Writing the ‘Feels’: Creating stories that readers love—by Susan J Bruce

Photo by Eleonora Albasi on Unsplash

I recently took myself off to my mother-in-law’s small seaside shack for a writing retreat. Problem was, when I took time out of my busy life I realised how tired I was. It wasn’t just weariness from my day job. A lot has been happening in the Jeffrey/ Bruce household lately and I found it hard to push myself. I needed long walks and relaxation as well as quality writing time. 

 

I still got about 10K good words written, which is okay, but we always want more, don’t we?

 

One evening when I needed some TV downtime, I flicked through the different TV streaming services and saw that Timeless was available on 7plus. 

I first watched Timeless in the middle of lockdown in 2020 and I wonder if that’s why I liked it so much. Things were tough in my life then, too, and it gave light to my shade. Not only were we shut in at home, but I was in the middle of a long, difficult freelance writing job. Each evening for a couple of weeks, Marc and I would sit and watch Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus jump through time to save history and battle with conspiracies that were more than just a theory. It’s a crime the show was cancelled after two seasons and a TV movie.

 

Incidentally, if you like trivia, the showrunners gave Lucy and Wyatt the surnames Preston and Logan, respectively. If you’ve ever watched Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, all those names, including Rufus, will be familiar to you 😀. 

 

Timeless is fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. It gives lots of delicious fan service, with characters caught in difficult spots often calling themselves by the names of pop culture heroes, as they try and survive and bring down the bad guys and gals. 

 

But it takes more than in-jokes to make me like a story. As I rewatched the episodes I found myself reflecting on why I’d chosen this show. What made me want to binge it again? 

 

In addition to the fun, Timeless has lots of poignant moments and more than a touch of romantic adventure, which is probably my favourite genre. But still, why was I so invested?

 

There have been other stories…

 

Many years ago, before my husband and I got together, my go-to ‘comfort film’ was Sabrina—the Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford remake of the 1954 movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn.

 

This version never rated as highly as the original, but for some reason I loved it. I’d sit back on a rainy Sunday afternoon with a hot chocolate or a glass of wine and watch this hilarious romantic comedy play out. 

I knew the ending and I knew the characters back to front, but I still loved watching it. I’d feel with Sabrina, trapped in unrequited love, sitting up in the tree gazing from ‘outside’ at the opulent Larrabee family party lights (Sabrina’s dad was the Larrabee family chauffeur). Then I’d revel in how her ugly-duckling-to-beautiful-swan transformation led her to find real love, not the faux infatuation kind.

 

There have been other movies and TV shows I’ve watched again and again. Some of my faves include: The Princess Bride, Regarding Henry, and Star Wars episodes 4,5 and 6. Throw in certain episodes of Doctor Who and Star Trek, too.  

LOL! I've just realised how often Harrison Ford features in my list 😎. 

There are many, many more, but these are the stories I go to when my heart needs cheering up. I think The Princess Bride is one of the most quoted movies of all time. It’s hilarious, profound, and more than a little prophetic. 

 

When it comes to books, my comfort reads when I was growing up included anything by Mary Stewart (Moon Spinners, My Brother Michael, etc). I still have these books and read them occasionally, although it’s hard to find time as my current to-read list is of Mount Everest proportions. I also read and reread The Narnia Chronicles and the Outlander books.

 

My taste is eclectic, as you can see—and Outlander isn't PG rated, so I hesitate to mention it here—but it's a powerful story that draws me back again and again. Why?

 

You will have your own list of stories you read or watch on repeat. What is it about those stories that you love? 

 

It strikes me that if we could work out the ‘why’, we could imbibe that essence into our own writing. I’d love to write the kind of book or screenplay a reader/ viewer devours again and again. 

 

I recently read a book on fiction writing that asks these kinds of questions.

 

In  7 Figure Fiction, Theodora Taylor says there are elements at the base of the stories we love that trigger something deep inside us. Taylor calls these elements 'Universal Fantasy' or UF. 

 

Taylor calls UFs the ‘butter’ that gives a story flavour. The more butter you can fold into a story, the more flavour you have, and the more people will want to feast on those tales. 

She uses several fairy tales to highlight this. One of her favourites, Beauty and the Beast, has an abundance of UFs. The list is long, but here are some examples: 

• Provincial life call. Belle is pulled from provincial life into another life full of discovery and adventure. This is a favourite of mine and I see it with Lucy in Timeless, Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, Claire in Outlander, Peter, Lucy and Edmund in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Provincial life call is the basis of a lot of Hero’s Journey  stories.

• Fixer-upperer: The Beast needs transforming but only Belle’s love can make him human again. Lots of stories I like have this idea. In Timeless, Lucy transforms not just Wyatt but Flynn (a complex antagonist initially). In Sabrina, Linus Larrabee (the beast), is transformed by Sabrina’s love.

• Servants who love to serve: In the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, the cup and saucer delight in serving and dance around while doing so. Think R2D2 and C3PO in Star Wars movies, or Alfred in Batman.

My first thought with some of these examples was: Aren’t these just tropes? Common types of story ideas that can be overused? But Taylor is saying that the buttery goodness is the feeling behind the trope.

 

Most of us write books rather than screenplays, but that just means we have more responsibility to help readers ‘feel’ these aspects of the story. We don’t have actors, directors, video editors and music maestros to help us build the mood. 

 

I’ve read books with favourite tropes, but they’ve left me flat as there has been very little butter. If we can write in a way that’s rich and fresh, that brings out the story goodness, then people will want to devour our books. As with a deliciously warmed croissant, the more butter our books have, the more readers will want to devour them.

 

It seems to have worked for Theodora Taylor. She’s pretty successful.

Could it work for you and me?

 

I hope I haven’t confused you—I’ve just touched on this topic. There are many more examples in Taylor’s book and you probably need to read 7 Figure Fiction to truly understand this concept. She can explain it much better than I can. 

 

One caveat. Some Christians have avoided 7 Figure Fiction, because later in the book Taylor uses examples from her own secular romance books to illustrate her UFs. But I’m a big believer in taking the best ideas from ‘the world’ and throwing out what doesn’t fit with my faith.

 

Whether you read Taylor’s book or not, if you want to discover some excellent butter, I suggest you: 

• Write down the stories that comfort and inspire you—the ones you read or watch again and again 
• Pinpoint the key elements and themes that draw you and consider how the story magnifies the ‘feels’ behind these elements and themes
• Apply this rich butter to your own writing!

And please let me know some of your favourite stories, elements and themes in the comments below. I’d love to find some new favourites.

 

 

Susan J Bruce is an author, artist and animal addict who writes mystery and suspense books—with heart. Susan is a former veterinarian and animals often run, jump, fly or crawl through her tales. Susan's writing group once challenged her to write a story without mentioning any animals—she failed! Susan currently lives in sunny South Australia with her husband and her always-present menagerie. Susan’s first novel, Running Scared, was awarded the 2018 Caleb Prize for an unpublished manuscript.

Visit Susan at www.susanjbruce.com.