How do you cope with that empty, disappointing feeling that arises when you close the final page of a really rivetting story? I have just finished a captivating story by Sharon Sala. It was a struggle to put it down. I didn’t want to reach that last page. The mystery is solved. All the angles are tied up. I know the story was fast coming to an end. But acknowledging I was about to say goodbye to characters who had really resonated with me almost hurt.

Do you sometimes feel like that? As if you are at a loose end after a rivetting story? Or maybe you’ve experienced the same from a movie? Do you do something unusual to bring you back to reality? Or can you just close the book and continue with your day without the story remaining with you?

Using a rivetting story to learn and improve

I accept the feeling as an indication I’ve just read a great story. And the writer in me now wants to analyse why it captivated me so much. Unfortunately, because this particular book is from the library, I can’t pick up my highlighter pens. I participated in a Margie Lawson workshop years ago. There I learnt how rewarding highlighting pens can be. Marking words, phrases or even whole paragraphs that caught me in some way helps. If I can isolate why I was attracted, I can learn how to write better stories myself. Using a rivetting story to learn and improve.

Writing in an ongoing struggle to improve and perfect one’s style and ability to weave a story. Learning from other writers is an obvious way to make improvements in my own stories. I’m going to spend a few hours re-reading Sharon Sala’s “Family Sins”. But this time it won’t be the storyline I’ll lose myself in. I hope I will notice what else captured me. I want every book I write to include such a rivetting story my readers will not want to put it down until the end.