Writers in the Storm

A blog about writing

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Valentine’s Day? Already?
by Charlotte Carter  I don’t know about you, but I’m still vacuuming up tinsel and pine needles. In stores, Christmas decorations were shoved out one door and Valentine’s hearts were brought in the other, leaving only a brief window to celebrate New Year’s Day. Time is simply flying by too fast. Still, I am a romance writer. Valentine’s Day represents the forever kind of love. So I hark back to yesteryear (Chuck and I have been married a long time!) when my husband and I were dating. He brought me flowers and took me out to a nice dinner. Perfect and romantic. By the time our second Valentine’s Day rolled around, we were married and living in Anchorage, Alaska. (I knew I’d found a good one and did not hesitate to say ‘I do.’) On Valentine’s Day I gave him a card; he gave me . . . nothing! Say what? Sheepishly, he admitted he thought Valentine’s Day was for couples who were dating. I quietly (but firmly) disabused him of that notion. Romance does not stop when you get married. Fortunately, Chuck is a quick learner; he hasn’t missed a Valentine’s Day since. (And I’ve learned how to drop hints and reminders that are as subtle as a giant asteroid landing in our front yard.) So I’m expecting a romantic card and flowers this Valentine’s Day. Rather than going out to dinner, which we do regularly anyway, I’ll cook a nice dinner at home and we’ll leave the crush of couples waiting in restaurants for tables to the dating crowd. What’s your favorite memory of Valentine’s Day? How do you celebrate now with your significant other? [caption id="attachment_4244" align="alignleft" width="94"] Kindle price: $3.82[/caption] Books that leave you smiling - by Charlotte Carter Big Sky Family, Love Inspired, available now Montana Love Letter, Love Inspired, 10/2012 Secrets of Mary’s Bookshop, Guideposts Books, 2012 www.CharlotteCarter.com
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Mining For Character Emotions
By Sharla Rae Let’s face it, mining for the best expression of emotions whether it’s body language, gut reactions, internalization or dialogue can be like panning for gold. A lot of useless grit is sloshed around before you hit pay dirt. Picture this: You’re sitting at your computer; the sun is shining through the window and you’re feeling happy vibes. Then scrolling to page 49 of your book, you realize you left a very angry Zelda stranded knee-deep in alligators at the office. Worse, because you, the writer are Zelda’s alter ego, you have to ditch your good day and feel what she feels . . . on paper at least. At one of our OCC RWA chapter meetings, an actress spoke about conveying character types to an audience. Although female, her body slipped into the physical persona of a cocky young male. It was amazing to watch. She lead with her hips, took center stage, and mimed puffing on a cigarette. Her grin reeked male smugness. Instead of a young and attractive female, I saw a cock-sure punk, What an actress does on stage is exactly what I want to do with the written word. So where can a writer dig up these emotions? Once we know the emotion, to what degree should it be dramatized? I did some research on methods used by actors and discovered their tools crossover to writers. At Actor’s Exchange where actors, directors etc. exchange industry info, it was suggested that actors must first be aware of “all” facets of emotions.  In other words, emotions don’t happen in a vacuum.

4 Basic Things A Writer Or Actor Must Know Before Conveying Emotion

  1. What is the inciting incident that triggers emotion.
  2. Identify the emotion.
  3. What is the body’s physical/gut reaction to the emotion. [Not body language but how the emotion makes your body feel]
  4. What did the face or body do? (body & facial language)

Now that we know what we need to convey emotion, how do we do it?

One method used by actors is called, The Methods or emotional memory technique of acting. This amounts to recalling personal emotions and what they felt like and then portraying that to the audience. A second method for an actor is to portray character emotions by Accessing Physical Reactions To Emotions. Actors can bring themselves to the edge of tears by triggering a yawn which brings tears. This won’t work on paper but writers can access and write physical reaction.

BUT! There are drawbacks.

Both methods use personal, recalled feelings and reactions. They may not be in keeping with the personality of the character. (See my blog: Keep Characters True To Themselves) Actor’s Exchange suggests that the best method to show emotion is to know the play/story, and the character.Duh! Sound familiar? So here’s my version of how it works:  1] Be the character: Jump into his skin. The character is a combination of your experienced emotions, who the “character” is, his motivations and his situation.             One article I found, Acting Emotions by Elly A. Konijn called this a “double consciousness,” the remembered emotion is the writers/actor’s but they are aware of the character’s circumstance and personality.  2] Allow the story contents to “trigger” the emotions you need.  We all know and understand anger but there are varying degrees and ways of expressing it. The story’s content and the triggering event determine how a particular personality expresses an emotion. Concerning anger you might ask questions like these:
  • Is the character merely irritated or are they in a full-blown, red-in-the-face rage?
  • Is this personality a show-all, tell-all, or are they withdrawn?
  • Does the emotion make them want to throw up or are they so tough, nothing much affects them?
  • Does the triggering event require a mind-blowing reaction or a minor blink of the eye?  

Writers have to dig deep, find the gold and turn it into an emotional jewel.  

For me, body language, dialogue and introspection are the easiest expressions of emotion. It’s the gut reactions that throw me. For this reason I’m including a list of possibilities. And yes, some examples cross over into the other emotional forms.  This list just scratches the surface so I hope you’ll comment and add some of your own ideas. Be sure to see the links at the bottom of the blog.  

Emotion As A Physical/Gut Reaction

Links: Let’s talk. How do you mine for character emotions? Shar 
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Descriptions That Pack A PUNCH!
  By Laura Drake Isn't it weird, where you find the ideas for blogs? I never miss Gene Lempp's Blog Treasures (and you shouldn't either)! This week, I found another gem there: Catie Rhodes' Writing Lessons from Song Lyrics. Go check it out - she has a wonderful point - writers can learn a lot from lyrics. A lyricist only has a few words to paint a powerful picture. I find that shorter descriptions, well written, have more power. The most powerful descriptions are more than explanations of what something looks like, or feels like -- it can be both. What if you combine a description with how the character feels about the object? Have you ever been reading a book, and been stopped still by a description that made you put down the book and think, "Wow, that's just how that feels! I want to write that, more often. But how? Not to be a Margie-pimp, but Margie Lawson's Empowering Character's Emotions taught me the mechanics. After that, I just played. I sometimes close my eyes while I type, trying to find the elusive words to capture the feeling. Somtimes, the stars align, and I open my eyes to a sparkly, perfect description. I love doing that. I'll swallow my nerves and share one of mine: Fingers stole up the back of her neck, into her hair. He absently fisted it in his hand, and in that familiar tug, her world settled.   Jimmy was home. Here are some examples by authors much who are more accomplished at this than I. “Music could ache and hurt, that beautiful music was a place a suffering man could hide.” ― Pat Conroy, Beach Music “Her laughter was a shiny thing, like pewter flung high in the air.” ― Pat Conroy, Beach Music “Walking the streets of Charleston in the late afternoons of August was like walking through gauze or inhaling damaged silk.” ― Pat Conroy “It enclosed us in its laceries as we watched the moon spill across the Atlantic like wine from an overturned glass.” ― Pat Conroy, Beach Music “When you love someone, you say their name different. Like it's safe inside your mouth.” ― Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care "There's a storm coming; his storm." - Stephen King, The Stand. "God is cruel, sometimes he makes you live." – Stephen King, Desperation Okay, it's your turn. Share your favorite descriptions with us - yours or another authors. Scatter diamonds for others to find! Laura
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