on Writers Helping Writers:

A writer’s job is to do one thing well: pull the reader in. Our words should act like a tractor beam, sucking them into our story’s world. We tap into the reader’s emotions, seize their attention, and suddenly they forget to mow the lawn, eat cereal for dinner, and postpone bedtime yet again.

It’s glorious. So…how do we do it? Psychology.

People are hardwired for stories. For one, they contain experiences that the primal part of the brain likes to mine for information to help with survival. But there are other reasons, too, like the chance to experience certain emotions that act as a release, and the sense of connection a person gets from discovering common ground with others…in this case, the characters.

This is psychology at work.