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Creative Writers - Learn to Write Your
Emotions
As a creative writer, you must feel the mood your are writing
about. It is imperative if you want to reach your audience. And
how are you supposed to do that? By experiencing the mood.
Let's suppose you want to write a scene that displays anger.
Maybe the story is about abuse, a mom and dad arguing, or
sibling rivalry. Maybe it's about a girl breaking up with her
boyfriend because he was playing around on the side. If the
scene is intense, you have to get into the mode. I mean red,
piping hot angry.
Remember the guy or gal that dumped you 30 years ago? Remember
the time you had a bad dream about your mate and you wouldn't
speak to him all day? How about when you got steamed at the
boss, or got into a heated argument over politics, world
affairs, abortion, women's rights, etc.? As a writer, you must
capture those emotions again and write them into your scenes.
It should be so real that you will need to attend anger
management classes to get over it.
Do you need to be happy? Then think of some very happy
occasions. Sing really crazy! Laugh like an idiot! And when you
begin laughing at yourself, it's time to write that joy into
your scene.
Another way to develop the needed emotions is to imagine
yourself as the character and write entries in a diary from
his/her point of view. Live the make-believe life. Do whatever
it takes to crawl into your character's skin. You can't write
effectively what you don't know or aren't in the mood for. (You
can, however, write a draft for the scene and come back to
build it in a more realistic way later.)
Remember that your protagonist (main character, hero) and
antagonist (villain) must be three-dimensional characters. They
must have a past and a future; they must have problems in their
lives and they must work through those problems like real, live
people. Those characters should be real enough to walk off the
page in your reader's mind and sit next to them. If the reader
can't identify with the characters, they aren't likely to stay
with the story.
I remember when my daughter was 16-years old. It was not
uncommon for her to sit on the floor Indian style, and bawl her
eyes out over a drama TV show. One night I winked at my husband
and said, "That actress is playing her part really well, isn't
she?" He picked up on it and we talked back and forth about the
actress' career and wondered out loud what movie they would
play in next.
Our daughter turned around, tears dripping off her cheeks, and
said, "Quit it, you guys. You're ruining the show!" But what
she really meant was, "I'm into the character. I feel what she
is feeling. Don't move me out of the scene."
If your characters aren't three-dimensional, you'll lose your
readers. Put yourself into the mood and into the groove. Live
what you write.
by Deborah Owen - 8th December 2008
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Ms. Deb is the CEO & Founder of Creative Writing Institute.
She brings a new meaning to "save money" on writing courses.
Ask your writing questions at deborahowen@cwinst.com. Send your
stories in for a FREE writing analysis. No strings, no spam, no
kidding. http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com
Source: http://www.creativewriter.me.uk
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