...do you feel your job has been done well? I'm not even especially attached to the characters in the story I just finished, and yet I sobbed my heart out for over an hour over this one scene. Hopefully that means I've written it well enough for it to affect my readers. The scene that really got me was after one main character died. The other main character's reaction just... messed me up inside. And it was fun to write, but painful at the same time. Someone who hasn't even gotten up to the last couple of chapters has just accused me of feeding on my readers' tears. I'm a bad person. I enjoyed that too much. One of the best parts of writing fanfiction is the relatively fast feedback you get, and I find it helps me channel my itch to write so that I don't mess with my serious project too much. My co-writer still isn't writing regularly, and therefore I've been writing fanfiction to occupy myself. And loving it. And sobbing a lot. I feel like that's one sign of a job well done... If I can make myself cry with my work... because I do not cry easily!
I've read some fiction that's made me want to cry recently, although it was for entirely different reasons.
Nothing I've written, writing a scene, has brought tears to my eyes. Some readers of my novels have said they formed tears in some situations that happened in my works, however. I'm not one to shed many tears, however. Not a macho thing. Just me. Yet, there are two books, that I recall, that brought a tear to my eye while reading over the years.
I cried my eyes out at a scene recently but the test is if it has similar effect on the readers who don't already have the background in their head like you do. But it does feel good to think you've come up with something that impacts you on that level
Honestly I'm just proud of myself for actually finishing the damn thing. I rarely finish anything but this one grabbed me by the short and curlies and WOULD NOT be left alone. I finished it in 9 days. 31,000 words, 20 chapters, in 9 days. Funny how a fanfiction written for fun while waiting for one's co-writer to write can consume one so completely.
I was crying writing Not Pink - my robot story. So much so that the screen was blurring as I typed, and I had to keep stopping to wipe my eyes with Kleenex. I felt like a big ham! I don't know what happened. In fact I felt so bad that I was going to leave my mc in a trash can that I began to write his rescue and repair and that made me cry harder. I was pleased though with the new ending. It was like the strong emotional reaction was pushing me ( manipulating me ) to change it. Even if nobody sheds a tear over the story, as long as they feel something for the character I'd be more than pleased. Cause I don't think tears are necessarily a sign of an excellent scene or story. I've finished The Worms of Wicher-Woo a while ago and I didn't shed a tear for the characters despite the same emotional turmoil of Not Pink. The difference probably though was Not Pink was nearly written in one night, and the Worms of Wicher-Woo was spread over months. In the end all the matters is the reader. And whether or not they cry is based on them. I've know people who've weep over commericials and others who wouldn't shed a tear over a loved one dying. So tears aren't always the best gauge.
In my first attempt at a novel, the main character died. I cried when I wrote it. I haven't cried while writing since then. However, part of my review process in my current project has been to read aloud, and I was surprised to find myself getting choked up a couple of times. Now, let's see if my beta-readers have that reaction.
Bingo. It's a lot easier for you to feel the emotions of a scene because, no matter how you wrote it, you still have the "correct" version of the scene in your mind. You know all the facial expressions, all the inflections and intonations of the voices, all the motions and dramatic pauses. You can access that when reading your scene and subsequently feel all the emotion from it. But the reader doesn't get all that--she only gets what's written on the page. That's one of the many reasons why having someone else read your work is so important--let other readers tell you whether you were successful in dredging up those emotions without the aid of your mental pictures. If you can still do that, then you're definitely doing something right.
I can proudly proclaim I've had a few readers tell me they've sobbed while reading my work since I posted this thread Definitely definitely doing something right.
Sometimes while writing an emotional scene, I get caught up in it. But, when I read it later, it's missing something and doesn't do anything. So, for me, it only makes an impact if I get chocked up while reading it later.
I nearly cried again on my third re-read of the final chapter... hahaha and I can't read the same thing twice, never has the same emotional impact
I must be a sick person. When I write something beautifully tragic, I become so happy and so proud of my work that I have to get up and move around to channel the excitement.
I feed on my readers' tears according to one reader! It could have been even more tragic, I think, had I killed the OTHER main character instead... does this beg a rewrite? Hmmmm...
Interesting you should bring this up. A few weeks ago I was reading a story to my wife and son that I had written, and when I got to end in particular part I choked up a bit. Nobody noticed but me so that's good..lol. The story was accepted for publication so maybe someone else will shed a tear as well, although I doubt it because I felt the ending just kind of hit me personally. ~Chad
I've twice, had to stop reading my current edit. Otherwise I'd be bawling in Krispy Kreme. Nobody wants that. I mean it's disturbing enough to see a reasonably fit guy in KK, reading and not eating donuts. It's like the more rotund patrons are thinking, "He's a robot. Or some kind of cop, watching the Barnes&Noble's across the street for suspicious activity. I bet that's it. I never trusted those guys..." But since I'm reading and editing, I probably have my tongue stuck out to the side, as though this is really difficult and I have to strain myself to read.
