Watch Now: Empathy is not just an emotion. It’s a tool.

I thought I’d do something a little different today and talk directly to writers. So, I’d like to share a snippet of my workshop on creating compelling characters. Specifically, I want to talk about something at the heart of great storytelling: empathy.

Now, I know that word gets tossed around a lot. But when it comes to writing fiction, empathy isn’t just nice; it’s necessary.

As Lisa Cron writes in Story Genius, “A story is about how the things that happen affect someone in pursuit of a difficult goal, and how that person changes internally as a result.”

That “someone” is our main character. As readers, we show up to see the world through their eyes. We read to connect. To feel. To understand something about the human experience, even when the character is vastly different from us.

That’s our job as authors: to make readers feel. To create an emotional thread so strong, so compelling, that the reader wants to keep turning pages, not just to find out what happens, but to stay close to someone they’ve come to care about.

And what should readers feel? Curiosity. Wonder. Empathy.

Empathy allows us to create characters that feel real, relatable, and multidimensional. An empathetic character isn’t necessarily kind or “good.” They’re just recognizable. Someone the reader wants to spend time with. Someone whose world they want to enter.

When you write with empathy, you’re inviting the reader to pause their own life and step into someone else’s reality, whether it’s modern, historical, fantastical, or painfully close to home.

Empathy fuels emotional impact. The books that stay with us long after we turn the last page? They’re the ones that moved us, changed us because we felt something.

And that’s not just poetic; it’s scientific. A 2013 study published in Science found that reading literary fiction improves what psychologists call Theory of Mind: the ability to understand others’ thoughts, beliefs, and emotions.

Fiction readers, especially those who read deeply and widely, tend to develop more empathy in real life. Why? Because they’ve spent time living in someone else’s shoes.

And let’s face it: we could use more empathy right now.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “Empathy is the glue that binds societies together.”

Writing stories that foster empathy isn’t just a creative act. It’s a human one. It’s a way to remind us that other people’s joys and struggles are real. It’s how we build bridges.

So how do we do it?

Start by knowing whose story you’re telling. What do they want? What’s standing in their way? And, crucially, how will they change?

Empathy in storytelling means going beyond surface details. It means understanding your character’s inner world—their fears, desires, contradictions—so well, in fact, that the reader feels like they’re walking alongside them.

As Laurence Gonzales wrote, “Fiction lets you wander around in someone else’s hell for a while and see how similar it is to yours.”

Because the magic of story is that even when we’re reading about someone wildly different from us, we discover reflections of our own doubts, hurts, and hopes. And that’s what creates connection.

Empathy is not just an emotion. It’s a tool. And when wielded well in storytelling, it has the power to entertain, to transform, and even to heal.

So as you write your next scene, ask yourself: Whose shoes am I asking the reader to step into? And how can I make that journey unforgettable?

Because when you write with empathy, you don’t just tell a story. You invite someone to live it.