Welcome to No Whine Just Champagne for October 23rd 2008.
Thanks for having me host Pat, now let’s see if I’m worthy.
My writing has been described as edgy and gritty. I’m not sure that’s a good thing for a romance author, but I certainly take it as a compliment.
Exactly how does an author create emotion in the reader?
There’s the sparse approach where the author uses very few words.
(From a contest entry)
Sydney pulled a pillow over her head in a vain attempt to muffle the blasting. ‘Can’t you widen the road at a decent hour?’ Her cell rang. ‘It’s hopeless.’ “Hey”
A thready voice said, “They’re on me. I need a pick up.”
She sat up bolt straight. “Morgan? What’s going on? Where are you?
“Send help. They’ve got me pinned down.” --
An author can wring it from the character.
(Escape to Love edit refugee)
She was startled out of her skin when the front door banged into the entry wall and then violently slammed shut. Lucas's menacing voice followed, “Rosie! Where are you? I know you're here cuz that snoopy Mrs. MacGregor said she saw you come home."
Cassie's blood ran cold. Her gaze went to her gun belt. No. She couldn't shoot him, at least not here. It was bad enough having to worry about him following her. She didn't want to be running from the law. Swinging from a rope wasn’t how she saw this ending. --
Descriptions work very well.
(Mystic’s Warrior)
Tressa pulled in a deep breath, lifting her face to the warmth of the rising sun,. The scent of fresh earth filled her nose. Her fingers trailed over the rough trunk of a carzee, marveling at the different layers. Dark, deep brown ridges made way to newer more vibrant brown creases. She skipped around the tree. It would easily take four or five of her to span the ancient sentinel finger tip to finger tip.
Brightly colored leaves cascaded over her head, stirred by a spirited breeze. Smiling to herself, Tressa wandered contentedly through the wood. Trails of Whisp’s breath brightened the recesses of a fallen tree with its bright pink blooms, as she enjoyed the feel of spongy moss beneath her slippers.--
For me it seems to depend on the scene, which of these approaches I take.
How do you create feeling in your work?
How do you create an experience for your readers?
The group No Whine, Just Champagne will be exploring these questions during our Live Discussion on Thursday, October 23rd at 9:00pm ET. Hope to see you there!
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Comments: 139
Live chat? What an excellent idea. I will attempt to be back for that.
Personally, I think that edgy style is great for romance. It takes the more 'flowery' aspects off the genre for those of us who like romance with a bite. If that makes sense.
I did read somewhere in a writing manual that if the character cries, the reader won't. Kind of a less is more approach to emotion. Let the actions, etc speak for themselves and the reader will feel it. As a reader this tends to be true for me. As a writer I tend to write a scene as I see it unfold in my head, then ask a 'reader' for their reaction.
Looking forward to tonight!
{{{{Jules}}}}}
The writer has to open up and identify with the character and the situation. So she writes two descriptions.
The first based on her own emotional response to the situation.
Then she plugs in how the character she created would respond. A merging of the two is a lot of work when you try this.
But after a while, it becomes natural and just flows.
PW, I like what you said. A write does need to open themselves up fully and almost submege themselves in a character in order to effectivly write the emotion. That's why I love using deep POV in my writing. I don't want to just report the emotions, I want the character, and the reader, to be feeling them!
P.W. very thought provoking statement.
I know that's not really a word, but, that's how it happens for me.
For my characters, I love to really get inside their heads, and delve very deeply.
Some ways I like to create an experience are:
- bringing to the reader to an unusual locale through description
- capturing the emotion of an experience and bringing it to the story
- creating vivid characters that move me and, one would hope, the reader
when i write , i bring in the entire sac of emotions i'm feeling and i put it on paper ( screen , whatever)
Tears have to built up to really be effective.. a last ditch, through your hands in the air, no way around it situation.
Hey Atlantis.
Tracy, I have characters with tears rolling down their cheeks, biting their lips not to cry, or even just sniffling or having a shiver run through them. I even have one with the heroine sobbing (over her sister's death) but it's in the hero's POV. It let me show her actions, and see with his reactions. The reader is then the sympathetic shoulder, not the emotionally overwrought one.
But that's not related to emotion. :-)
Someone mentioned “deep” pov, and I wondered if what Cunningham does with the “Mrs. Dalloway”/Clarissa character in The Hours isn’t exactly that . . . an attention to miniscule details and inner thoughts of a woman dissatisfied, yet pretending a vitality and happiness she doesn’t genuinely feel.
As a reader of the Pulitzer winning novel, and viewer of the movie, I can honestly say that in the movie I cared more about the Mrs. Brown (Julienne Moore) character and the Mrs Woolf (Nicole Kidman) character than I did about the modern woman, Clarissa a.k.a Mrs. Dalloway. But, in the book, it is the Clarissa character that I find myself emotionally involved with, reacting to, caring about more so than the others. She is not a sympathetic character and yet ... I sympathize.
