Remember the Romance Blogfest coming up on February 14, just one week away!
It’s time for another series! I’ve been pondering this one for a long time because emotion is vital to fiction. And what more emotional month is there than this one? Love, hope, disappointment, despair—and that’s just on Valentine’s Day! 😉
We know that most readers read for an experience. New circumstances and exotic settings do give our readers an experience. But to truly immerse them in our characters stories, we need emotion.
But, just like in real life, emotion in fiction is tough. It requires just the right touch to know when and how to put it in, a fine balance to know when to leave it out, creativity to avoid clichés and reaching deep within ourselves for authenticity—possibly even exposing some of our hidden inner lives to the entire world.
It’s easy to rely on clichés, to tell what the character’s emotion is, to underwrite to the point of apparent sociopathy or overwrite to the point of purple prose. But easy writing is seldom powerful writing, and seldom powerful reading. To really reach (and hook!) our readers, we have to get to their emotions. So this month, look for posts on effectively creating characters’ emotions!
Got something you want to say about writing emotion? Guest post! Email me at jordan (at) jordanmccollum dot com for the full guidelines—but I do have limited slots, so hurry!
Photo by Peter Dutton
The thing is to give your readers experience and not information about your character’s emotions. It is not the best way to get them involved. That’s when the “show don’t tell” comes into play.