Writing Saturday: I is for Ignite

The goal of every book and every writer is to ignite their reader’s imagination. When I weave a story, I want my readers to feel like they are there. I want them to smell the stench of battle, feel the pounding in my heroine’s chest in their own. I want them to cry, laugh, and sigh with the story.
Different stories rely on different methods to ignite their readers. In The Destiny Series, I relied on the plot and adventure to cause my readers to keep turning the pages. In Adventures and Adversities, I am relying on my heroine to grab my readers by the heart and not let them go until the last page.
To accomplish this, I had to learn to write descriptions better, and characters deeper than I did in Adventures and Adversities. I had to figure what made each character tick and weave it into the story. It was a lot harder than letting the plot lead the way, but I think it made for a more compelling story.
Another thing I had to learn to write, was really good description. Description is my weak point I freely admit. Unlike some authors that who can find poetic ways to describe their cereal, I struggle to find the words to share the world I see clearly. I managed between The Destiny of a Galaxy and Adventures and Adversities to get better. I will let my readers decide how much I improved.

How do you go about igniting your readers?