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Where do geniuses come from? What makes a genius? Are all geniuses interesting people? Who’s more amazing, Shakespeare, Darwin or Einstein?
There are many questions about genius, and in his newest book, Sudden Genius? The Gradual Path to Creative Breakthroughs, Andrew Robinson answers all these and more.
About Sudden Genius
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A Q&A with Andrew Robinson
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Andrew Robinson was Literary Editor of The Times Higher Education Supplement from 1994-2006. His latest book is Sudden Genius? The Gradual Path to Creative Breakthroughs. He has written many other books including biographies of Albert Einstein, the film director Satyajit Ray, the writer Rabindranath Tagore, and the archaeologist Michael Ventris. He is also the author of Writing and Script: A Very Short Introduction, and Genius: A Very Short Introduction (forthcoming Spring 2011). You can read his previous OUPblog posts here (2009) and here (2010).
I ran into a couple of writer friends yesterday, one of whom usually comments on the blog. They each said they had read the last post, but hadn't left a message.
Too chaotic to ask why not, but I wonder -- did the subject of breaking through emotional walls put them off???
I find the quest in the question posed in last week's post a worthy one. The closer we get to ourselves emotionally, the closer we can get our characters. I found a list of emotions I'll share below. Try exploring these emotions with your protagonist.
The key is not to ask yourself what you would do in the situation, but ask yourself what you would do if you were the character in the situation. Always bring the emotion through the character herself.
Identification with the protagonist is paramount to creating a compelling read, whether a novel, screenplay, memoir, or a blog. Readers identify with characters, through the character's emotion.
Exhausted
Confused
Ecstatic
Guilty
Suspicious
Angry
Hysterical
Frustrated
Sad
Confident
Embarrassed
Happy
Mischievous
Disgusted
Frightened
Enraged
Ashamed
Cautious
Smug
Depressed
Overwhelmed
Hopeful
Lonely
Lovestruck
Jealous
Bored
Surprised
Anxious
Shocked
Shy
Did I miss any???
I always find that when I'm looking to convey a particular set of emotions in a situation that I have not experienced, I go in search for fiction written by favorite authors or bestseller that may deal with similar scenarios &/or emotions.
This gives me the distance to actually research and compare various authors take on it. Then in order to get in touch with my feelings and make it more personal and hard-hitting, I'll sometimes go the extra mile and research a real situation from the news (close to home) or within an autobiography so that I can actually walk in that person's shoes and experience those emotions.
Sometimes when I immerse myself completely, I also end up dreaming about it, and of course I'm usually the protagonist in my dreams, so it adds another dimension to the whole experience.
I hope this helps.
Liz :)
PS. I recommend Julia Cameron books.
And "Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors" by Brandilyn Collins
In addition to my previous post, finding actual documentaries or award winning movies also helps to tie everything up with evocative and emotive visuals.
PPS.
Was just looking at my library of books and I found another one that may be helpful in connecting with your emotions and your writing.
It's called:
"Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Stories" by Loren Niemi and Elizabeth Ellis
Here's a blurb from the back of this book which I highly recommend:
--- A difficult story is any story whose content makes it challenging to tell or difficult to hear...
How can we tell the stories of wickedness and loss, sorrow and grief? How do we respectfully engage our audience and get to the core of a story's meaning? In response, authors Niemi and Ellis offer these elements:
* a general discussion about the value and necessity of telling difficult stories
* an instructional section that leads that leads readers through the process of creating and shaping difficult stories
* sample stories authored by Niemi, Ellis, and others who expound on the choices they made in shaping them. --------------
I hope you find my recommendations helpful!!
Liz :)
This is great! Thanks. It'll help add variety to a character, make them more real to explore more emotions through the plot.
I think one of the scariest ones for me, that I'll have to explore in the next book, is the feeling of being Trapped, where your paths all feel outside your control and the consequences of following your own dream are so big, you can't take the first step.
Whew.
In terms of feelings that I have difficulty about writing on is the feeling of falling into a body of water and drowning: the sensation of your body just swelling up, being consumed by the vastness of water until you choke and lose consciousness...and on the other side it might be an issue about losing control...who knows...
Ok...I'm getting a little graphic if only to share with you what I would find distressing to write about. I'll probably end up with a nightmare tonight....
Actually, I try to talk about it more these days, in terms of dealing with my fears, but hasn't helped thus far...
Because of this water phobia, any movies dealing with that subject just freaks me out.
I think it all started when I watched Jaws when I was 6 or 7 years old....
I guess I'm a glutton for punishment because when I watched OPEN WATER, my heart was pounding.
Lots of terrific help and information here.
What the initial query deals with is how do you get in touch with your emotions when you're shut down?? I don't know what happened to make her shut down or why she's shut off from her emotional side, but she is.
If we are made up of the physical, spiritual, and emotional, one third of who she is is closed off to her.
It's a fascinating dilemma on a story level, tragic on a personal level.
The ideas set forth in everyone's comments will, at the least, help her find the door. Whether she opens it or not is up to her.
(PS -- Livvy, I hope you did NOT have a nightmare.....