Lewis' Book of Reviews and Writing Advice

Emotion

Now, Ink Jars, we have gathered here on this evening to discuss the interesting topic of emotion. I will cover this is two sections: Paragraphs with Emotion and Dialog with Emotion. Therefore, I am going to define as emotion: Feels. That might sound way too "fangirly" to you, but it's true.  

There is at least one important rule we will to take into account when debating this subject which I am going to provide right now:

1.) Adding emotion is subjective. Each of you will have your own writing style. Some of you will LOVE emotion and some of you will hardly add any and will be straight forward. WARNING: Adding emotion might not be your thing, but a little is important. Otherwise your writing might sound dry, flat and scripted. WARNING 2#: Don't overwhelm your reader with WAY too much emotion.

For any of you who've read my short stories, I'm a huge fan of adding emotion. I struggle to find balance with it and therefore, shall be learning and thinking with you.

Paragraphs with emotion:

EXAMPLE 1:

"I looked to the North. I looked to the South. I looked to the East and to the West: nothing but open, red desert sand under a peach-colored sunset sky. There were no trees--no creatures--no sign of life to remind me that I was no alone. For I was. I was alone! But I was not only alone, I was lost...so lost. My feet shuffled forward, in what direction and to where, I did not know."

I will now deliver the same paragraph in third person point of view to show how the same affect may be had:

"Kevin looked the North...to south...to the east...to the west: nothing but open, red desert sand under a peach-colored sunset sky. There were no trees--no creatures--no sign of life to remind him that he was not alone. For he was. He was alone! But not only alone, he was lost...so lost. Kevin's feet shuffled forward in what direction and to where, he did not know."

There may only be a few differences, but there still are some. In addition, it is good to practice emotion with both first and third Point of Views.

Now, we shall discuss each paragraph and what made it emotional:

1.) SHORT SENTENCES. Several short sentences were provided. They make the paragraph sound almost conversational, but still professional. They keep the pace going and are interesting to the reader.  (Example: "For he was. He was alone!" and "I looked to the North. I looked to the South. I looked to the East and to the West.")

2.) The Italics: These I have mentioned before and here will mention again. They give the paragraph more voice and more feeling.

3.) BE REPETITIVE: Most of the time, we are told as writers NOT to be repetitive, but that does not--should not--mean under ANY circumstances that we cannot be "poetic." There is a difference.

Example of bad repetitive: "Lindsey bent down to tie her shoe and straightened back up again. As she was walking down the sidewalk, she saw a paper lying on the side of the road. She stooped down and picked it up."

Example of good/ poetic repetitive: "The cow liked to see the field. She would stare out at the tall grass, chewing. One day her eyes went bad so she could see the field anymore. She couldn't see the way it would bonce to life in the spring. She couldn't see how the wind would whisper through it on warm, summer afternoons. She couldn't see how wonderful it looked, as snowflakes clung to it in the winter."

Also, using words which begin with the same letter can give an equal effect.

4.) THE RESTS: The three little dots (...) give a dramatic pause and slow the paragraph to almost a silent voice.

Dialog with emotion:

Emotional dialog doesn't mean that you having to be SUPER dramatic:

EXAMPLE:

"Why did you kill Harold?!?!"

"I didn't mean to!"

"You knew I loved him!"

"I--."

"You were jealous! Because he loved ME and always HATED YOU!"

Sure, that's emotional, but it doesn't exactly have to be like that...whatever that was. It simply means to give your dialog more layers. (NOTE: Please go back to my chapter titled "Dialog" for more information.)

That wasn't much information, but if I find more, I'll post it.

You're dismissed. Your faithful writer, Lewis