part of the story, part of the world

I finished reading 'The Dead Zone' by Stephen King yesterday, it's the first King book I've read (I know, shocking given how much I read, they never appealed to me before). But about half way through, I found that I couldn't put it down, it's a cool (if slightly unusual) feeling to feel like you're so invested in a book that you want to keep reading and reading. I realise now that the reason this happens for me is because I feel part of the world that the story is happening, I don't feel like a reader, I feel like a participant. I don't know if it's the characters, the pacing, the plot or a combination, but I thought about all the other books I've read and whether this holds true for those I've truly enjoyed and sure enough, it's true. When I was reading the Cradle series, I was essentially reading them in a day because I felt like part of the world and that these characters were 'real' (for lack of a better word). I want to write my own fiction, whether that's short stories or longer…