How to Write Stories That Build Empathy

With the turn of a page, fiction can whisk readers to the Stone Age or a utopian society. As fiction immerses readers into worlds, it introduces them to characters, broadens their perspectives, and sometimes challenges their beliefs. In doing so, it supports the development of readers’ empathy.

For decades, scholars have studied how fiction reading affects empathy. Research indicates that fiction enables readers to explore a variety of perspectives and situations without real-life consequences. As a result, fiction reading can contribute to readers’ perspective-taking skills and an understanding of others’ feelings. In my experience, novels stirred my concerns about social issues on the other side of the world. I grew up on a small Pacific island, so Harper Lee’s 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird helped me learn about the trauma of racial injustice in the United States. Although I read that coming-of-age novel in high school, I remember it decades later because I cared about the characters, which leads me to my next point.

Published in 2013, a study found that some fictional stories may be more likely to enhance empathy than others. According to researchers P. Matthijs Bal and Martijn Veltkamp, two experiments demonstrated that a fictional story led to higher empathy for readers “only when they were emotionally transported into the story.” This finding suggests that if writers want to help build readers’ empathy, their stories must be emotionally engaging. 

So, how can fictional stories be emotionally engaging? Approaches vary, but I have a few ideas for getting readers to care about characters. 

1. Narration: Writers can help readers feel close to protagonists by employing certain types of narration. One option is first-person narration, which uses the first-person pronoun “I.” Another option is third-person limited narration, which uses the third-person pronouns “he,” “she,” and “they.” It is limited to one character’s feelings and thoughts. It is also known as close third-person narration.

2. Characterization: Writers can make protagonists relatable by revealing their flaws and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, writers can make protagonists likeable. In Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need, screenwriter Blake Snyder recommends making a protagonist likeable early in the story by having him do something admirable like saving a cat. 

3. Showing: Writers often hear the advice “show, don’t tell.” While I think telling is useful in some cases, I agree with writing coaches that showing is critical for emotional engagement. In the book The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, co-authors Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi offer many ideas for portraying characters’ emotions through descriptions of behaviors and body language cues.

Increasing readers’ emotional engagement with characters may take time, but the outcome is worth it. When I get a little frustrated staring at my computer screen, I remind myself that fiction is much more than escapism. It is a safe place where readers can see actions and events from different angles, expanding their minds and softening their hearts. When readers step into our characters’ shoes, we have the chance to make the world a more compassionate place. Isn’t this prospect the kind of creative spark that keeps us typing?