Wednesday, April 6, 2011

E is For Evoking Emotion through Experience

Welcome to Writerly Wednesday at The QoP!! *smiles and waves to my fans and visitors*

I usually do a segment on writing tips on Wednesdays, and honestly, the topic I've picked for today deserves a lot more attention than the brevity the A-Z challenge suggests. So, this will be an appetizer to a longer post I'll do in May.

Please look at this chart of emotions:

source

Think about the books you've read or the movies you've seen that have evoked one of these emotions in you.  Why can the death of a loved one in one book make you bawl your eyes out, while another leaves you dry-eyed?  Could it have something to do with the author's personal experience? 

Think of a time when you felt particularly loved, angry, embarrassed, surprised, or sad.  Go through the whole range of senses to help with this:  Your first kiss?  What did it taste like?  How did the other person's hands feel?  What was the look on his/her face?  Was their music in the background?  Could you smell anything?  Cologne, flowers, food, perfume, their minty breath?  And why did all these things make you feel the way you felt about it?

Now, write about it...  :)

16 comments:

Michael Di Gesu said...

Emotions are a KEY in Exciting writing. Without it you left Empty...

Very true, Donea... Love the kids faces.

Barbara said...

Nice to meet a fellow A-Zer, I enjoyed your post about emotions :) Hope to see you around! :)

Dafeenah said...

Emotions are why all great writers are tortured. In order to write about emotions, you have to feel them, live them, be one with them. It can be a bit overwhelming.

Dafeenah

Carol Riggs said...

Yes! Get those emotions in. Great post. The stronger we write those moments, the more readers will be able to connect to our story. :)

Myne said...

Those cute faces for the emotions is nice. As a romance writer, emotions are key for me.

Coreene Callahan said...

I like the chart. And yes, you are so right. Emotion equal connectivity, and that connection is what keeps readers reading.

mooderino said...

Conveying emotion without stating it outright is the most powerful way to engage the reader I think.

BTW I think I may have not quite grasped the brevity aspect of the A-Z challenge. All my posts have been huge so far.

look forward to the follow up next month.
cheers,
mood
Moody Writing

Tracy said...

Hey,
that chart is hanging in my classroom! :) I have children with autism that really need that poster.
I enjoyed the post!
Happy A to Z!

Jess said...

Great teaser post, and I love the chart. I especially like the "jealous" facial expression :) All those kids are adorable.

Amber T. Smith said...

Yup, if you write about something that has happened to you personally, it always adds a little punch.

Great post, and great poster!

Bish Denham said...

Love those kids and how expressive they are!

Hopefully when I laugh or cry while writing a scene it will come across as funny or sad to the reader. But it ain't easy.

NiaRaie said...

This is definitely true. I don't think I could write without pulling from my own experiences. That being said, I think that empathy (another E word) is a good way to try and get in tough with emotions you've never experienced (maybe grief, sex,childbirth)
And I did a post on emotions too :)

FilmMattic said...

A triple E sensation. Haha, great job and nice read! And the picture is too funny!

Trisha said...

Great pointers here! :)

Samantha Sotto said...

Love the chart! Haha! Emotion is challenging to write. Sometimes I get too Engrossed and wind up Exhausted :D

S.A. Larsenッ said...

I completely agree. Emotions are the driving factor for both the characters within the pages and the reader flipping them.