Writer's Notebook (tips and guides)

The Best Thing To Remember

When writing a highly emotional scene

Show don't tell; it's the golden rule of writing. I get it. You hear it. Everywhere you turn, and by now ( even if you don't totally get it), you've become desensitized to the mantra, it's actually a pretty hard thing to master. Believe it or not. All writer's struggle to show, but i hope this lesson will help you out.

No Emotion Words - No, your character isn't sad or happy, devastated, in pain, angry, nervous, scared or worried. Don't use words like this, that describe emotions. They cut down on the hit of your scene, and they're harder for readers to connect to/get emotional over.

Use Action - Instead of being angry, your character is screaming, has their fists tightly clenched, and is trembling. See what i did? I took the emotion, thought of how to show it, and used that instead, it adds a little oomph, and it's more sensory for your reader!

Use Perception - I dig this one, Your character is sad? No, your character is suddenly seeing their lover not as their lover, but something they just lost in battle. Their perception of what that person is changed. Love turns to loss, smiling turns to tears,. Nothing is the same after the emotional action hits.

Use Setting - Your character is happy? Yeah no, they're not. Your character is noticing the tiniest, most delicate things about their new car that are, in all honestly, kind of weird to notice on just a normal car. When you love something, you notice more. When it makes you sad, you try to close it out, see?

Go Out Of Bounds - High emotion often means low ability to think things through, it's okay to make your character wander from their borders during highly emotional moments. Make them kick, scream, kiss harder, throw stuff, break down sobbing, knock out some teeth. I promise, it's okay! You're not out of bounds.

Use Dialogues - Angry? You'll say things you really don't mean. Sad? You'll hide the truth. Happy? You'll confess, use these human faults to your advantage. Alter your character's dialogue, word choice, and ability to open up during highly emotional scenes to portray what they feel through their words!

Practice, Practice, Practice - This is not easy to master, it seems simple, but it can be frustrating, time consuming and confusing. Take some time to sit and make lists. Scour your piece for emotion words, and replace them with other representations of that emotion. Get a little frustrated! It's okay to have to practice, and if you do regularly and the right way, you will get better, it just takes time.