Books were once the average person’s gateway to worlds beyond their reach. However, today’s reader is constantly immersed in a highly visual world, with an endless stream of videos, images, games, and more at their fingertips.
This video explores a challenging aspect of storytelling in a visual world and provides tips for balancing visual detail with the excitement of action to ensure you hook readers from the start of your story and keep them reading through the end.
Hello, Jane Cleland here. I’m starting my book visually heavy and then leaning it down as the action builds up. What do you think? I worry a little bit. The only readers that are going to stay with you to get to the action are those that are keen on that particular approach. And I think, as time goes on, um, readers are more and more ready for action from the start and less ready to be brought along slowly.
This has to do with our graphically sophisticated world. Before television, armchair travelers got their experience through reading. Now, they can bring up the internet, turn on TV, and they can be anywhere in the world they want. So, I worry. I think the best way to show the location is by showing the character interacting with it, not simply laying down exposition.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. How much description, how much setting do you start with? I hope it’s not very much, but I’d love to hear your thoughts. Put it in the comment section. And if this video had value for you, would you like it? Would you share it? Would you subscribe to the channel? That lets us, uh, make these videos even more valuable for you. Thank you.
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