How Do Writers Create Sympathy?

As a writer, one of the most important skills to master is creating sympathy in readers. Sympathy is an emotional connection that readers feel towards characters, often leading them to root for or empathize with them. It is a crucial element in developing a story that resonates with readers and keeps them engaged. In this article, we will explore the various techniques that writers use to create sympathy in their writing.

Developing relatable characters

One of the most effective ways to create sympathy is to create relatable characters. Readers need to feel a connection with the characters they are reading about. They need to see themselves in the characters and understand their motivations and struggles. A character who is well-developed and has flaws, vulnerabilities, and challenges is more likely to engage readers on an emotional level.

To create relatable characters, writers often draw inspiration from real-life people they know, or themselves. Observing the world around them, writers could gather personality traits, habits, or physical appearances to add authenticity to their characters. This way, they can create a character that readers can understand and relate to.

Showing vulnerability

Another way to create sympathy is to show vulnerability in characters. Vulnerable characters are more relatable because they display human traits such as fear, doubt, and insecurity. It makes them seem more realistic and makes it easier for readers to empathize with their struggles.

Writers can depict vulnerability in various ways. For instance, they could show characters struggling with a physical or mental ailment, facing a personal loss, or making a tough decision. They might also show how secondary characters react to the vulnerability of their loved one, further amplifying the emotional impact of the character's struggle.

Painting a picture of the character's past

Creating a backstory for a character is an effective technique for creating sympathy in readers. By providing readers with details of the character's past, writers can help readers understand why characters are the way they are and what motivates them. This backstory can be used to create interesting character traits such as contrasting personalities between childhood and adulthood.

By revealing the character's past, writers can also create a sense of empathy. Readers will feel sympathy for the character and understand why they behave a certain way or make certain decisions.

Playing with characterization

A good writer knows how characterization plays an important role in creating sympathy. For instance, portraying a character as a jerk and then revealing their backstory to explain their behavior often creates a sense of compassion among readers. Similarly, characters that show obsessive tendencies, anxiety, or depression often elicit genuine sympathy from readers. Writers can also create sympathy for characters who may not have the most admirable qualities, by using humor in their portrayal or by making them a victim of circumstances.

Creating a distinction between personalities could also help. Writers could develop a counterpart characters with opposite personalities to their main character. A "good cop" character that is ethical and morally sound in contrast to a "bad cop" character that is overly aggressive or violent can elicit sympathy for the "good cop".

Using symbolism and metaphors

Symbolism and metaphors can be used to create empathy and heighten emotional impact in readers. By comparing a character's struggles to something tangible, the reader's understanding is deepened, and they are more likely to identify with the character.

For example, using a butterfly symbolizes a character's transformation from a closed-in and withdrawn state to becoming more social and interactive. Similarly, using a metaphor like "an elephant in the room" can heighten the emotional impact on a character's pain or challenges that other characters tend to ignore or overlook.

Creating an antagonist

Writers can also create sympathy by placing an antagonist or antagonist force in the story that the main character must overcome. This turns the main character into a victim, with readers feeling indignation towards the antagonist and empathizing with their plight.

An antagonist could materialize in various forms. It could be a character, such as a villain, or a force such as discrimination, societal pressure, or an unfair system. The important thing is that the antagonist is an obstacle that the main character must overcome to make the story compelling.

Building suspense

By building suspense, writers can create a sense of attachment and emotional investment in their readers. This is achieved by creating situations with uncertain outcomes or by withholding information, drawing the reader in and ensuring that they are eager to see how the situation will resolve.

In turn, as suspense continues to build, readers become more invested in the characters and their story, creating a sense of empathy for their plight. This will lead to readers rooting for the characters to overcome obstacles as their investment in the story deepens.

Conclusion

Creating sympathy in readers is an essential element in developing a story that resonates with readers. Whether through developing relatable characters, painting a picture of a character's past, showing vulnerability, playing with characterization, using symbolism, creating an antagonist, or building suspense, writers must be aware of the different techniques to evoke empathy in their readers. By using these methods, writers can create characters that readers care about and storylines that keep them engaged, leaving the readers more fulfilled than they were before.