All the feels without all the obvious words
Happy Monday, Everyone!
I hope you all had great weekends. I finally had a weekend at home and we spent both days gardening, mowing, weeding and sitting on the deck at the end of the day, RELAXING--something, it seems, we don't have a lot of time for these days.
Speaking of time, Linda Urban has a great post for you today about time and how you can use it to your advantage in writing. It's pretty fantastic. You should go read it now if you haven't already, and then come back.
I think what I love best about Linda's post is the scene she provided as an example. One of the things I notice a lot in workshops and classes I teach, and in students' work I read, is that big challenge of conveying EMOTION. Linda's excerpt is a beautiful example of getting it right. Showing. Not telling. Linda doesn't use any of the usual emotional words in that scene, and yet we know Ruby is crying. We know she is overwhelmed. We know she is confused.
For today's warm-up, choose a scene (or write a new one) in which your character is experiencing a strong emotion and take out all the usual descriptors (sad, frustrated, angry, tears streaming down the face, eyes watering, face burning, hard to swallow, etc.). And rewrite it. Show what's happening around your character, through your character's eyes, to convey his or her emotion. How we see the world changes dramatically depending on our emotional state. Show us how things change for your character. Is there something in the room that triggers a memory to heighten his or her sadness or fear? A smell? A sound? Use sensory details to help spice up the scene.
Have fun!
p.s. Thanks to everyone who has shared their work here, and I apologize when I can't comment on every one. I do read them and and enjoy them very much! But I'm on a deadline and have teaching obligations and don't have a lot of time for lengthy feedback. I'm so sorry. But keep sharing! It's a big step to share your work with others, and it also forces you to kick it up a notch, so to speak. :-)
I hope you all had great weekends. I finally had a weekend at home and we spent both days gardening, mowing, weeding and sitting on the deck at the end of the day, RELAXING--something, it seems, we don't have a lot of time for these days.
Speaking of time, Linda Urban has a great post for you today about time and how you can use it to your advantage in writing. It's pretty fantastic. You should go read it now if you haven't already, and then come back.
I think what I love best about Linda's post is the scene she provided as an example. One of the things I notice a lot in workshops and classes I teach, and in students' work I read, is that big challenge of conveying EMOTION. Linda's excerpt is a beautiful example of getting it right. Showing. Not telling. Linda doesn't use any of the usual emotional words in that scene, and yet we know Ruby is crying. We know she is overwhelmed. We know she is confused.
For today's warm-up, choose a scene (or write a new one) in which your character is experiencing a strong emotion and take out all the usual descriptors (sad, frustrated, angry, tears streaming down the face, eyes watering, face burning, hard to swallow, etc.). And rewrite it. Show what's happening around your character, through your character's eyes, to convey his or her emotion. How we see the world changes dramatically depending on our emotional state. Show us how things change for your character. Is there something in the room that triggers a memory to heighten his or her sadness or fear? A smell? A sound? Use sensory details to help spice up the scene.
Have fun!
p.s. Thanks to everyone who has shared their work here, and I apologize when I can't comment on every one. I do read them and and enjoy them very much! But I'm on a deadline and have teaching obligations and don't have a lot of time for lengthy feedback. I'm so sorry. But keep sharing! It's a big step to share your work with others, and it also forces you to kick it up a notch, so to speak. :-)