There’s a state we call “flow” that you want your readers to experience when consuming your work. Flow is a Zen-like state where the reader is reading … but almost unaware that they’re doing so. Instead of seeing words, they’re seeing your characters and what they’re up to. They’re feeling excited, or nervous, or sad, or happy, as if they were there. I once almost closed a book and decided not to read further after being freaked out by the intro (House of Leaves) and felt my spirit sink when I realized a disturbing truth (Catch-22). That’s flow. Your story stops being words for your