Anyway, I think Cunningham's concentration on the minutia in Clarissa's life allows for an emotional tie to occur between the character and myself as reader because I am often just that shallow about particular things in day to day life . . .
eureka! Identification . . . that's the ticket. We readers need to identify!
He walked vs He strode, makes a big difference.
I hope.
I tend to relate to characters that have common traits with me . If there’s a jewish character with an overbearing mother I get it and I know each and every emotion he or she’s going through….Portnoy’s Complaint spoke to me like no other book , weird and dysfunctional but I related to it , the author brought me in …
One chapter can be funny, outlandish, and spontaneous.
Then, the next chapter, a big emotional upheaval happens, and the characters are all affected in some way. With major sad, repercussions coming for everyone.
And, then, the next, they are dealing with the fall out with humor, or stubbornness, or for some characters, anger.
They are all so different, and you can tell which one will react, just by their attitude or behavior from the chapter before.
It's interesting to see the changes happen.
sorry. oops.
Could be why so few books nowadays impress me. Their stakes are not mine.
I can not stand stories without a clear cut ending.
If your book doesn't have a resolution at the end, I will never read that book again.
Nor will I recommend it to anyone else.
Especially a romance novel. It has to have a happy ending.
Not unless there is a sequel, that resolves everything, then, I'm happy.
Whatever the genre, a clear-cut understanding of who buys the genre will help the writer to identify with its reader.
Writing is research and work. To glaze over either sells the novelist's work short. Look how we are researching the topic of emotions.
The writing style helps build the tension - and in the end, you see the effect it has on the young detective. A later scene has her scrubbing herself raw in the shower and throwing out her clothing. The tension built in one scene, spilling over to 'explain' without telling the actions of the protag.
Pacing is so very important. You can either put a reader into a coma or have them sitting on edge for so long their nerves get raw.
But that's just me.
I have, for the sake of story, dispensed with so many words or sentences or scenes even that I desperately wanted to keep.
Oh, well.
Big question: "when do we alter our approach, even when our gut says nononono" maybe the most important one there is alongside giving our readers an experience. In the end, no matter what anyone (except your editor after the book is sold) says, it has to be what is in your gut.
I've cut plenty of things I hated to see go... but it was for the best.
I agree, pace is very important. I write thriller novels and rarely do any of my chapter run more than 10 pages. As the intensity ratchets up I implement short 2-3 page chapters as well.
There can be a look, a touch, or even a smile to reach your readers' heartstrings, and pull them where you need them to be.
In answer to your real question...stay objective with those doing the critique. If it is your editor, listen and then discuss until you get a clear understanding of her point.
Know when to compromise and know when to hold steady. I am not sure that our guts are the best determinant of which way to go...but talk it through, I say.
What doesn't work in one area, might very well work in another, or even another novel or short story. I save almost everything for possible future use elsewhere.
And, especially when doing a major cut and paste edit on a current draft, I do a Save As and put a new date on the file. Good advice, Wendy!
Gotta run. So goodnight. And thanks so much. Great hosting job! Great topic!
But it has to be important to the story -- ie, if the story will be the same if you take it out, then take it out. If the story will be less, leave it in.
Thanks for keeping me company and getting my mind chewing on a few things.
Goodnight all.
To tie that into the discussion -- to give a reader an experience, the writer must first give it to herself. If that experience is too diluted by other opinions, perhaps it will be diluted for the reader. And perhaps I have no idea what I'm talking about.
Even though some people are leaving, the discussion usually goes on for another hour or so for those who want to hang around.
I write slice-of-life in which I work to create both reader ID and tension. You can't get a page turner leaving out either.
I use your 10 page usual, 3 page relief approach as well. It works, doesn't it?
It's dinner time here in L.A. Enjoyed all.
I think I use action and reaction to establish emotion. I don't use description for that purpose very often, except to set a tone. I'm mentally experimenting with letting a character go wild with a reaction. It's not what I would do, but I'm not the character. But it has to be a genuine reaction. Just done with lots of strength.
Here's a dialogue, running through my mind lately.
A scene between the two really good friends. But, there's something else under the surface. See if you understand what I mean..
Water droplets covered her, blush filled cheeks. Her skin was drenched from head to toe, but, Kay, looked rather jubilant to him. He had just given her the dunking of a lifetime but, instead of being angry with him, her lips tipped up in a half smile.
Lucky chuckled, reaching out toward her. His index finger dragged slowly along her cheek. "I think I missed a spot here."
Kay giggled. "I highly doubt that. I'm chilled in places, I thought would never reach the light of day."
Lucky, brought his other hand to her left cheek, his movements more deliberate and methodical this time. "What about this side?"
He could swear that he could feel the hitch in her breath, and he cocked his head to one side. Leaving nothing to chance, he dragged his finger to her lips. "What about here?"
Kay's eyes widened, and Lucky knew then, that something had changed.