Have you ever felt that you've felt extreme sadness for doomed lovers, as I've done while reading a book by authors such as Carlos Ruis Zafon? Cried when a woman and her children are evicted from their home as happened in Frank McCourt's, Angela's Ashes? Or wanted to change the cruel world that Charles Dickens character Oliver Twist lived in?
Yes, I know you have and I'm glad I have you for company when I immerse myself into various fictional worlds. We empathise with fictional characters if a writer gives them traits that we recognise as human beings.
Encouraging children to read teaches them empathy, something that we need all through our lives if we are going to beat racism, bullying and all the other nasties that plague our world.
My editor told me when she was editing my first published book which is a fantasy, that even fantastical worlds have to be believable if you want readers to connect with you.
While I don't often give writing tips, that's mine for today, keep it real because it's not all make-believe.
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