1. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    Emotional Writing

    Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by GuardianWynn, Apr 13, 2015.

    Okay. Today marks the third day I cried while writing. I get why I did this and the other times but I just wanted to share. I also wanted to open this as a thread for anyone else who had an emotional experience and wanted to share. :-D

    For some reason it still feels so weird to actually cry. I mean I came up with the scene. I knew where it was going. How could I not be ready for it!

    Edit to add: I am not claiming that being emotional is a sign of good writing. This is more intended for others to gush about there own time. Because having a moment made me want to hear other peoples. :D

    My scene that made me cry today.
    A girl that died. She was destined to die when I started writing. Plot and such and I knew that and it didn't bother me but today I was writing not even the death scene but the establishing her scene. She was talking about her hopes and dreams and it got to me. Poor girl. R.I.P. Bethany Tarvoss. :cry:

    @cutecat22
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2015
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  2. Keitsumah

    Keitsumah The Dream-Walker Contributor

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    I came up with an idea for a character death that shocked me to my core at first. And it takes a lot to do that. This particular character is a good friend of one of the MC's, and though he is not a good fighter (he's a lightweight scout) he always does his best to help those around him.

    But when the main villain reveals one of his powers, that character ends up possessed by shadow spirits as well as fifty others. The MC's are forced to kill him first, then each individual of the rebellion they had tried to hard to start goes down one by one in the villain's plan to weaken them both physically and emotionally. They try to not kill him, consider letting themselves die, but know that in order to save both humanity and the other races they must live long enough to kill the villain.

    I was so shocked about the idea of killing such a gentle soul that I literally screamed and flipped the table, so to speak. As well as many of the other characters that had all fought so hard only to have it end the worst way.

    And what makes it worse is that the villain himself is an innocent man trapped and controlled by another shadow spirit, which pretty much represents the devil himself.
     
  3. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    That is pretty brutal. It reminds me of the first time I cried writing.

    Because a innocent soul did die but the difference being he did it to himself. He stabbed himself on a soul eater blade to give the blade his soul which then made it strong enough to protect his friends. He was kind of a dick about it though and by that like agreeing not to because the MC saw him thinking about it and then doing it anyway after it was too late for the MC to try and stop him.
     
  4. Hubardo

    Hubardo Contributor Contributor

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    Maybe you're just a really sensitive or empathic person. Maybe something about this character is triggering something from your past. I think this stuff is kinda cool, but I'm training to become a psychotherapist so of course I would.

    I don't think writing has made me cry before but I look forward to it!
     
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  5. theoriginalmonsterman

    theoriginalmonsterman Pickle Contributor

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    I personally don't care about characters that die in my stories... is that bad?
     
  6. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    Of course not. Not like I cried over each one. lol
     
  7. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I cry pretty much every time I kill a character.

    But I also cry at long-distance commercials. I'm a cry-er.
     
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  8. SocksFox

    SocksFox Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Some memories should remain buried, when Bella recovered the memories of her sister, yeesh...
     
  9. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    Huh?
     
  10. SocksFox

    SocksFox Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    That was one of the few times I ever cried while writing.
     
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  11. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    I see. At first I thought you were referencing something you read. lol
     
  12. SocksFox

    SocksFox Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    No Twilight references here, my manuscript was well underway long before I encountered that pop culture train wreck.
     
  13. outsider

    outsider Contributor Contributor

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    This has happened to me. Not full blown crying, but tears welling in my eyes, an overwhelming feeling of melancholy. It's a good thing as far as I'm concerned, it shows emotional investment in your story/characters.
     
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  14. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    Lol. I never saw Twilight but I asked my friend what she liked about the characters. 5 minutes of silence later she stormed off and called me an asshole. lol. Worth it.
     
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  15. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    I've never cried because of something I wrote. Apparently a love connection in my novel made my mom cry, though.

    And I'm not gunna lie... In the second Twilight book, there's a part after Edward leaves Bella that's just blank pages with the passing months typed in the middle... Flipping through them.. October.... November... December... January.. Or whatever the months actually were... I cried. lol Silly, right?
     
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  16. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    A simple 'four months had passed since Edward left...' didn't suffice, huh? :p

    I've felt moderately sad for my characters, but not full blown crying.
     
  17. NiallRoach

    NiallRoach Contributor Contributor

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    I've had moments where I've been stricken by the gravity of what my characters go through. I've never cried, though.
     
  18. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    That reminds me. A week ago one character was having a panic attack. I caught myself breathing quicker while writing that. Maybe I am just weird. lol
     
  19. NiallRoach

    NiallRoach Contributor Contributor

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    If you're weird, we're both weird. I often mumble dialogue to myself when writing it; I've also been known to half act out fight scenes.
     
  20. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    I think we authors are all kind of weird in our own ways. I mean, we're the ones who create entire worlds out of thin air so a bit of weirdness is perfectly all right. :D
     
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  21. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    If you actually move YOURSELF while writing, that can't be bad. However, it doesn't guarantee good writing either. You are seeing and feeling your characters beautifully, but you still have to make your readers see and feel what is moving you. That ...well you won't know if you've succeeded until you get feedback.

    I made myself cry in only one place in my MS ...and it's a place that probably won't strike others the way it struck me, because they don't know where it came from in my life. However, I've had other people point out places that made them cry, so I guess there's some emotional involvement in what I wrote. However, it's interesting that no two people have got back to me saying they've cried in the same place as somebody else! It's all down to what happened in their life that connected with what I wrote. You can't control that, can you?
     
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  22. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Moving yourself while writing means barely anything to the end result. Just because you feel the emotion of a moment doesn't mean you are conveying that to the reader. You've internalised it and given it extra meaning, but the reader approaches it differently, and can be missing a lot of what made it emotional for you. I've never cried or become emotional writing scenes, but sometimes when reading it back.
     
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  23. outsider

    outsider Contributor Contributor

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    Depends what you're writing about. If it's about a character dying, drawing their final breath in the last throes of cancer; and if you've experienced this in life and use that to draw on creatively, as I have, then you'll perhaps forgive me for being moved to tears as I went through that process.
     
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  24. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    I'd rather be weird anyday :ghost:
     
  25. theoriginalmonsterman

    theoriginalmonsterman Pickle Contributor

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    Wait... so we create worlds out of thin air? Well now that makes authors sounds more like Gods than weirdoes. :cool:
     
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