: How to excite readers "You have to excite yourself to excite others" Starting with this quote, that I listened to a conference, I really would know the "magic formula" (even I imagin there

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Contrary to the accepted answer I believe there is a magic formula to writing exciting fiction.

It's conflict and how your characters react to it.

There are lots of other aspects such as "show don't tell" where instead of saying "the air was cold" you say something like "Mary pulled her coat tight to protect her from the icy wind" (ie show how character reacts and feels to things rather than just referring to the things).

But this and other things such as stake are auxiliary. How your character reacts to conflict reveals all this.

Everything comes down to character development, which comes from how your characters react to adversity and conflict. They need to be pushed and challenged, and their reactions develop their character. This conflict and character reaction is what will excite your reader.

I recommend the book Immediate Fiction, which breaks down these concepts perfectly.

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I hope I am not making an inappropriate advertisement but I recently took a course in LinkedIn "Writing Fundamentals: The Craft of Story". It is a Lynda course and I believe it answers exactly your question in a very easy and structured way.

Otherwise I should say that the most valid tip would be to follow the next requirements:

Have a theme (convey message about human relations);
Have a logically causal relation between events;
Leave only the events that bring something to the story;
Know what your reader knows (The fact that you are aware of your story doesn't mean the reader is too. Make sure to show the reader everything they need to know.);
Show don't tell;
Have interesting characters;
Have character development arc;
Create conflicts and resolutions;
Follow the rule "What can go wrong, must";
Make sure to put stakes, the protagonist should have a lot to loose if they fail.
Etc.;

These are only basic tips how to excite the reader. The list is to be continued. I believe in order to excite them, make sure that the reader cares about your protagonist, then have no mercy on him/her - put him/her through the worst you can thing. Meanwhile create dramatic conflicts and resolutions.

Hope this helps.

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