Often in real life and news reports, we witness spontaneous and raw emotion. Not something we're privy to much in our everyday lives, having been taught to control our emotions as demonstrated by our show of emotional development and maturity.
Many shy away from bearing witness to some of the most raw and painful shows of emotion -- rage, sorrow, jealousy, aggression, grief. Some judge shows of spontaneous and raw emotion childish / dangerous / uncomfortable. Buck up, we're taught. Everyone feels pain. Grow up. Get over it.
Yet, in those shared moments of emotional truth rather than skimming along on the surface of life, the spontaneous and raw emotion pulls us deeper and connects us primally and universally to all of life.
Convey that universality through the truth of your
character's emotional reaction in such a way as to elicit the shared emotion in your reader and move your audience and you've create fans for life.
Plot Tip:Feel what you need to feel.
Let your characters feel what they need to feel.
Remove the mask. Feel. Identify what and why and how that feeling shows itself in you and in others. When you're in the throes of true emotion, jot down the physical and emotional and spiritual reactions the emotion draws up in you. With your findings, create your own emotional notebook. Search beyond the cliched emotional reactions to the truth of what you see and feel and hear and touch and taste and know to be true when experiencing real emotion.
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One of the things that I look for when rewriting any piece of fiction is character emotion. That said, my understanding of character emotion and what I look for when I rewrite has changed over time.
As a new writer, I learned that I had to provide a varied emotional experience for my reader. My stories couldn’t be all plot even if that was the part that I most enjoyed writing. My character had to change and grow and part of taking the reader along on that trip was communicating emotion. One emotional note expressed over and over again would bore anyone to tears.
Number 1. Vary emotion throughout the story. Check.
After I mastered that, I learned to make sure that each character experienced multiple emotions. This kept me from creating card-board characters with no emotional depth. Sure, my story as a whole had a full range of emotions but I still had a perky, upbeat side kick, a brooding hero and a very angry villain. Ho hum. Boring.
Number 2. Vary emotions for each character. Got it.
Then I had to learn to express this emotion in a variety of ways. I knew better than to tell everyone time and time again that my hero was worried. I had to show them. But to do this well still required variety. My character couldn’t simply chew on his lip and sigh throughout the entire story. He could but it would still be boring. I had to learn a variety of ways to express each emotion. Fortunately, I stumbled across the Emotion Thesaurus with its many lists. Now I could show worry 35 different ways.
Number 3. Vary ways of expressing emotion. Done.
My latest lesson? Emotional intensity. Some types of stories require pulse pounding emotions. Others are quiet, more sedate and measured. In most works of fiction you need to vary the intensity of the character emotions you serve up to your reader. If your characters experience only mild emotions, you risk boring your reader with the monotony. If your characters experience only extreme emotion, you may exhaust your reader. For a truly satisfying experience, the emotions need to cover the full range, peaking when things get really bad (or really good) but also having calmer, moderate moments.
Number 4. Vary the emotional intensity. Roger.
For the moment, that’s where I stand in my understanding of character emotion and reader appeal. I suspect that sooner or later a new understanding will sneak up on me and work its way into my writing. My readers will, I’m sure, be grateful.
–SueBE
Read more of SueBE's writing at her blog.
As I rewrote chapter 1 of my novel, all seemed well. My character’s voice comes through strong and I’d built up the tension. But as I worked through following chapters, I found trouble.
Every time he got in a tight situation, my main character chewed on his lip. Every. Time. When he was frustrated, he’d heave a great sigh. By the climax, he’d be lighted-headed and lipless unless I did something about it.
Fortunately, writing partners Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have created the
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression for times just like this. The listing of 75 emotions ranges from adoration and anxiety to somberness and terror.
Before reviewing it, I decided to test the thesaurus. I’d rewrite one chapter to make sure my emotional details were varied but accurate at the same time.
The first emotion that I looked up was Excitement. Each entry includes a definition of the emotion (the state of being energized or stimulated and provoked to act). That sounded right but my character was standing like a lump waiting for someone to catch up. The listing included almost a full page of physical responses. Soon I had my character fidgeting as he waited—a response that fit his personality and was more accurate than what I had previously written.
Because this part of the story was moving at a fast pace, I didn’t include internal sensations or emotional responses, but those are part of the listing as well. If my character was trying to look bored instead of excited, I might have focused on an internal response or the choices for suppressed emotion.
Then I saw the Writer’s Tip and laughed. “If you’re stuck on how to show an emotion, form a strong image of the scene in your mind. Let the scene unfold, and watch the character to see how they move and behave.”
If I’d done that, I wouldn’t have needed a cue to remind me that my character, a nine-year-old who vibrates with energy, wouldn’t stand still while he was waiting.
That’s exactly what makes this book a perfect reference. Scan through the various responses and you will find something that makes you think “Of course, that is exactly how my character would act.”
Can’t find the emotion you need to describe? Try again. At one point I tried to look up Enthusiasm which isn’t listed. Why not call it Excitement which is just as accurate? It isn’t my names for the emotions that need to be varied, but my character’s reactions.
Get a copy of
this reference in time to rewrite your next fiction project. Your character may be able to release her clenched jaw and simply thrust the paperwork at someone in frustration instead. She’ll be reacting in a greater variety of ways and you’ll have some hints for how to make her emotions more obvious.
–SueBEAuthor Sue Bradford Edwards blogs at One Writer's Journey.***
GIVEAWAY: THE EMOTION THESAURUS: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO CHARACTER EXPRESSION
We also have a giveaway from the authors, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi! And after that fabulous review, I'm sure you'll want to win a copy for your writer's reference
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Good thoughts, thanks for sharing them. They'll be helping for touching back to as I revise.
Since I love my thesaurus, perhaps I need to invest in an emotion thesaurus?
Thanks for the reminder, SueBE. Variety is the spice of life...
Great post! Thanks for the reminders!
It's crazy how many things we have to remember to do as writers! We pretty much become psychologists and experts on the human condition by the time we are finished with our first novel. LOL. These are fantastic tips on emotion, Sue!