Illustration by Jaime Jacob
Empathy is not only a great personality trait and an amiable social skill to possess, it is also an imperative writing tool. In fact, I believe that it is one of the most important skills that a fictional writer can nurture in order to refine their craft.
Empathy is a by-product of the very source from which we create stories - our imagination. In order to empathize with someone you must first be able to imagine how they must feel.
In order to compel your reader to want to keep reading your story you must make your main character relatable to your reader.
Every human being from every walk of life, at some point in their life, has experienced frustrations and disappointments. Revealing these frustrations to your reader will help to build a connection between your character and the reader simply because your reader is much more likely to see the character as a human being who, like themselves, has issues and dilemmas that they struggle with.
Buddhism teaches that all human beings suffer. Keeping this in mind, think of some of the painful things that all human beings are vulnerable to loneliness, illness, bereavement, discrimination, betrayal, heartbreak, etc.
On the other hand, if your character is written from a dismissively judgmental point of view rather than one that is infused with empathy instead of creating a dimensionally intriguing character, you are likely to end up creating a character that is flat - a stereotypical caricature that is less likely to arouse the reader's intrigue. This can result in distancing your reader from the character of your story.
The more empathy you project towards your main character, the more successful you will be in making your character relatable to your reader. You’ll be much more successful in inspiring your reader to become attached enough to a character that they’ll feel they cannot stop reading the story until it reaches its conclusion and they learn of the character's fate.
To nurture the creation of your character with empathy, whenever your character does a significant action whether it is disgraceful or heroic, before you describe the action to your reader, ask yourself why would this character say or do this? Imagine yourself as the character, and how their background has influenced their perspective. Commit to describing this action to your reader from this perspective.
One of my favorite quotes regarding how to develop empathy is by Walt Whitman who once stated: "Be curious. Not judgmental." This is what we hope to inspire readers to feel towards our character swhen we write stories.
Pam Chynn