Captivating readers and keeping them invested is one of the many challenges that face fiction writers. Writer, critic, and educator M. Todd Gallowglas explains how Harvard professor James Wood's three languages of fiction (How Fiction Works) can be used to immerse a reader in the genre you’re writing in. These languages include the writer’s internal monologue, the main character’s language, and the world around the writer. A writer needs to understand these languages and how they can work together to be integrated seamlessly into a story. This approach is especially important for genre fiction. Gallowglas believes there is a fourth language for fantasy and science fiction novels. This language is the one that comes out of the new world created by a writer. It’s this fourth language that can captivate a fan of this type of story, but can also alienate the reader if the language is utilized poorly. Watch the clip below to learn more about how the language choices you make can greatly affect your story.