Emotion in Writing by Victoria Chatham

Our topic for June is: How emotionally involved are you in reading or writing some scenes?

This question immediately took me to the scene in the movie Romancing the Stone where romance novelist Joan Wilder (as played by Kathleen Turner), is sobbing her socks off as she finishes her novel because she is so moved by it. Then there’s the ‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn’ scene between Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind. How about just about any scene in Casablanca but especially ‘of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine’.

I could pull any number of scenes from any number of movies to give as examples, but I’m sure you have your own favorites. In each of these movies, those scenes had to first be written, whether by an author first whose work was adapted for the screen, or by script writers. Each of those writers knew how to pull at heart strings, light heartedly in Romancing the Stone and more dramatically with Gone With the Wind and Casablanca. The depth of feeling in those scenes are enough to stay with any viewer or reader which is the mark of a great writer.

For anyone who hasn’t seen Casablanca, it is set in that town in North Africa during WWII. The leading characters are Rick and Ilsa who have previously had an affair in Paris but Ilsa ran out on him and broke his heart. That she had her reasons does not detract from the depth of emotion when he sees her again. The subtext of  the ‘gin joint’ line, indicagtes that he was getting over her but now she’s back and is breaking his heart all over again. That is the kind of writing that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go.

I do not see how any writer can NOT get emotionally involved in their writing. If they can’t, then where is the connection or depth in their story? If, as a writer, what you write does not move you, how can you expect it to engage a reader? And isn’t this what we want? To engage our readers? Now that seems like an awful lot of questions but in answering them and studying how to build intrigue, subtext and emotion into your writing will leave readers wanting more.

Take a look at what these fine authors have to say on the subject:

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/
Heather Haven http://heatherhavenstories.com/blog/
Victoria Chatham http://victoriachatham.blogspot.ca
Dr. Bob Rich https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/2016/06/25/emotion-in-writing
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Rachael Kosinski http://rachaelkosinski.weebly.com/
Margaret Fieland http://margaretfieland.wordpress.com
Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.com/
Rhobin Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com