The 5 R’s That Will Keep Your Readers Emotionally Riveted

When I was writing my first novel, Face, many years ago, one of the most crucial lessons I had to learn was the craft technique called "turning a scene." When I later got my MFA, I was surprised that this basic mechanical lesson was rarely, if ever, mentioned by my graduate advisors, and yet, no less a master than Henry James embedded this mechanism metafictionally in his classic The Turn of the Screw. I was so taken by the failure of literary critics to recognize this "ghost story" as metafiction that I made "Turning the Screws of Story Construction with Henry James" my master's thesis and wrote a scholarly paper about it for The Writer's Chronicle.

Then, as an MFA advisor myself, I made "Turning the Screws of Story" one of my core workshops for prose and screen writers. The name of the game in storytelling, whether you're writing fiction or memoir, screenplays or personal essay, is emotional engagement, and you've got to drive the narrative to keep readers engaged. Information may be a desirable bonus, but readers don't read stories for information; they read to be moved. That means you've got to hook their feelings quickly, then keep twisting and adding emotional responses so your readers are constantly being pulled deeper while also in suspense about what's going to happen next. That's what Henry James meant by "the turn of the screw."

You're going to say, oh, that only applies to thrillers or mysteries. But no. This rule applies to romantic sagas and literary dramas, trauma memoirs, and road trip movies, as well. If you don't give your audience a compelling emotional ride, they will lose interest. Full stop.

Memoir As Road Trip Make sure your readers join you — and stay for the whole ride

Fortunately, there is a way to track the emotional movement in your story. I do not recommend trying this when you first invent your story, as systemic analysis can crush the spark of creativity. But once you've let your imagination run wild, and you have your shitty first draft in hand, the 5 R's I'm about to share with you can really help you shape its dynamic force.

Think of this force as the excitement and anxiety you feel on a roller coaster. Or, if you're an avid fan, during a nail-biter of a basketball game. Or as you watch a complicated aerial act at the circus. Or a professional boxing match between equals. You cannot look away because you do not know what is going to happen next, and you feel as if you need to know what's going to happen next. That combination of uncertainty and need-to-know is what keeps readers turning pages.

The best model I've found to show how this works is Raymond Carver's short story "Little Things," which was also (and more perfectly) titled "Popular Mechanics." So I'm going to illustrate each of the 5 Rs with a segment from that story.

Information may be a desirable bonus, but readers don't read stories for information; they read to be moved.

1. RAISE stakes and expectations

Every successful story involves stakes and struggle. At least one character wants something that another character or force in the story is thwarting. This is the conflict that so many new writers avoid at their peril!

The stakes need to be raised, along with some preliminary expectations, in the very opening of the story. In novels or complex stories, the conflicts of multiple characters can complicate the picture. But "Little Things" is stripped to the essentials: one man and one woman on a nearly bare stage.

Early that day the weather turned and the snow was melting into dirty water. Streaks of it ran down from the little shoulder-high window that faced the backyard. Cars slushed by on the street outside, where it was getting dark. But it was getting dark on the inside too.

In this first paragraph, notice how the setting helps to raise your expectations, even before you learn what's at stake. The atmosphere is dark and dirty, claustrophobic due to the little window and that foreboding line about it getting dark inside "too."

And then Carver hits us with the inciting conflict.

He was in the bedroom pushing clothes into a suitcase when she came to the door.

I'm glad you're leaving! I'm glad you're leaving! she said. Do you hear?

A man is leaving. A relationship is at stake. The woman's shrill, desperate cries raise our expectation that she will be the loser.

2. REVERSE the score

At first, the man's calm persistence is a chilling confirmation that he has the upper hand. If it went on that way, there would be no story. He'd just pick up his suitcase and leave her in a puddle of pain.

Instead, Carver surprises us by producing a weapon and showing the woman's power to use it.

He kept on putting his things into the suitcase.

Son of a bitch! I'm so glad you're leaving! She began to cry. You can't even look me in the face, can you?

Then she noticed the baby's picture on the bed and picked it up.

He looked at her and she wiped her eyes and stared at him before turning and going back to the living room.

When she picks up the baby's picture, we realize there's more at stake than just their marriage. She has a pawn, which stiffens her spine and reverses the score. Now we expect that she might outwit the man.

The name of the game in storytelling, whether you're writing fiction or memoir, screenplays or personal essay, is emotional engagement.

3. REVEAL meaning

As the struggle unfolds in the next exchanges, the man surprises us.

Bring that back, he said.

Just get your things and get out, she said.

He did not answer. He fastened the suitcase, put on his coat, looked around the bedroom before turning off the light. Then he went out to the living room.

She stood in the doorway of the little kitchen, holding the baby.

I want the baby, he said.

Instead of taking his suitcase and leaving as he intended, he ups the ante. He now wants what she wants: the baby. Clearly not his original plan, and not out of concern for the child, but a new demonstration of his desire to punish the woman.

We suddenly understand the meaning of power in this relationship. It's ruthless and menacing. And mutual. This is not a rivalry between strength and weakness, as it first seemed, but between equally determined adversaries. This revealed meaning whets our anticipation yet again to find out what happens next.

4. REDIRECT expectations

Like a roller coaster, a great story doesn't just go up and down; it also swerves. Until this point in "Little Things," the struggle has been focused on winning and losing. Who will take the baby? Which of these two antagonists will overpower the other? But in this next section, that changes in a single phrase.

Are you crazy?

No, but I want the baby. I'll get someone to come by for his things.

You're not touching this baby, she said.

The baby had begun to cry and she uncovered the blanket from around his head.

Oh, oh, she said, looking at the baby.

When the woman says, "Oh oh," we realize the baby could be more than a pawn. The baby could be in physical danger. Just like that, our sympathy and expectations spin sideways.

5. REPEAT

Now the stakes leap to a new level.

He moved toward her.

For God's sake! she said. She took a step back into the kitchen.

I want the baby.

Get out of here!

She turned and tried to hold the baby over in a corner behind the stove.

But he came up. He reached across the stove and tightened his hands on the baby.

The fight becomes physical as the man takes a menacing step forward and the woman holds the baby over the stove. They both seize the baby, and the conflict escalates, raising not just our expectations but also our blood pressure, as if the man were emotionally gripping us.

This starts a new cycle that will repeat through the end of the story, which you can read for yourself HERE.

All together now

Ideally, the 5 R's will repeat until the climax reveals the story's ultimate stakes and delivers the final magnificent reversal. Not every story will illustrate this progression as neatly as "Little Things," but all emotionally affecting stories rely on these "popular mechanics."

Try reading your favorite classic stories to see if you can spot the 5 R's operating in them. Once you've got the hang of it, apply this tool to your own revision and see if this patterning can help you tighten, quicken, and deepen the emotional impact of your next draft.

For quick reference and review, here are all 5 R's in sequence:

1. Raise stakes
2. Reverse the score
3. Reveal meaning
4. Redirect expectations
5. Repeat

• An earlier version of this post was published in my Substack publication MFA Lore, where I offer the essence of an MFA in creative writing, minus the tuition. If you're looking for more pro-tips to elevate your writing, consider subscribing HERE.
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