While talking with two of my staff today I was asked a really intriguing question - Have I ever...

While talking with two of my staff today I was asked a really intriguing question - Have I ever cried because of something I wrote? My answer was no - but that isn’t to say that I haven’t had an emotional reaction (or that I haven’t come close before). I have actually been moved many times by things I have written. When I wrote the final chapters of Half A Life I was mentally drained afterwards. Even though I knew what I wanted to happen and knew that it was happening; actually putting on the page made it real. 

Just recently in my most recent writings I wrote a very disturbing scene that involved one of my characters being kidnapped and tortured. I am extremely proud of how I presented it because it brought out some very heavy emotions in me. It actually disturbed me - which is what I want the reader to feel when they read it. I’ve found that I still think about it as the days have passed. 

So while I haven’t cried, I certainly become attached to my characters and as things happen to them - the empathy and compassion is right there. Who knows - maybe someday tears will indeed fall; but for now that hasn’t happened.