Dopaminergic Writing: A Craft-Based Approach for Modern Prose

The demands of modern audiences across all entertainment formats have changed.

This is not a judgment, but an observation. Anyone writing for an audience that has grown up with TikTok, Instagram, and rapid content switching faces different requirements than twenty years ago.

Entertainment literature is no less relevant today than it was before the era of doomscrolling, short-video formats, and algorithm-driven engagement optimization. But it can learn from them.

In this article, I would like to share the conclusions I have drawn for my personal writer’s toolbox. This new, additional approach does not replace existing tools; it is merely another bit-set—to stick with the metaphor.

I call it: Dopaminergic Writing.

What is dopamine, and why is it relevant?

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a central role in the brain's reward system.

As someone affected by ADHD, dopamine is no foreign word to me. This often-misunderstood condition manifests itself through a demonstrable dopamine deficiency. Those affected are constantly in search of the next dopamine hit, which explains the well-known erratic and impulsive behavior and easy distractibility, as well as the high susceptibility to addiction.

However, a brain does not need to be affected by ADHD to "seek" dopamine. It makes no difference whether it’s this evening in bed, swiping a thumb over a small smartphone screen; twenty years ago in front of the television; for a long time now with a good book; 2,000 years ago in the arena with bread and circuses; or 10,000 years ago exchanging stories by the fire: Entertainment was and is one of the ways that causes the human brain to release dopamine and draws people in like moths to a flame.

It cannot be denied that nowadays brains are being conditioned to a definitely altered behavior regarding the procurement of a dopamine kick—driven by modern (and in the near future, AI-enhanced) engagement optimization of digital entertainment media. It is sufficiently documented that algorithms aim to generate the highest possible user retention for digital services. In doing so, conditioning and mostly addiction-like behavior are artificially created, with serious and well-known consequences.

This has nothing to do with the much-lamented "diminished attention span" based on a myth, also known as the Goldfish or 8-second myth. Brains of today's generations, even if neurotypical (i.e., not affected by ADHD, for example), show a significantly lower tolerance for insufficiently engaging interaction with entertainment media compared to earlier times. A Gen-Z audience can still attentively follow both 10-second TikToks and 3-hour videos; the latter, however, presupposes sufficient intrinsic interest . generally, however, there is faster and more dopamine to be had from digital content specifically designed and optimized by algorithms than from texts that do not pay attention to how they affect their readers.

So how is a seemingly unexciting medium like text supposed to compete? Or—less fatalistically: learn from it and adapt without sacrificing content quality?

Picture by tookapic on Pixabay

The Five Pillars of Dopaminergic Writing

Dopaminergic writing is based on five components that complement each other:

1. Gratification

This is the most obvious component, which pedagogical approaches like "Gamification" also utilize: Reward. Even "being entertained" itself falls into this category. In a literary context, these are, for example, tension resolutions, emotional payoffs, or the satisfying feeling when narrative threads come together. Most authors already place rewards in their texts—plot twists, character developments, moments of realization. Gratification means: The reader gets something for their attention.

2. Novelty

Novelty is the confrontation with the new. An unexpected perspective, a surprising fact, an unconventional metaphor. The brain reacts to the unknown with increased attention—an evolutionary mechanism. New things could be important, so: look closer. In practice: If every scene introduces something new (an information, an emotion, a perspective), interest remains high.

3. Variance

Variance is variety. It can be generated on all levels:

• Sentence length (short, long, alternating)

• Rhythm (staccato, flowing, poetic)

• Perspective (focus shifts)

• Tone (analytical, emotional, humorous)

  
  

Variance prevents predictability. If the reader recognizes the pattern after three paragraphs, the brain switches off. Variance keeps it awake.

4. Multivectoriality

Not to be confused with variance, multivectoriality refers not to variety itself, but to the diversity of stimulus types. You "approach the brain from different directions," one might say. In English, one would speak of the "Angle of attack". Imagine it like this: If a brain is stimulated in the same way over and over, it becomes dull. It is like tickling: Too long in one spot becomes unpleasant. And just as a cat switches from "peacefully purring, enjoying the petting" to "murder and mayhem" in a split second, the brain quickly switches from "interesting" to "I know this now, I’ll tune it out," and you lose interest.

In text, multivectoriality can be achieved by using different vectors:

• Sensory stimuli (Smell, texture, sound)

• Limbic stimuli (Physical descriptors, warmth, touch—not necessarily erotic, but physically present)

• Intellectual stimuli (Philosophical questions, logical puzzles)

• Emotional stimuli (Humor, grief, tension)

An example: A scene can describe visually (sensory impression), simultaneously raise a philosophical question (intellect), while the protagonist touches someone (limbic), and the tone is humorous (emotional). That is four vectors simultaneously.

5. White Space

White space is the most counterintuitive aspect. It means: Giving the brain room for its own activity. This includes:

• Intellectual demand: The text requires thinking along. Not everything is explained.

• Mental visualization: The brain must map described scenes onto its inner screen.

• Interpolation: Leaving gaps that the reader fills themselves. From small details that are implied but not explicated, to hidden patterns that can be discovered.

  
  

White space makes the reader active. Instead of passively consuming, they must interpret, deduce, complete. This binds attention.

Practical Application

These five pillars are not a checklist to be ticked off one after another. They are tools to be combined and varied. One does not have to meticulously ensure everything is offered, and one shouldn't, because a sensory-overloaded text can quickly fatigue the audience.

However, when designing scenes, one can take care, if possible, not to string two identical types of paragraphs together. A known no-go is the so-called Infodump.

Example:

• Paragraph A: Protagonist reaches the dome of the hill and marvels at the view of the city, which is briefly described. (Description – Scenery Change – Visual Stimulus)

  
  

• Paragraph B: A sound rings out behind her and makes her turn around. (Action – Possible Threat – Acoustic Stimulus)

  
  

• Paragraph C: Her travel companion has tripped over a stone. The protagonist laughs at the mishap and takes a deep breath. It smells of fresh hay. (Resolution of Danger – Relaxation – Humor – Schadenfreude – Olfactory Stimulus)

  
  

Is this manipulation?

Yes and no. Every narrative technique is manipulation in a certain sense—building tension, cliffhangers, emotional beats. The question is not whether one manipulates, but how and for what purpose.

Dopaminergic writing is a craft-based approach to designing texts that work with changed reading habits rather than against them. It does not replace character depth, plot, or theme. It is a tool of mediation.

Limits and Risks

Like any technique, dopaminergic writing has limits:

• Overstimulation: Too much novelty, too much variance, too many stimuli at once can overwhelm. Balance is crucial.

  
  

• Content remains the main factor: Dopaminergic writing cannot save bad stories. It makes good stories more accessible.

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  Not suitable for every text: Some texts live from calm, contemplation, conscious monotony.

  
  

Dopaminergic writing is an approach, not the only tool.

Conclusion

The attention economy is real. Authors writing for a modern, young audience can ignore this reality or work with it.

Dopaminergic writing is an approach for the second option: Texts that entertain and challenge, that offer variance and depth, that occupy the brain instead of just sprinkling it with content.

The five pillars—Gratification, Novelty, Variance, Multivectoriality, White Space—are tools. Like any tool, they can be used well or poorly. But they offer a possibility to consciously work with the neurological realities of modern readers.