Color Your Words With Emotion

Most writers are familiar with this phrase: “Show, don’t tell.” Our favorite books are usually filled with strong and vivid descriptions, and powerful adjectives that engage us (the reader). Artists do this with colorful paints, and writers accomplish this with the power of words. After all, the pen is mightier than the sword, as they say.

It’s important to draw the reader into the story, and to keep them engaged. The best way in which to do this is to create emotion with your words. Feelings are relatable- we all have them, whether it be anger, sadness, guilt, fear, joy, love, hope, or despair. Words can be used to establish a connection with the reader, and offers them a chance to step into the character’s shoes. This creates empathy, which then creates a bond between the reader and characters; this all translates into drawing them deeper and deeper into the story.

Books are forms of escapism, quite like movies and films. When you create emotion in your writing, then you will allow your words to touch & move a reader. This affords an opportunity for them to immerse themselves in an imaginary world.

Create the scene by remembering the five senses: taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight. What is happening? To whom, where, and why? Always remember the ‘why.’ Make your writing more descriptive with strong and vivid adjectives and strong verbs. Describe the character’s actions and responses rather than simply stating what they are feeling. Tell the reader why something is happening. Show what that internal feeling and motivation looks like when placed into action and within the context of the situation.

Keep in mind that creating emotion in a story does not necessarily mean melodrama. Subtlety can also be key. If you have developed your character very carefully throughout the story, then in moments of dire crisis the reader will already have a deep understanding of what the character is feeling. A good example is in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (precisely in Chapter 34) In this particular scene, Harry is entering the forest to hand himself over to Voldemort. Rather than going on and on with how Harry must be feeling, Rowling has built a strong foundation prior to this scene. She simply writes, “Harry understood without having to think.” In doing so, she plays upon the common thread of human emotio

ns that we all feel, and allows the reader to assume based on that common thread as well as the foundation that she has already built within the story prior to that moment.

A good reminder from Edgar Allen Poe: “A story must have a single mood and every sentence must build toward it.”

Revisit these classics for great examples on how to create emotion in your writing:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Keep writing!

#emotions #writing #story #adjectives