Charlene Raddon's Blog: Historical romance - Posts Tagged "emotions"

I know better. Have for many years. Yet I continually repeat this sin. I know I'm not alone. All I have to do is pick up someone else's book to see that other authors make the same mistake. But that's no excuse. I'm not responsible for their writing, just my own. The solution lies within my own deepest emotions. They are the tools I must use to awaken my readers' emotions, an act more crucial to the success of a story than many writers realize. Or maybe they simply forget now and then, like me. But no matter how well a book is plotted, no matter how unique and fascinating the characters, if the reader can't relate to them on an emotional level, it all falls flat and the author has failed. One good point I picked up in an article I read recently is to avoid writing the emotion. To show it instead. To create even a short scene of grief, pain, extreme joy or relief, abject fear, or even boredom, without using the actual words--pain, joy, relief, etc.--is an exercise that can only strengthen an author's writing. After more than thirty years of writing, of taking countless classes and workshops, of devouring how-to books and articles, I tend to think I already know it all and that it's right here in my brain just itching to jump to the fore when I need it. Or maybe its an instinct I count on my fingers to use as they work the keyboard. Either way, to expect that knowledge to kick in automatically with no input from me is sheer foolishness. College professors, lawyers, even medical doctors read continually to keep up with the latest developments in their fields and to make certain they have that intelligence prominently lodged in their brains, ready to draw on at any given moment. A writer can do no less. So, this weekend, instead of playing WWF on my Kindle, I'm going to dig out the old how-to books. Hopefully my efforts will show in the next edit of my work.