Writing for the ‘id’: notes on writing bestselling fiction using psychological theory
Why humans love stories, why particular stories catch fire, and how you can draw on this to increase your odds of writing a bestseller/fan-favourite.
In 2018, Jennifer Lynne Barnes, bestselling author of the Inheritance Games and The Naturals (and also a psychology professor who studies the psychology of fiction and the imagination) gave a workshop for RWA that is, very sadly, not available anywhere anymore.
I hope that she records this again, or (even better) writes a book on the topic, but in the meantime, here are my own notes from listening to that recorded session, which has shaped a lot of my own understanding of story.
According to Jennifer Lynne Barnes, the question of why humans, as a species, are so wired to love fiction, and the question of why a particular story takes off, are integrally related to, and inform one another.
Why fiction?
There are six different theories, but Barnes’ preferred one is from Stephen Pinker1, who argues against the evolutionary theories for why we love stories2, and says that there are a bunch of hardwired pleasures in the human brain, and fiction/art (like cheesecake) is designed to light up a whole bunch of them.
These hardwired pleasures are your ‘id’, which she explains is a Freudian theory that defines three levels of the self: the id, the ego, and the superego. The ‘id’ is the pleasure-seeking part of the self, the heart-wants-what-the-heart-wants part of the self, the part of the self that insists on rewatching The Vampire Diaries for the twelfth consecutive time.
Why that story?
Barnes’ theory is that stories that take off are the ones that have more rather than less of the the things in them that speak to the ‘id’. The stories that are packed with our hardwired pleasures.
She also observes from her own experience as an author, from conversations with other authors, and from her research into bestselling fiction and their fandoms, that while a writer’s craft and writing ability improves over time, often their earlier work resonates more with readers than later books. Those early novels are more likely to catch fire for some reason. But, why?
Her theory is that as you absorb external opinions as a writer and person, you often start editing your ‘id’ out. You remove things that hit those hardwired pleasures in your earlier work, because you’re worried that they might be cringe, cliche, unrealistic, or overdone.
And so, her message is to find ways to write the ‘id’ back in to your work.
Listening out for your ‘id’
What Barnes means when she says you should write for your ‘id’, is that you should write the things you inexplicably love to see, without worrying about if it’s silly or having to justify it. Those are the bits that will light up the brains of readers who love the same things you do.
Her recommendation is that you keep an ID list where you note down all the things you love to see in books, TV, film, so that you can include these in your work. She identifies 6 hardwired universal pleasure3 groups that you could use to brainstorm this list (but of course, it’s non-exhaustive).
Hardwired universal pleasures
Beauty
You might include beautiful people, places, art, music; or deal with beauty as a concept; or have characters grapple with what beauty really is.
Scenes/settings that hit this: makeovers, getting ready, corset tightening, looking through a closet, waterfalls, massive canyons/fjords, Amalfi coast, giant trees, forests, Rivendell, Wakanda, “he smells like crushed clove”, purple/silver/golden eye colours.
Wealth
You might include this by writing about wealthy communities (see: Gossip Girl, Crazy Rich Asians, Great Gatsby), having a billionaire playboy philanthropist character of choice (Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne, Lara Croft), by using rich materials: golden amulet, jewelled sword hilt, etc; or you could show comparison, as in the different districts in The Hunger Games.
Scenes/settings that hit this: lavish parties, mansions, room of expensive toys (cars, crime-fighting equipment, books, etc), clothes.
Status/Power
You might include royalty, or people who lead the world, politicians, peers of the realm, CEOs, FBI and other assorted acronyms. Also: people who are well connected, who are incredibly talented, who are influential in some way: legal, medical, religious. Anywhere you can find prestige, essentially. It might also include physical power and strength. Brains, brawn, reputation.
Scenes/settings that hit this: corrupt and powerful governments, finding out the guy you hooked up with last night is the new head of neurosurgery.
Competition
The Hunger Games. The Inheritance Games. Game of Thrones. Mazerunner. Etc, etc, etc. Tons of books have a competition in them or as a sub-plot.
Scenes/settings that hit this: trials (legal, sporting, magical, to gain admission), contests, games, sporting events, a race (even if it’s against time/the clock), rivalries between two characters (which can be romantic, academic, super petty).
Safe danger
You might have actually dangerous events happen, or include inherently ‘dangerous’ characters (like vampires, or assassins).
Scenes/settings that hit this: the narrow ledge or rickety bridge, the mythical beast that might not accept you as it’s rider, the vampire who saves you from a careening car in a school parking lot
Physical touch/contact
This might include intimacy of any level through a romance novel, but also sensations that a character experiences (like the wind on their face, or the warmth of the sun).
Scenes/settings that hit this: intimacy, holding hands, hugging, cuddling, accidental touch, fighting, a character ‘coaching’ another in golf/pottery/combat.
The two most NB moments in your book
Barnes argues that there are two critical points in your book that you have to land if you want it to stand the best chance of igniting, based on the peak-end effect from economic theory:
The ending — this is often what people remember most after reading a book.
The most intense moment — if you’re writing a comedy it’s the funniest, if you’re writing a tragedy it’s the saddest.
Other opportunities for using ‘id’
You can also use these principles in your marketing:
Try to use an ‘id’ coded buzzwords in your title or log-line (game, liar, beauty, lovely, assassin, etc)
Use ‘id’ coded descriptions and tropes in your social media marketing
Not mentioned by Barnes, but that occurred to me: you could try to use ‘id’ framings in your query letters to get an agent.
This is not Barnes’ original RWA workshop, but she does cover a lot of the same concepts in this podcast episode, and is well worth a listen (or three):
Stephen Pinker, How The Mind Works, 1997.
Stories make us better at reading people, stories build empathy which helps with group cohesion), etc.
Barnes explains that, of course, saying something is a ‘hardwired universal pleasure’ is a generalisation based on observable trends, and not always actually universal in that it may not apply to everyone. It is still, however, useful.