I come back to this topic a lot. Probably because it's on my mind constantly, and I struggle with it. I struggle with the right way show my characters' emotions, with the right words to use to convey that perfect emotional note.
Emotions are the hardest part of writing for me. Showing vs. telling. Finding the truth at the heart of my characters' actions. I know the emotion is there, buried deep within these people I've created. The ultimate task for me is drawing it out.
So I'm reading, studying, learning. I am in search of emotion.
How about you? What do you struggle with in your writing journey?
2 hours ago
8 thoughts:
Excellent question. I've only recently learned how to show better. For example, instead of saying, "He was confused by her attitude." I imagine what his facial expression would be in response to her behavior. Would he get that vertical crease between his eyebrows as his pupils enlarge? Would his mouth be slightly agape? Stuff like that. Then I describe how his expression and completely avoid the word "confused" but hopefully convey that exact sentiment.
Dude. Kristen and I are working on this aspect of our ms's this past week.
I've been lucky enough to have a really awesome agented author read over my first few chapters, and this is where she says I struggle the most.
It's called interiority. You have to be able to show your characters emotions without giving stage direction. So many of us rely on stage direction to convey a characters emotion, but in order to feel completely immersed in a character, you have to use interiority.
So basically this is how it works:
You cut out dialogue tags/actions such as he shrugged, his heart pounded, he slapped his hand against his forehead...and replace it with what is in the main character's head/heart - getting into the head of your main character.
So instead of saying:
Her mouth hung open and she squinted her eyes.
You would say:
Might as well buy a suit and tie, cause she's about to bury me alive.
It's hard to wrap your brain around, but if you need me to give you any more info, let me know. I don't mind sharing the chapter with you that needed more interiority. :)
Now that I've written you a novel, I will get back to my regularly shceduled broadcast.
Not only can I relate to your post, but I've loved hearing Wendy and Tiffany's responses. Thanks to all three of you!!
I do struggle with this and Tiffany's examples were very helpful. I'm going to keep this in mind when I'm putting the finishing touches on my ms. I fall into the habit of the pounding heart, the raised brow and the narrowed eyes, so I always have to work on that.
Tiffany's comments are really interesting 'cause IMO, her first example wasn't "telling" either - it was showing through examples of facial expressions & actions (which I've heard about 1000 times is better than telling). But I like the idea of getting more inside the MC's head. Gives loads of room for voice, it seems.
I love this discussion! You all make excellent points. Hopefully we can keep them coming so we all learn together.
Wendy - Showing is hard. Harder than I ever realized. There are so many different ways to tell, and while some of them aren't necessarily bad, showing is vastly preferable. Telling always comes easier, doesn't it?
Tiffany - You raise a very intriguing topic. I've never heard of interiority before, but it makes sense. And you comment on stage directions hits home exactly. Thank you for sharing this. Definitely something to work on.
Nicole - Isn't it great when we can all share and make each other better writers? I love it!
Karen - I fall into the same situations in early drafts. Then I spend ages trying to weed them all out. :)
Jessie - See, this is where the showing/telling thing always gets tricky for me. We're not specifically "telling" an emotion. She was nervous (or something). But we are in a way telling through description. Which, as you pointed out, is way better than flat out telling. If that makes any sense. I think mixing it up is key. Showing the emotion through interior thoughts can really bring home what you're trying to convey, as well as bring out the character's voice.
Oh, that's a big one for me too, Anissa! So hard to thread the needle between showing emotion and overwriting. But there's nothing worse than reading a book with a great idea, where the characters just don't pop, and you really wish they did!
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