I regularly read books in genres that interest me. Because my current novel is YA fantasy set in space, I turned to Brandon Sanderson’s 2018 novel, Skyward. Here are the writer-focused insights I derived early on:
PoV Character Questions (ask these of every scene)
- what are you doing?
- what are you seeing?
- what are you feeling?
Now, think about how the PoV character would tell the story from their perspective and in their voice, so that the reader sees and feels those things. The reader should hear, taste, smell, and feel the same things the PoV character describes.
Just don’t tell the reader how to feel! Lead them to it, but don’t hand it to them.