Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Shot Through the Heart
There’s something about emotion that can weigh a character down. A feeling like the weight of the world is carried on their shoulders. The feeling of guilt. The feeling of devastation. Hopelessness. Regret. A lot of regret. It takes a lot for a character to leave that feeling behind. And it takes a strong writer to help them achieve it.
It’s the journey that makes the ending all the more enjoyable.
In every story there is an internal conflict that the character must go through to show the reader, convince them that his/her will is strong. The he/she can grow from mistakes. Learn. Move on. But what does it take out of the writer to convey that? We all tend to live through our words. Moving our characters in and out of a world that we’ve created, situations that we’ve placed them in. We give them life. We give them heartache. We give them strength to put one foot in front of the other. But when it comes down to the real emotion, the type of stuff that make a reader’s heart stop, the tears, the moment of truth, does it really come from your own experiences and drag the character through the mud? Or do you play it off, skirting around the issue, resolving it with as little drama as possible?
When I write emotion, I write how I feel. I think of the situation. I think of how I would react. How someone else would react. I see it as a play in my mind and I’m the director. Even if I’ve never experienced it before, my imagination takes it away for me. I can’t say I’ve ever seen blood pouring out of a body before (besides my own). I can’t say that I’ve had a sister been brutally murdered. Or been a FBI agent. Or even drove Porsche. But it only takes a visual image and a really good imagination to get you through it.
After following a brilliant blog by Colleen Gleason yesterday about research, and comments made about the emotion and plot weaving and what it takes to write those characters, I thought about what it takes to be a great writer. What draws your reader into your stories and keeps you coming back for more. And I think it’s the emotion the writer puts into the characters. The heart. The research. You have to feel like you’re a part of the story. To be absorbed by the world. To experience the internal dialogue. To have that moment of utter despair and hopelessness in the black moment like your world is crushing down around you. Suck them into that world and make them come back for more. Make them see it. Make them feel it. That’s the mark of a truly great writer.
So my blog is short today (and probably not sweet, lol) and really there is only one question on my mind. How do you write emotion? I know we talked about our moods bleeding into our words in the comments a few days ago, but do you roll with it when it happens? Or do you distance yourself from your own emotions and separate your heroine/heroes emotions from ones that you would normally have? If you’re a reader, what do you prefer? Do you prefer that deep emotional connection or do you prefer light and fluffy?
It’s the journey that makes the ending all the more enjoyable.
In every story there is an internal conflict that the character must go through to show the reader, convince them that his/her will is strong. The he/she can grow from mistakes. Learn. Move on. But what does it take out of the writer to convey that? We all tend to live through our words. Moving our characters in and out of a world that we’ve created, situations that we’ve placed them in. We give them life. We give them heartache. We give them strength to put one foot in front of the other. But when it comes down to the real emotion, the type of stuff that make a reader’s heart stop, the tears, the moment of truth, does it really come from your own experiences and drag the character through the mud? Or do you play it off, skirting around the issue, resolving it with as little drama as possible?
When I write emotion, I write how I feel. I think of the situation. I think of how I would react. How someone else would react. I see it as a play in my mind and I’m the director. Even if I’ve never experienced it before, my imagination takes it away for me. I can’t say I’ve ever seen blood pouring out of a body before (besides my own). I can’t say that I’ve had a sister been brutally murdered. Or been a FBI agent. Or even drove Porsche. But it only takes a visual image and a really good imagination to get you through it.
After following a brilliant blog by Colleen Gleason yesterday about research, and comments made about the emotion and plot weaving and what it takes to write those characters, I thought about what it takes to be a great writer. What draws your reader into your stories and keeps you coming back for more. And I think it’s the emotion the writer puts into the characters. The heart. The research. You have to feel like you’re a part of the story. To be absorbed by the world. To experience the internal dialogue. To have that moment of utter despair and hopelessness in the black moment like your world is crushing down around you. Suck them into that world and make them come back for more. Make them see it. Make them feel it. That’s the mark of a truly great writer.
So my blog is short today (and probably not sweet, lol) and really there is only one question on my mind. How do you write emotion? I know we talked about our moods bleeding into our words in the comments a few days ago, but do you roll with it when it happens? Or do you distance yourself from your own emotions and separate your heroine/heroes emotions from ones that you would normally have? If you’re a reader, what do you prefer? Do you prefer that deep emotional connection or do you prefer light and fluffy?
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24 comments:
I'm not a writer. As much as I love and need books in my life i'm perfectly happy as a reader and don't feel the urge to write. If I want to be honest with myself, I should say that writing requires to deal with one's own deepest emotions and that's something I try to avoid. Call me a coward.
But I think that any writer, if they want to write anything powerful shouldn't separate themselves from their emotions but tap them and use them for their work. Doesn't necessary mean you have to use them or the feeling they induce right on the spot but store the impression for later. Or write "under influence" what you feel like writing because of those very emotions and keep what you have writing for later maybe?
