Emotion

Without emotions we would just be a living corpse letting time pass us right by. Emotion is what gives everything meaning from music, dramas, movies and even writing. 

 

Have you ever seen a singer that is about to cry and that performance even makes you cry?

Writing is no different. We must become one with our characters and convey their emotions through us since we are the writer. 

If it is strong, we must write strong.

If it is weak, we must write weak.

 

Sometimes, we may put our characters in a tragic or an even joyful situation and then think of how we would want this type of person to act. 

It shouldn't be done like that.

If it is, you might as well call it a marionette show then.

We must make it real. 

It should be how this type of person will act. Not how we want it to.

You have to be that character in your mind, so it's real. Then let your fingertips meet the keyboard as if it was the piano and type out what you feel.

If you don't have a firm understatement of the certain emotion, I suggest to seek out music, poetry and even stories so you can find that emotion. Take it, drink it in and then pour it out.

We must have empathy and not just sympathy. I have noticed this in ALOT of fanfics and even books. The writers tend to make a reader feel sympathy for a character, rather than empathy. If you need to know the difference of these words, here they are.

 

So, I'm sure some of you are like: What's the difference?

EmEmpathy denotes the ability to understand and share the feelings of another (having shared the same, or a similar, experience).

S Sympathy denotes feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune.

 

 

Empathy :The noun empathy denotes the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This ability usually derives from having shared the same, or a similar, experience. For example, you can have empathy for a poor person if you are, or were, poor. More examples: I have empathy for your problem. I've been there.

Sympathy :The noun sympathy denotes feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune. For example: You have my utmost sympathy. You trained like a demon for that race. I would like to extend my sympathy to your son. I'm very sorry to hear of the death of his goldfish.

 

Credit: http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/empathy_sympathy.htm

That is why we need to express from the heart, because those reading reads it from the heart and then you have accomplished the emotion in your writing through Empathy.

Usually we tend to show sympathy to the antagonists in the story and that is fine.(Empathy can still be shown) We aren't trying to understand the bad characters, but the Protagonists rather.

I shall now show examples:

Sympathetic Emotion 1:

Irene looked down at the ground with a pout as she kicked rocks while she walked home. It had been a long week, where she had spent her days and even nights practicing her dance for the dance competition in her school. She had wanted to make the dance group in school and the competition was fierce. It seemed as if no one was on her side and in the end, she was right. She didn't make the cut to join. They told her that she had a pretty face, but had a weak dance compared to everyone else. Simply because of that reason, Irene was depressed.

Empathetic Emotion1: 

Like destiny itself, Irene's feet led her down the streets of Seoul on her way home with failure painfully clenching on her shoulders like bird claws . Her eyes rose from the feet that she sprained so many times from dancing her life away to couples holding hands, laughing friends, women and men in office attire who were racing to catch the bus, and even a girl sitting on a bench as she played the guitar with freedom blossoming a smile on her lips. All these people that surrounded her just on this street in the midst of al large world were going after their dreams and were fulfilling the lifetime goal to make them a reality. There was love, friendship, and freedom. It was something she abandoned for the passion of dance and when the moment came for her to finally to fulfill her dream at the dance competition she was just at, all her hard work was sent down the sewers of hell. When she had taken a good look at life now compared to her, she knew that she was never good enough to the beginning. Just as they said, she only had a pretty face and because of that she felt ugly.

 

Sympathetic Emotion 2:

When Irene had went to school, she was feeling good spirited and thought the day would end with perfection. She had worked hard for this day to come and it was time show everyone that, but instead when she ended her dance in the dance room it became the opposite of what she was expecting. It was as if the judges were only looking at her face and not the dance she had been practicing for three months on. The thoughts haunting her finally became a reality when she heard them tell her she didn't make it, but she was pretty. She started to hate herself and went home. When she opened the door of her house, only tragedy could be the emotion on her face as she saw her parents fighting and then separating. Her head lowered and she started to hate her life.

Empathetic Emotion 2:

A sigh escaped from Irene's lips after the tears had dried on her face while she was coming home from school. Today had been a bad day and it seemed that some storm cloud was following her home, when she opened the door to only hear the calamity of her parents. Lightning struck her heart and she was frozen upon action as she saw tears with violent words escaping from lips that once spoke with affection. "Get out my house you cheater! You think I never known! I've had enough! We're getting divorced!" Irene heard these words from her mother to her father and her heart was already wrinkling up like paper from the kids picking on her in school, but now she was torn into two right before her eyes by her parents separating.

 

Now which one is more striking? Which one conveys the strongest emotion? Which one is more internal?

I chose Irene because she will be in my next fanfic and many people do know the issue about her just being a pretty face. That's sympathy.

When we look beyond that and go to what she is going through deeper in life, we can actually say we've been there or it feels like we have. The writer has now conveyed the emotion.

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Mentioning the above, there can be cliche characters also. I shall get into that next time.