I’m in the throes of researching my next novel and I’m learning some fascinating things about hypnosis.

Did you know, for instance, that the process of entering a hypnotic state is very much like what happens when we get absorbed in reading a really good book?

Let me share some of what I’ve discovered about hypnosis and the modern reader.

We go into it voluntarily

First off, we volunteer for the experience.

The hypnosis subject must somehow agree to be put into a trance by the hypnotist. He must give permission and allow access to his subconscious mind.

As readers, we go into a story voluntarily, with an active desire to be entranced and immersed in the events and emotions of the story.

What you may not realize is that so much of what happens in our minds as we read is happening on a subconscious level. If the story is well-written and engaging, we enter a trance-like state that allows us to experience it on a deeper level, making the book hard to put down.

Love it when that happens!

We make an investment

Next, you should understand that we invest in the experience.

The hypnosis subject pays for a ticket to the show or hires the services of a therapeutic hypnotist in an effort to lose weight, stop smoking, overcome a phobia, etc.

As readers, we invest money into buying a book or effort into checking one out from the library. Most of all, we invest time into reading it.

We want a return on our investment, so we are willing to give the book a chance to absorb us and pull us into the story.

That’s pretty much our hope every time we open a new book.

We engage in the process

And we know the drill—or at least our subconscious mind does.

A hypnotist uses certain mental cues to take his subject below the conscious surface into a trance-like state that’s almost like another world.

As readers, we pick up on certain mental cues that take us beneath the surface of a well-crafted story and immerse us in the story world.

Master writers use written cues and mental signals to pull readers down deep and keep them there to the very last page.

Now you know a little more about how hypnosis relates to the modern reader and why a really great book is so utterly absorbing.

So, go volunteer, invest, and engage in your next fantastic reading experience. Why not try a Joslyn Chase book? Just saying 🙂

If you’re interested in some of the sources I’ve been using to learn about this subject, check out Dave Farland and Chase Hughes.

How about you? Have you ever been so immersed in a book you just couldn’t put it down? Tell us about it in the comments.