As a reader I tend to prefer when there are strong deep emotions, I like to watch the character's journey, their struggles.
Light and fluffy is okay, it depends on how I feel when i choose the book but in the end i'll always remember the books in which I "felt".
harlot - thanks for your thoughts! I also remember the books in which I feel strong emotions.
Personally, I prefer to read lighter romances than heavy suspense. But, I don't think light romance needs to be light on emotion. I wanna laugh, I wanna cry, even do both at the same time.
I think it's hard to accomplish a good mix between those ideas though.
Great blog, Sin!
Good question, Sin. If I knew the answer, I'd be a happy writer. In what I read it all depends on my mood. But as Marnee says, even if I'm in the mood for light, I still expect the emotion. This is romance after all.
In my writing I think I tend to leave it at the door most of the time but that's only because I don't get to sit and write for long periods of time. What I've found is that if I've just had an emotional experience - watched a charged movie, had a really good time or had a fight with someone, the emotion pours out and I write scenes that come at pivotal moments in the story.
Pulling the reader in so that she feels every emotion the character feels, is totally in tune with her so that when the character's heart breaks, so does hers is the trick. That's why it takes so much out of me to read an SEP book. I physically feel the hit when she breaks that character's heart.
And I realize I didn't answer the question at all. LOL! So my answer is - I DON'T KNOW! LOL!
Awesome blog Sin. You tapped into why I love writing. I'm an emotional person. I'm passionate about everything in my life, my family, my career, my spirituality.
When I write a story I live that story with my characters. I become an actor who has taken on several leading roles at once. When I drag my hero and heroine through the muck, I'm right there with them. Reader's connect to truth, and realization. How better to convey emotion then to embark on the journey with your characters?
At times it is difficult to become so involved, but when you bring them out on the other side of that black moment and the transformation in their lives and hearts is apparent, it's worth all that and more.
*LOL* Apparently I don't write emotion, if my contest results have true meaning, which I believe they do. I blame my Gemini rising--we air signs like to skirt nasty things like emotions and get to the fun stuff. Not everyone is as well-adjusted as we air signs are though and they prefer to SUFFER greatly before going out and having fun. Apparently they think they need to EARN their fun with some sacrifice and martyrdom. Puritans.
There is such a fine line. Because true, I could write "lighter" fare with emotion--but they want things like "the scent of her hair distracted him...he almost forgot he was diffusing a bomb" and my inner self whenever I read romances with crap like that in it, I have to go: OH COME ON! I mean, can't you have some emotion without all the fluffy ridiculous play by play stuff? Do we honestly have to be feeling something gushy every freaking moment of the day? Can't I be folding my laundry or buying my groceries and NOT be thinking of how his kiss made my toes tingle and my lips puffy...and how I want to have his babies??
Can't there be a balance?
If you're lucky then you won't be able to fold your clothes without thinking about how his kiss made your toes curl. LOL!
But I think you're talking melodrama. Yeah, you don't have to have that. Emotion can be relayed in subtle ways. We don't have to be smacked upside the head with it.
Though some people like that. Some genres even call for it.
Captain, I think I'm more with you on this one. So far, my WIP is dialogue driven, with really just the action described. I know I need to get some description in there and I know I need to get some emotion, but trying to do that without it sounding cheesy to me is hard. I know that you guys do it great, but I have such a hard time with it.
I'm another who thinks that it is a case of both/and rather than either/or. Some books I love are dark and angsty; others are sparkling and witty. My top favorites make me laugh and cry, touch my heart and linger in my mind.
Sir Philip Sydney in the
16th century ended the first sonnet of his Astrophil and Stella sonnet sequence with the words: “Fool,” said my Muse to me, “look in thy heart and write.”
I think that's good advice for any writer, but we have to remember that the writer must control the emotion. Because our emotions are frequently messy, or at least mine are, the control is sometimes difficult. So I listen to another poet, one who advocated "emotion recollected in tranquility." I think we have to be cautious about using our own emotional experience until we have enough distance from them to recall them with some degree of tranquility.
BTW - anyone else read the name of this blog and instantly start singing...
"...and you're to blame. You give lo-ove [pause] a bad name."
*cue explosions*
Maybe that's just me....LOL! But I can still see Bon Jovi in those tight leopard print, leather pants and that hair flying. It's like I'm right back in 1985! hehehe
Janga! I wanna be sparkling and witty!! I love that description!
And Janga said: "I think we have to be cautious about using our own emotional experience until we have enough distance from them to recall them with some degree of tranquility."
That bit of wisdom is going to be my new mantra. I think that if we can distance ourselves a bit from it, we can keep the "melodrama" - quoting Terri - from overtaking it and making it sound too hokey.
Ah, Bon Jovi. Talk about angst. :)
H- since we read a lot of the same books, I know what you're talking about. I'm not much of a light and fluffy fan, Janet Evanovich is as light and fluffy as I can tolerate.
