Sunday, August 18, 2013

Too much emotion in your writing?


Can you put too much emotion in your writing? I’ve heard some writers say they thought that they’d showed too much emotion from their main characters. But in my opinion, the emotion is what draws readers in. Recently I sent out an excerpt from one of my works in process, “Faith Through the Tears”. Several people came in and said the emotional pull was what drew the in.

The excerpt was a very powerful part of the book where the main characters wife dies of cancer. It’s detailing the emotions that both were going through in her last hours together. It’s an emotional time, how on earth do you pull back on that? 
I thought about several classic books and if the writer had pulled back on the emotions. It would have screwed up the whole story.
Take Gone With The Wind for instance. When she does the pivotal scene where she falls face down in the garden and eats raw vegetables, then stands up and makes that famous speech about “Never being hungry again.” The emotion is strong, but if Margaret Mitchell had pulled back and Scarlett had just stood there without putting her fist in the air and speaking in a strong tone it wouldn’t have had the same affect.
Emotion is an integral part of our writing and passion includes emotion. So keep the emotion in and make it strong. Go for it, cry a little, laugh a lot and never slack up on the emotion. 
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

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