The Power Of Emotions

So often as writer's we hear about the need to incorporate the five senses - taste, touch, hearing, sight and smell - in our writing. I completely agree with this. Without those elements in balance, the writing becomes flat. The reader finds it harder to immerse themselves in a scene if they can't smell it or hear it. A love scene loses its "oomph" if we don't know what the hero's hands feel like on the heroine's skin, what scents are there, what sounds...you get the picture (literally).

But what about the power of emotions?

I think many times when we as writers get stuck in a scene or can't find words to fill a page, it's because we are dancing around the emotion. Writing emotion isn't easy. It requires an investment on the part of the writer. You must connect with what's on the page or that lack of connection will show through.

Think about the books that are on your keeper shelf. Why are they there? Did they make you laugh? Cry? Fill you with hope, longing, a sense of well-being? Tapping into emotion is what lifts a story from mundane to magnificent and makes it memorable (no more alliteration, I promise.)

What are these emotions?

The primary and most strongly felt emotions are love, happiness, hope, compassion, courage, pain, hunger, hate, anger, grief, fear and greed. The secondary and less powerful emotions are a sense of humor, loyalty, gratitude, pride, curiosity, self-pity, loneliness, jealousy, vanity, timidity, inferiority, envy, suspicion, revenge, guilt, shame and boredom.

The challenge.

Pick a scene that's not working for you and read through it. What emotions are present? If you can't tell or you're too close to your own work, have a friend or CP read it, then ask them what emotions they get out of the scene.

Were the emotions the ones you were going for? Did a character come across as angry when you meant for them to be afraid? Maybe there wasn't much emotion in the scene at all. Look at your word choices. What can be stronger? More distinct? Look at that list of emotions and see what you can pull in. Of course, there's more to emotion than what characters say. Emotion shows in our body language, our facial expression, the tone of our voice...we convey emotion with our whole being.

Some Help.

Not sure how to tap into your emotions when you write?

Music can be a great aid in this. Pick something that fits the mood of what you're writing. Listen to it once through. What does it make you feel? What sort of actions does it make you think of? Channel that into your writing.

You might also try making a list of your "triggers".

Are there particular movies that make you weep? Laugh? Scared? Why? How? Watch some of those movies and take notes on how the characters move, what their faces do, what their voices sound like.

What about those books on your keeper shelf we talked about earlier? Pull a few of those down and read some of your favorite passages. What's going on there that makes the story so powerful? Look at the language, the word choice, the sentence structure. There are so many ways to change the tone and mood of a scene.

And remember, no story is one dimensional when it comes to emotion. I tend to write with a humorous voice, but there are still poignant moments in each of my stories. Connecting with the reader and making them feel makes for great reading.