In this episode, we follow up the Evoking Emotions episode with a discussion of how to get your character’s emotions on the page. How many ways can we convey emotions in writing? What are the options for showing feeling in words? How do we get beyond the obvious facial expressions? And why is this so important to fiction? 

VIDEO

AUDIO

SHOW NOTES

How should you use layers of emotion? And at what point in the writing process should you focus on getting them on the page? How should your character express their emotions and when can you tell if you are throttling them? Remember that not everything has to be big to be powerful and that each emotional moment for your character will have an emotional tail.

What we talked about:

What are some pitfalls of showing your characters emotions? (0:50)

How should you use layers of emotion in your character? (3:50)

Emotions drive behaviors. (8:30)

When should you focus on your characters emotions? (9:41)

How should your character express their emotions? (12:16)

Do we write emotions in first draft or revision? (14:00)

Examine your writing for your characters reactions. (14:50)

Writer beware: Don’t throttle your characters emotions! (17:40)

Everything doesn’t have to be big to be powerful. (20:50)

Use that long tail of the emotion. (21:50)

This isn’t just for protagonists! (26:05)

LINKS

Things we mentioned:

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman
Lee Child
The Fellowship of the Ring

Want more about these topics? Check out:

SWRT 028 Emotional Wounds
SWRT 029 Emotional Wounds & Character Arcs
SWRT 059 Everything You Want to Know about Show, Don’t Tell part 1
SWRT 060 Everything You Want to Know about Show, Don’t Tell part 2
SWRT 068 Evoking Emotions

Have thoughts, questions, other examples? Join the conversation at the Story Works Writers Facebook group.