Is the writer invisible?

What is the first thing you think about when reading a story? Is it the author or the Characters, the setting or emotions? Does time stand still? Does it seem as if the characters are alive? So alive you could reach out and touch them?

If you’re reading a fairytale, would it surprise you to look out your window and see the prince? Do you feel fear if you’re reading a murder mystery? Reading in bed, you hear a creak. You’re sure you’re alone. Do you imagine the murderer from the novel sneaking through your kitchen?

Consider this emotionally charged piece: “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.” Do you see a grieving mother and father? Their hopes, their dreams dashed?

Can you see them standing at a tiny grave clinging to each other? How did the baby die? Was it stillborn? Can you feel the pain the parents are feeling? The loss, the despair. Their emptiness of life.

It is my job and the job of every writer to feel what the protagonist and antagonist are feeling. Why is the villain the villain? What is his or her motivation? Does your reader feel the desperation of the villain? What is it in their childhood that makes him or her act the way they do? Are they trying to correct some wrong or are they just mad at the world? If so, why?

The job of the author is to make the story alive. To be so real, it seems true. To have so much emotion that the reader feels the same emotions. To have the stories as real as life. To make the characters alive not just in the reader’s mind but in their heart.