's any kissing involved. And it's true that too much emotional content can make your story deteriorate into melodrama or one big soap opera. And you don't want that, trust me.
But used wisely emotion can make your story unforgettable. Your favourite stories probably are the ones that make you cry a lot and laugh a lot. The best stories give you a full range of emotions, from anger to fear to happiness to sadness and all the more subtle feelings in between.
Emotion is a link between your readers and your characters--it lets your readers participate in the story by feeling the same things your characters are feeling. That's why emotion is so powerful. It makes the story come alive. A story without emotion, or with a protagonist who either doesn't experience emotion or can't relay it to the readers, feels cold and mechanised, an interesting mental exercise but drained of all the human qualities that make stories feel real and important.
However, intelligence is just as important and for whatever reason it gets neglected far more often. Believe it or not, lots of people want to read a story that makes them think. Some people get as much of a kick out of having their minds blown by a story as other people get out of having their hearts torn out by it. Your story needs to not only make sense, it needs to challenge your readers' minds.
Emotion is a link between your readers and your characters--it lets your readers participate in the story by feeling the same things your characters are feeling. That's why emotion is so powerful. It makes the story come alive. A story without emotion, or with a protagonist who either doesn't experience emotion or can't relay it to the readers, feels cold and mechanised, an interesting mental exercise but drained of all the human qualities that make stories feel real and important.
However, intelligence is just as important and for whatever reason it gets neglected far more often. Believe it or not, lots of people want to read a story that makes them think. Some people get as much of a kick out of having their minds blown by a story as other people get out of having their hearts torn out by it. Your story needs to not only make sense, it needs to challenge your readers' minds.
The most common offender against this rule is the deus ex machina device--making an unexpected and unlikely event happen just because the author can't think of a better way to save the story. One of the commonest deus ex machinas is the weird idea that love solves all problems. This idea has been overused not only by Disney, but even by brainier shows like Doctor Who.
Love does solve problems, but you as the author can't just say love solved it; you have to show exactly how love solved this problem. Yes, it's sweet that kissing him saved his life, but unless there was CPR involved, we the sceptical readers aren't buying it. It feels like a cop-out on the part of the author, no matter how sweet or feelsy it may be.
Don't be lazy. Make your stories make sense first, then pack in all the feels you want to afterwards.
Love does solve problems, but you as the author can't just say love solved it; you have to show exactly how love solved this problem. Yes, it's sweet that kissing him saved his life, but unless there was CPR involved, we the sceptical readers aren't buying it. It feels like a cop-out on the part of the author, no matter how sweet or feelsy it may be.
Don't be lazy. Make your stories make sense first, then pack in all the feels you want to afterwards.