Creating Empathy in Your Writing: A Comprehensive Guide with StoryTricks

Empathy is the heartbeat of storytelling, the invisible thread that ties your audience to your characters, making them feel what your characters feel. The Empathy Deck is a powerful tool that provides storytellers with structured guidelines to evoke this connection. This tutorial will delve into the different aspects of the Empathy Deck, offering insights into how to apply the Empathy Formula, Empathy Tips, Empathy Components, Caring Situations, the Emotional Pry Bar, and Engaging Blueprints.

Empathy Formula

Empathy is essential for the audience to connect with your characters. The Empathy Formula provides a clear method to achieve this connection by blending key elements:

1. Empathy Trigger (Support or Follow): This is the initial choice that you present to your audience, forcing them to either support or follow your protagonist. This binary choice is critical as it sets the stage for empathy. For instance, in “Breaking Bad,” the audience is prompted to support Walter White when he’s introduced in a dire situation. Conversely, in “Back to the Future,” the audience is encouraged to follow Marty McFly’s intriguing actions.
   
   
2. Empathy Tips (Cards 702 to 707): These are additional techniques that enhance the audience’s connection to the characters, such as adding weaknesses or giving the character a sense of humor.
   
   
3. Empathy Components (Cards 708 to 717): These are traits or situations that further solidify empathy, such as displaying a valued trait or facing unfair treatment.

The Empathy Formula is summarized as:

Empathy = 1 Empathy Trigger + 6 Empathy Tips + 2 Empathy Components.

This formula ensures that empathy is built on objective narrative elements rather than subjective character traits.

Empathy Tips

Empathy Tips are specific narrative techniques designed to amplify the connection between the audience and the characters:

1. Add Weaknesses (Card 702): Characters with flaws are more relatable because they are more human. Weaknesses can range from physical limitations to psychological fears. For example, Woody in “Toy Story” is bossy and narcissistic, which makes his eventual growth more impactful.
   
   
2. Switch Point of View (Card 703): Changing the narrative perspective to another character, even an antagonist, can foster empathy. “The Silence of the Lambs” switches to Hannibal Lecter’s POV, allowing the audience to understand him more deeply.
   
   
3. Suffer with Dignity (Card 704): Characters who maintain their dignity while suffering are more likely to gain empathy. John McClane in “Die Hard” exemplifies this as he cracks jokes even while being tortured.
   
   
4. Fight for Others (Card 705): Characters who fight for someone else’s wellbeing, like Erin Brockovich fighting for her clients, naturally draw empathy from the audience.
   
   
5. Interact with Worse (Card 706): When a character interacts with someone morally worse, the audience tends to side with the lesser evil. This is used effectively in “The Sopranos” where Tony’s interactions with his worse-off family members make him seem more relatable.
   
   
6. Sense of Humor (Card 707): Humor, even if dark or twisted, makes characters more relatable. The Joker’s twisted humor in Tim Burton’s “Batman” adds a layer of empathy despite his villainous actions.

Empathy Components

Empathy Components are narrative elements that reinforce the audience’s connection to your characters. Incorporating these components ensures that empathy is deeply rooted in the narrative:

1. Display a Valued Trait (Card 708): Traits like loyalty or courage make characters more endearing. For example, Danny Ocean in “Ocean’s Eleven” is introduced as a man who went to prison out of love, which immediately garners empathy.
   
   
2. Very Good at Something (Card 709): Characters with exceptional skills are admired, which enhances empathy. Raymond’s mathematical genius in “Rain Man” is a key component of the audience’s connection to him.
   
   
3. Unfair Treatment (Card 710): Characters who face injustice naturally elicit empathy. This is seen in “Joker,” where Arthur Fleck’s constant unfair treatment by society draws the audience’s sympathy.
   
   
4. Wishing Well (Card 711): Characters with universally understood desires, like freedom or acceptance, are more relatable. Walter White’s wish for his family’s financial security in “Breaking Bad” is a prime example.
   
   
5. Thrust into Danger (Card 712): Characters in perilous situations naturally evoke empathy. James Bond, constantly thrown into life-threatening scenarios, gains empathy through his courage.
   
   
6. Thrust into Grief (Card 713): Characters dealing with loss or grief are inherently empathetic. Peter Parker’s grief after the death of Uncle Ben in “Spider-Man” significantly boosts audience empathy.
   
