Suspending disbelief

Suspending disbelief is an essential element of fiction writing. It refers to the reader’s ability to set aside their understanding of the real world and accept the fictional world presented in a story as believable. 

Four key elements for suspending disbelief:

• Create a believable and immersive world: The first step to suspending disbelief is to build a credible and immersive world for your story. This involves carefully constructing your fictional world’s details and ensuring they are consistent and coherent. Consider the history, geography, culture, and laws of your world and make sure they are fully fleshed out and believable.
• Use descriptive language: This is crucial in helping the reader visualize and fully immerse themselves in your story. Use sensory details to paint a picture of your characters and their surroundings and allow the reader to experience the narrative through their senses.
• Use realistic and well-developed characters: Well-developed characters are essential in suspending disbelief. Your characters should feel like real people with flaws, motivations and desires. Avoid cliches and stereotypes and give your characters depth and complexity.
• Use authentic dialogue and actions: Authentic dialogue and actions are crucial in making your characters feel believable and helping readers connect with them. Avoid using unnatural or stilted dialogue; instead, aim to write conversations that feel realistic and true to the characters. Similarly, ensure your characters’ actions are consistent with their personalities and motivations.

Suspending disbelief is a crucial aspect of fiction writing that allows readers to believe in the story’s world through engagement and captivation. By taking the time to consider these elements and carefully constructing your fictional world and characters, you can craft stories that feel believable and real and that readers can fully invest in and enjoy.

If you are ready to publish your manuscript, we at ex libris can help you with editing, design, production and printing. We have decades of experience assisting authors in realising their goal of publishing their books, and we would be excited to work together with you on your project.