Writing Emotions

I had someone explain to me that when they were acting, they were advised to overact so that they could adequately connect their emotions to the role they were playing. This made me reflect on how we, as authors, can adequately reflect emotion in our written words. I confess that I often refrain from texting, when possible, because I believe it strips away emotion, and leaves the reader of the communication searching for the intent and inflection of the said message, left only to infer. So how do we, as authors of fiction, step past that barrier, in our longer work, to provide that emotion, provide that inflection, so that our readers are not left inferring?

Emotion comes from something intangible, from something inside each of us. Yet, I believe it is connected to a thought, an experience, a place, or a memory. I have often said that we can only write what we know. I believe that to be true here as well. When working to write emotion in a piece, we must write from the source of what we know, a memory, trauma, or love. Without that, how can we possibly portray the authenticity behind the emotion?

Every time I see my dog rolling on her back, I feel great joy. I chuckle inside as it reminds me of rolling in the leaves as a child. I simply want to go romp in the yard with my dog to see if I still have that same childish whimsy in me. This simple example, I hope, brings a small smile to you as it does to me. I can tap into my memories and my experiences with my dog and my childhood to evoke an emotion of joy.

In contrast, I can paint a contrary picture of a lonely child walking down a damp, dreary street. The

last streetlight flickered a desperate glimpse of hope as the child fumbled to find their way to a safe shelter, knowing they were far from home. While this does not tie directly to my own experiences, it draws on memories, love, and trauma from my own life, allowing me to paint a fictional picture that evokes a collection of sorrowful and fearful emotions. The authenticity of these emotions was not drawn from my own physical experience but from connections to my practical parallels.

So, I offer this to you as you write. Live for emotion. Experience everything. Feel everything. Through these tangibles in life, you will build a portfolio from which to portray better emotions in your writing. Conversely, through the portrayal of emotion in your writing, you will better understand the trauma, love, and experiences in your life. As much as we write to share stories and express the images in our mind, writing is therapy and helps us process life.