   
7. Care for Others (Card 714): Selflessness in characters, such as Jack’s sacrifice for Rose in “Titanic,” deepens empathy.
   
   
8. Unique or Attention-Getting (Card 715): Characters who stand out due to their uniqueness, like Edward Scissorhands, draw the audience’s attention and empathy.
   
   
9. Fight for Change (Card 716): Characters striving to change something for the better, like Andrew Beckett in “Philadelphia,” are naturally empathetic.
   
   
10. Facing an Inner Struggle (Card 717): Characters dealing with internal conflicts, such as Theodore in “Her,” are relatable because the audience understands the difficulty of such struggles.

Caring Situations

Caring Situations are specific contexts that evoke empathy by placing characters in scenarios that naturally elicit emotional responses from the audience:

1. Humiliation (Card 719): Characters who suffer public embarrassment, like Carrie at her senior prom, are instantly relatable because everyone has experienced some form of humiliation.
   
   
2. Catastrophe (Card 720): Characters facing sudden disasters, like the survivors in “Titanic,” evoke empathy due to the universal fear of catastrophic events.
   
   
3. Chase or Hunt (Card 724): Characters being pursued or pursuing others in a life-or-death scenario, as in “Thelma & Louise,” draw the audience into their plight.
   
   
4. Betrayal or Adultery (Card 725): Characters betrayed by loved ones, like Michael Corleone in “The Godfather Part II,” trigger empathy because betrayal is a universally painful experience.
   
   
5. Perilous Enterprise (Card 728): Characters embarking on high-risk missions, such as the crew in “Apollo 13,” earn empathy due to the bravery required to undertake such endeavors.
   
   

These Caring Situations can be used throughout the story to either introduce characters, rebuild lost empathy, or enhance the emotional impact of a character’s arc.

Emotional Pry Bar

The Emotional Pry Bar is a metaphorical tool with two sides—Identification and Transportation—used to unlock deeper audience emotions:

1. Identification: This occurs when the audience sees aspects of themselves in the characters, such as shared gender, background, or life experiences. This temporary alteration of self-perception allows the audience to adopt the character’s emotions and perspective.
   
   
2. Transportation: This is the immersion of the audience into the narrative world, where vivid details and world-building create a sense of living within the story. The audience’s sense of reality fades as they become fully engaged with the fictional environment.
   

These techniques can be used together or separately to maximize the emotional impact on the audience.

Engaging Blueprints

Engaging Blueprints are universal plot patterns that resonate on a primal level with the audience. These blueprints outline fundamental conflicts and challenges that all humans understand, making them incredibly effective in storytelling:

1. Life-or-Death Situations: Stories where characters face life-threatening challenges, such as in “The Hunger Games,” are universally engaging because survival is a basic human instinct.
   
   
2. Destruction of Life: Characters facing the destruction of their way of life, as seen in “Schindler’s List,” tap into the fear of losing everything familiar and secure.
   
   
3. Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity: Stories where characters have a chance to change their lives forever, like “Rocky,” are compelling because they reflect the human desire for self-improvement.
   
   
4. Rescue Missions: Narratives centered on rescuing others from dire situations, such as in “Saving Private Ryan,” engage the audience by appealing to the instinct to protect and save others.
   
   
5. Epic Quests: Characters on a quest for a significant and distant goal, like Frodo in “The Lord of the Rings,” captivate the audience by embodying the pursuit of something greater than themselves.
   
   
6. Defeating Villains: Stories where characters must overcome powerful antagonists, as in “The Avengers,” draw empathy because of the inherent struggle between good and evil.
   
   
7. Escape from Peril: Characters trying to escape from dangerous situations, like in “Escape from New York,” engage the audience through the universal desire for freedom and safety.
   
   
8. Winning Love: Narratives focused on winning over a desired partner, as in “Pride and Prejudice,” resonate because love is a fundamental human experience.

These blueprints are not just plot structures but emotional templates that tap into the deepest fears, desires, and instincts of the audience.

Conclusion

The Empathy Deck is a powerful tool that, when used effectively, can transform your storytelling by creating deep emotional connections between your characters and your audience. By applying the Empathy Formula, utilizing Empathy Tips and Components, crafting Caring Situations, and employing the Emotional Pry Bar and Engaging Blueprints, you can ensure that your story resonates on a profound emotional level, making it unforgettable.

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