Making your reader feel emotions

Sometimes, you read a story dealing with a tough theme and think ‘good set up, decent writing and yet something is missing. Something essential.’
For me, if you are going to tackle a tough subject - serious illness, death, betrayal, separation - the best writing is the writing in which the author plunges him or herself deep into the action and drags the reader with them whether the reader wants to go or not.
After all, good writing is about making your reader experience something. Anything.

John Dean