She cried. She cries. She was crying. The tears steamed down her cheeks. Tears streaming down her cheeks.
The word emotion has two words in it. Emote and motion. To emote is to act, play or represent. Motion is to move. How do we show emotion in a way that our readers can FEEL it coming off the page? Fear, loathing, uncertainty, insecurity, sadness, pain, joy, bliss, passion, love. How can we make sure we are getting those feeling across?
Here is my trick. Use movement. Use reality. Conjure up the feeling for yourself and put those words into the description.
When I cry my throat closes up first and my head begins to throb and my eyes burn. After a good cry I get a good headache. I always make sure that my characters feel that way. They “are swallowing down tears” or “feeling sticky with runny mascara” there are so many real ways we can show emotion, but so often we fall into the trap of “She wept” (Which by the way is fine, some of the time)
How about you? Any tricks you use to get emotion across in your writing?
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4 Comments so far
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I often act out a scene, sometimes I even cry if they would. But I need to do better with the kind of descriptions you’ve got. I need to pay more attention to how I physically feel, not just how I look when I do things.
Great post for me.
[Reply]
By Sarah on 08.06.09 4:56 pm | Permalink
Definitely a good way to write. A character’s feeling always reaches me better if I can identify and remember that same physical sensation.
[Reply]
By Anica Lewis on 08.06.09 7:18 pm | Permalink
When I write, I just type the scene as it plays out. I’ve really no control over it at all. But usually, I’m either sitting to the side, or I’m in my MC’s head, so I automatically feel the emotion.
Although I still fall into telling sometimes, I’m glad this is how I write (as I can’t control it lol) because it helps me show what the characters are feeling.
Great post!! =)
[Reply]
By Eden on 08.07.09 10:39 am | Permalink
May sound cliche, but I walk a few miles in their moccasins. I try and feel the exact piece of their heart that’s missing.
[Reply]
By Terresa Wellborn on 08.08.09 12:16 am | Permalink
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