Author'sTips: Emotions enhance the quality of your writing.

Emotions:

Strong emotions often make for compelling writing. However, some of us writers have trouble making strong emotions ring true. We want people to be very angry, very passionate, very regretful and so on, but we don't always describe the feelings. We need to build it up to make the reader believe it.
When I write about characters emotions, I try to ask myself:

-What emotions can I imagine this character feeling? List them.
-List the things that provoke each of these emotions in this character.
-List the ways in which the character displays these emotions. Remember every one reacts defiantly -to situations. What is my character reaction to a cretin situation?
-Have the character try to explain how he feels to someone in a monologue or dialogue.
-If there are any events that trigger particularly strong emotional reactions in him, think about why. If any of them are linked to past events, then write up those events--as journal entries, scenes, -dialogues, or anything else that seems appropriate.
-Pick an emotion I can't easily imagine this character feeling. What circumstances could provoke that feeling in him/her?

For more tips on writing visit my website at www.suzannahsafi.com and you can read the excerpt of Worth Every Breath, and find what emotions I triggered, and how I showed it.

Author-Suzannah Safi