I love to watch people. Especially in an airport. Yes, I admit I compare myself to others (it’s a woman thing, I think), and I discovered that it’s a great way to reveal the emotional landscape of a character. See, we often project how we feel in how we might describe a character. Consider this description from the POV of our test subject, Darla, a woman who is afraid to fly. She sees this woman in the gate area: Across from her, a woman’s sandaled foot tapped to unheard music, her eyes closed, her hand draped over her carryon bag. In her other hand, an empty coffee cup from Starbucks – had she passed a Starbucks on the way in? — as if she’d started her morning early. Sure, fatigue […]
Read the RestTag Archives | writing emotions
Conversations: How to write Emotions part 2
Yesterday, I told you the story of Darla, and how she showed us 2 of the four layers of emotions. Today, let’s talk about the final two layers. Just as a review: The first layer of writing emotions is simply that surface emotion – the name of the emotion. The sectond layer is called: Just Under the Skin Layer. This layer names the emotion and pairs it with a physical response. But let’s go deeper: Sweat dribbled down her brow. She gripped the seats with whitened hands. She practiced early labor breathing. Even if I hadn’t heard her on the phone, seeing her actions, I would have gotten it. I don’t need to know the emotion to know she afraid. The next layer is simply the physical response only. […]
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Conversations: How to build emotion into your Storyworld
A glorious blue sky beckoned me onto the porch of the coffee shop where a light summer breeze rustled the impatiens in the containers, the tangy scent of deep friend donuts scenting the air. I took a sip of coffee, waiting for Sally, watching the lazy caress of the waves upon the rocky shoreline, listened to gulls cheering on the tourists. Today, I would talk to Sally about using storyworld to build emotions. A great story is about connecting with the reader at an emotional level. We want them to feel what the character feels and thus engage in their experience on the page. Storyworld helps build the emotional engagement. How? With the right use of nouns and verbs, and the way they are woven together, the reader receives an […]
Read the RestThe Construction of Chapter 8 – Kenzie’s scene. Don’t Rush the Drama!
One of the struggles I see with many writers – and even myself – is the rush to the climatic parts of the story. They see the drama of the big pieces and want to get there immediately to wow the reader. However, the problem is when we don’t give the drama resonance – when we don’t show the progression of emotions leading up to it, and the significance of the drama, we miss out on the punch. I always advise clients to take their time, to feel the nuances of the scene and allow the reader to, also. However, sometimes it can feel like eating an elephant. You have so far to go, and today you’reworking on a toenail. (okay, yuck. Maybe I should find another analogy). What […]
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