PS. You're not a coward. LOL. Not a lot of people would want that sort of emotion to bleed through onto paper.
Marn- I agree. It's very hard to accomplish a perfect blend of the two. I hope to do it someday. Practice makes perfect in this case.
Terr- It's a hard question to answer. I was thinking about it all night last night. And even the blog wasn't easy to write. There's just something about emotion that is difficult to describe.
Great comments wenches!! Thanks!
Yes, Janga gets the gold star as usual. That's why the stuff I write while still riding the emotions seems so overdone when I go back and read it later. Better to wait until after the storm.
And I want to be sparkling and witty too. Perfect combination. With a touch of angst, of course. LOL! Can't go without my angst.
Funny, I was singing that song to myself last night. Hence the title. Good catch!
Ooh, Janga, I love that "Fool, look in thy heart and write"--that's a great line...but I agree, we are a mess and it is better to write about these experiences when we've made some sense of them.
Although that begs the question: what if you write, in a manner of speaking, to make sense of your life and your feelings about things? Writing through it is your way solving the problem--it's hard to wait and write once you've figured it out because you need to write to figure it out.
You know: writing is cheap therapy, and to get the full effects of the cheap therapy, you have to write through the messy parts, even if you're not distanced enough from them.
Marnee, so good to see someone on my side for a change. Terr does funny too, but she channels Nicholas Sparks occasionally.
Hey! I'm not killing off characters. Especially not the MAIN characters!
*sighs* Sparkling and Witty. That is exactly the sort of book I adore reading.
HEY, that'd make a great tattoo, wouldn't it? You know, with the S and W kinda entwined...
Lis- I love that about your writing. You are very emotionally charged through your words. The journey with your characters not only helps you learn more about them, but with your writing too, I think.
Hellion- You do emotion just fine. The balance is hard to come by. I don't think that there is anything wrong with skirting around the deep emotional crap and having some fun, but there's emotion even in having fun. You have personality. You have an awesome writing voice. There's your emotion.
Janga- Thanks for stopping by! I agree! My emotional state is somewhat messy (all the time) and you have to control your words and emotion when you bleed it into a a character.
I dunno about tranquility though. I don't think I'll ever get to that state. LOL
Great words of wisdom Janga! Thanks!
Hellion- I agree. Writing is very cheap therapy. That's the specific reason I wrote poetry for so long.
Hellion, I think that's where revision comes in. Maybe the messy emotions can both fuel a first draft and function as therapy, but before the mss is ready for other readers, the emotions have to be controlled.
I had a classmate in a long-ago writing course whose only daughter had perished when the family home burned less than a year earlier. I can't even imagine the pain that mother must have felt, and understandably she was consumed by the experience. It was all she could write about. But the writing was very bad--incoherent, raw, rambling, and overdone. The first night she read, some uninformed members of the class laughed. Certainly the potential for powerful emotion existed in the woman's story, and perhaps the writing was therapeutic for her, but she wasn't ready to think about a reader's response to her words. The worst poetry I ever wrote was the most heartfelt; it was twenty years after the most devastating experience of my life before I could produce a decent poem that used the experience.
Wow, that poor woman...being laughed at, her work being laughed at--and she'd suffered that sort of loss. Did she continue writing?
OT, as usual, but I have poem taped above my desk at the moment: Desiderata (which of course I learned about when watching the extras on POTC, apparently Jack has the Desiderata tattooed on his body. Very anachronistic. *LOL*)--but it's a lovely poem. A meditation, even...if I get stressed out, I start reading it to calm myself.
I have a co-worker who rides her broom frequently--and so I frequently repeat: "Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit." And I also love the "Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection."
Maybe that's why I have such trouble with emotion. So much of it seems a lie. People feign affection to you because they're being "polite" but then behind your back, they're anything but. Which is a shame, because if people were nicer to each other, rather than just polite--the world would be so much better.
Hellion- sometimes I feel like someone should stuff a sock in my mouth. Verbal diarrehea is my forte. If I don't like something, it gets said. I don't like fake. I hate it. And sometimes I feel like I have to fake writing emotion and I hate that. I want my writing to remain true to my writing voice, but sometimes it calls for having emotion where I'm no good at. I rather like my character having emotional boundaries. If she's uncomfortable, she changes the subject.
PS. I frequently ride my broom as well. However, I do adore you. No faking about that. :)
Janga awesome point.
It seems the harder I try to make something work when I write the more of my personal voice gets poured into the mix. I am at my best when I let the words flow, and not over think the scene.
harlot - thanks for your thoughts! I also remember the books in which I feel strong emotions.
Personally, I prefer to read lighter romances than heavy suspense. But, I don't think light romance needs to be light on emotion. I wanna laugh, I wanna cry, even do both at the same time.
I think it's hard to accomplish a good mix between those ideas though.
Great blog, Sin!
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