tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post3967618314647340495..comments2023-12-09T00:33:24.572-08:00Comments on Novel Matters: Character Emotions and YouBonnie Grovehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11377519561074174038noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-31326157803415458662010-05-25T13:00:43.987-07:002010-05-25T13:00:43.987-07:00Lori, I hear what you're saying. Canadian Lit ...Lori, I hear what you're saying. Canadian Lit is filled with great examples of characters who are repressing emotion (it's a Canadian pass time).<br />Read Alice Munro, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Carol Shields, Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace, Michael Onaadajia's In the Skin of a Lion, Yann Martel's Life of Pi.<br /><br />Complex novels all, and they use various techniques to convey emotion through tone and other literary devices. <br /><br />It's a symphony. rather than a rock song.Bonnie Grovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11377519561074174038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-17140183968479411552010-05-25T09:09:32.000-07:002010-05-25T09:09:32.000-07:00In my WIP I have a character who is repressing gre...In my WIP I have a character who is repressing great emotion, and will not let herself cry, so I've spent the last few months practicing this kind of understatement, while with the other hand doing everything I can think of to force the issue with her. It's challenging to convey this character's emotion with very little outward show. I've had some readers/judges say she seems distant and unfeeling at first. Well, yes, she's meant to be, but she also needs to be engaging. Perhaps I haven't yet made it obvious enough that she is feeling, but doing all she can to deny it to everyone around her, and even herself at times. It usually manifests in a silent, stubborn disconnect, sometimes undue harshness and anger, but it grows easier to convey the layers as the story progresses and other characters start to clue in. The challenge is to make sure her nobler qualities shine forth until another character finally prods the well-concealed wounds and realizes what all the snarling signifies. :)Lori Bentonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04714197239425827339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-85871786887202162932010-05-25T07:03:10.673-07:002010-05-25T07:03:10.673-07:00You're so right about using silence. When I th...You're so right about using silence. When I think about that scene in 'Always' I remember the profound silence - it throbbed and saturated the air. Now, the funny thing is that there may have been background music, but I don't remember. It's easy to set up a scene like that in a script, but the trick is to effectively translate that to a manuscript. Hmmm...Debbie Fuller Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09174333267329587740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-10849728004325984832010-05-25T05:15:52.536-07:002010-05-25T05:15:52.536-07:00Karen, the problem with cutting the crying: It ma...Karen, the problem with cutting the crying: It makes ME cry.Latayne C Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04308600868561805601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-50016570793976818012010-05-25T04:23:41.288-07:002010-05-25T04:23:41.288-07:00Thank you for an insightful post. I think I'm ...Thank you for an insightful post. I think I'm guilty of my characters crying too much and plan to make a huge change!Terri Tiffanyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07771622379178654235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-31362662682550442472010-05-25T00:26:06.664-07:002010-05-25T00:26:06.664-07:00I really like this collection of thoughts about ch...I really like this collection of thoughts about character emotions. One I've not given much thought over is conveying emotion through silence. It's inspired me. Thanks :)Lynda R Young as Elle Cardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09975442291393246148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-83602914523838849492010-05-24T20:45:58.243-07:002010-05-24T20:45:58.243-07:00Oh, and Latayne, I also have the crying thang goin...Oh, and Latayne, I also have the crying thang going on in my WIP. Note to self: cut, cut, cut! Great advice, Debbie.Karen @ a house full of sunshinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17787916466155321686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-54758965387172105972010-05-24T19:25:12.071-07:002010-05-24T19:25:12.071-07:00That's such a cool quote, Kathleen. Love it.That's such a cool quote, Kathleen. Love it.Karen Schravemadenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-29164279347083921482010-05-24T16:37:22.456-07:002010-05-24T16:37:22.456-07:00Ah, avoiding emotion. Jan, you bring up something ...Ah, avoiding emotion. Jan, you bring up something so important, I'm afraid we'll have to save that topic for another day. But I can recommend a good (though challenging) book: From Where You Dream by Robert Olen Butler. Here's a little taste: "If I say art doesn't come from the mind, it comes from the place where you dream, you may say, 'Well, I wake up screaming in the night. I don't want to go into my dreams, thank you very much. I don't want to go into that white-hot center; I've spent my life staying out of there. That's why I'm sitting in the classroom, why I was able to draw a comb through my hair this morning. Because I haven't gone there, I don't go there. I've got lots of ways of staying out of there.' And you know what? You still need those ways twenty-one or twenty-two hours a day. But this is the tough part: for those two hours a day when you write, you cannot flinch. "Kathleen Popahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03682046279211463305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-56862939613640794652010-05-24T16:30:34.468-07:002010-05-24T16:30:34.468-07:00Im an emotional person, but I have trouble writing...Im an emotional person, but I have trouble writing it. Maybe Im protecting myself and the character, not sure. This is an area I need to work on for my character's development. Thanks for all the input.Jan Clinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16617976979678082323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-48099828801799780582010-05-24T12:10:16.937-07:002010-05-24T12:10:16.937-07:00Another film that uses understatement to great eff...Another film that uses understatement to great effect is Ladies in Lavender - starring Maggie Smith and Judi Dench: do you need another reason to watch? Judi Dench can do more with an almost-touch than most can do with words. <br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnfcYJFWfbkKathleen Popahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03682046279211463305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-82756719570397669502010-05-24T10:20:17.562-07:002010-05-24T10:20:17.562-07:00Thank you, Lori, for the suggestion of making the ...Thank you, Lori, for the suggestion of making the silence itself a character. Earlier in the novel a setting (a room) is a personification and is thus a character. I'm going to have to think about how to work with silence in the ways you describe. Again, thank you!Latayne C Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04308600868561805601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-1363089412513511652010-05-24T08:33:55.889-07:002010-05-24T08:33:55.889-07:00Latayne, perhaps treat the silence as a character ...Latayne, perhaps treat the silence as a character in those instances? Let it have a shape, or an emotion, or a texture, or a weight? <br /><br />Awesome post ladies. Understatement during scenes of high emotion of any kind will evoke the emotion from the reader, rather than demand it from them (and fail to get it). But finding that perfect balance between under and overstating takes me many drafts, and often I never quite find it. Or it might be perfect for one reader, still melodramatic for someone else. My particular master of this aspect of the craft is Diana Gabaldon, who first taught me the concept of understatement.Lori Bentonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04714197239425827339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-30253546847646546382010-05-24T07:39:01.394-07:002010-05-24T07:39:01.394-07:00Crying definitely has its place. I personally tak...Crying definitely has its place. I personally take comfort in the fact that "Jesus wept." I think the difference is that He doesn't begin with hot tears stinging the backs of His eyelids, followed by several paragraphs of physical description leading up to where He's wracked with sobs. : ) I wish I could remember where I read that advice.Debbie Fuller Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09174333267329587740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-51729453693282259942010-05-24T05:30:44.152-07:002010-05-24T05:30:44.152-07:00This is a great post for me to review because a lo...This is a great post for me to review because a lot of what I write is emotionally charged. <br /><br />I've found more and more I try to visualize the scene, as though watching a movie. Like Sharon wrote, I try to "draw on my own emotions and put myself there." Just yesterday I was making hand gestures to try to find the accurate one for one of my characters. You should have seen the look I got from my husband! :D<br /><br />~ WendyWendy Paine Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15136235074351188350noreply@blogger.com