Make ’em Cry!

Today I’ve chosen to copy a bit from my Journal, to show you how some things work in the world of a fiction writer. Not every fiction writer, of course. Most would not want this known about themselves perhaps, but those who are trying to write and not getting off the ground with it, may learn something here. Emotions in the characters are vital. But you don’t plant emotions in the lives of your characters, for they are already there. Just give the characters the chance to show you, the writer, and then the reader will feel the emotions too. Some writing expert’s advice is “Make ’em cry.” He is right.

Saturday, May 14, 2005, 11:49 a. m.

Last night I wrote the last two sentences to a story, knowing work on the manuscript was yet needed. I’d got through the first draft with two last good sentences, but the section right before those last two sentences was the problem area. Today I started at the beginning, deleting extraneous wordage as I went, when it struck me I hadn't cried during the writing of this one. That made me think it wasn't any good. I kept going, however, and when I got to the place just before those two last sentences, I wrote, I cried and my new father held me close to his heart. Then I bawled. From joy. That kept up for several hours. Every time I thought of that line, I cried again. It was like not wanting to see a dreadful sight but being drawn back to it anyway; I could not leave it alone. I was crying still when Mya got here to work in the yard. She thought something terrible was wrong, when everything was just right: my story had finally connected with my emotions; now it had a chance to connect with the reader. And I was ready to approach the third draft with greater confidence.

Back to today now.

My latest fiction reading was of a book which might have left the reader in tears, but I doubt it happened to any one of them. Lots of killing in it—unspeakable atrocities—mainly by the protagonist himself. That’s bad enough, but this man showed no emotion whatsoever. An anti-hero. I’m wondering if such storytellers are merely describing their own alter egos. While such stories draw in the reader, they can easily leave them cold. But Hollywood buys it. That’s why it’s written most likely, for, as you know, money is king.

May we all shed tears in the right places and laugh the rest of the time.

♥