Punch in the Gut--Tapping into Emotion

by Jewel Leann Williams

Have you ever been reading, watching a movie or show, or listening to music, and felt emotions so strong it was like you'd been punched in the gut?

Who are we kidding? Of course you have. Everyone has.  It's part of the reason people like watching TV, or reading books, or listening to music. These things stir our emotions--and when it happens, it can make our entertainment become so much more than just entertainment.

We've discussed before about how stories--good stories--actually activate areas of our brain that cause us to sort of emotionally live out the arc along with the characters, and that this may be an evolutionary mechanism hard-wired into our biology.

It's strange how those experiences we are living vicariously can be etched in our memories almost as clearly as real, true memories.

Do you have a story, a song, a movie, a play, that is burned into your memory as if it really happened?

As an example, I've been taking notice of this with music. Today, I was actually watching a video of Adele singing "When We Were Young" live, and I felt it--the punch in the gut--the emotion of the music, the lyrics, the drum beats, everything.  Since I've been thinking about emotion and writing and wanting to follow up on that, I took a few moments to think about WHY that song elicits that response from me.

A big part of it has to do with both the memory of prior relationships, back in my single years, and how I felt when they failed, or when I saw those people I'd loved later and had to deal with those emotions.

More importantly, I now translate that longing I remembered into the present--what I might feel if it were to happen now with my husband, my real true love--because like any person in love I relate everything to he and I--even just writing those last few lines makes my heart squeeze and my pulse skip in fear.

The result is a real, visceral reaction to the song--it's not my journal entry, but it could be. Adele successfully tapped into my past, and into my own emotions. Now, since Adele and I are not (yet) besties, there is no way for her to know my history or my emotions.

But she doesn't have to. She only has to know her own, and be able to translate those onto the page, or into the song. Since really those visceral emotions of love and loss and longing and wondering are universal, my own mind and heart do the real work.

So how do we, as writers, tap into those universal emotions?

Simple. We mine our own emotions and use them.

Something I've been experimenting with a bit is an "emotion journal."  When I feel a particularly strong emotion, I try and close my eyes and imagine it. What is it doing to my facial expressions? My eyes? My body language? Did my voice change? Am I speaking more slowly or quickly? Louder or softer?

Then I write it out. I let my pen go where it will, say the most ridiculous things it wants to--the more melodramatic the better-- and I either save them to a file if I'm on the computer, or I tear out the page and literally put it away in a file. Sometimes I don't want anybody happening upon them, because I don't filter my words--that's the point of the exercise.

Now, when I need to write that sort of emotion for a character, I can pull those pages and read them.
Usually two things happen:

1) I start to feel that emotion all over again, and
2) I can more efficiently translate that emotion to my character.

Not only that, but I've also already written physical, observable attributes to help me "show, not tell" the emotion. I can talk about the pitch of voice, speed of speech, facial expressions or tics, etc. instead of just saying "angry," "sad," "giddy," or whatever. I have a good idea that those particular descriptors will be something a real person would possess feeling that real emotion, because I did.

Writing gold!

(An added benefit is that as I get more scientific about my emotions, for lack of a better word, I can manage them a little better.)

So there you have it. One tip for plugging into your own emotions to enhance your ability to plug into your readers' emotions.

What tips do you have for tapping into emotion in writing?

Courage to Write

by Jewel Leann Williams

I have a website. Yes, I do. It hasn’t had an update for….well, since December 2014.

I’m paying for the domain and the hosting and everything, and squandering that opportunity.

There’s a reason.

I am terrified of the thing I need to write on my site.

I’ve been feeling for months—years, even—that I need to address a particular topic in my writing. I know that there are people who will be helped by what I have to say. I know that I can research and present facts and points and bring to light things that will honestly help others.

In doing so, however, I will have to admit things I am not ready to admit.

I’ll have to shed a façade that I don’t know if I’m ready to shed.

There are action steps I will have to complete, and the world will be watching.

Okay, that last part—the “world” won’t be watching. I don’t expect that my site will be popular or even particularly well-read. But my world will be watching. They’re gonna be “checking up” on me, or being concerned, or sympathetic, or worried, or… whatever.  That’s not my cuppa.

I'm not at all interested in this scene

So, how do I do it? How do I find the courage to write about this thing that has wound itself around my psyche and grips me so tightly that I can’t think to write much of anything else?   At the same time, I can’t think of the right words to start writing about it. I imagine that’s the fear, and the desire to do it right. To create something that will truly represent what I want to say.

I don’t want to jump the gun and express things in a way that I later regret.

Someone once told me (and my chapter of ANWA) to “write the one truth.” I keep going back to that.

Do we all have “truths” that we struggle with bringing to light?

How do we delve deep within ourselves, and find those uncomfortable places so we can sit there amongst the shards and stones and pick out the gems of truth that we can then polish and make shine for the world to see?

E.B. White said, ““I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all.”

That's EB White. They guy who said the thing. 

Sigh. Deep breath. We can do this. I can do this.

Here are a few little tips I’ve gleaned from places on the Interwebs. I’ll include links to stuff, too.

*Experience. Our opinions, our stories, etc., come from our experiences. Remember, people want to hear/read STORIES. Experiences resonate. We don’t even necessarily have to analyze and define what those experiences mean—sometimes letting the reader do that for themselves is what will resonate.

*Here’s a good one, from http://leemartinauthor.com/2014/06/close-to-the-bone-writing-family-secrets/      (just for the record, I’m not talking about family secrets in my quandary. Not those kind of secrets, or that kind of family, anyway. But it’s good advice anyway.)

“Once a writer is born into a family,” Czselaw Milosz said, “that family is doomed.” We might as well accept it. A writer is expert at the art of revealing what people suppress or perhaps don’t even know they carry. We cut through the masks that people wear. We get down below the skin to the truth of who people are when they’re alone in the dark. Along the way, we’re going to hurt some feelings, perhaps even risk relationships that matter greatly to us, all for the sake of the art.
What’s a family secret you wouldn’t want known? Tell the story of it. Be ruthless. Tell it all, no matter how ugly it is. Feel what it’s like to write close to the bone. You never have to share this with anyone. It’s your choice. But for the sake of everything that you’ll eventually write, you need to feel what it’s like to say the hard things, to lay oneself open, to be honest and direct. Don’t wait. Do it now.

*I don’t know why I find more tips of this sort related to family secrets/family drama, but here’s another one, from http://www.namw.org/wp-content/uploads/Secrets-Lies-and-Scandals-Issues-with-Truth-and-Family-public.pdf

Give yourself permission to be an artist. Allow yourself to see the world through your own eyes without flinching or doubting yourself. Later, if you change your mind about things you wrote, that is fine. You can change everything until it’s published!

*A whole website of writing tools, with, for example, this article about writing about “sacred” things: https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/articles/the-care-and-treatment-of-sacred-things-part-i

So. There are some ideas.

Will I ever find the courage to start this writing series I’ve been stewing about for so long? I don’t know. I hope that I can dredge up the courage to do so.

Do you have something you’ve been dying to write, but just can’t seem to? Or something that scared you to death to write, and then you DID? Share your thoughts, tips, or writing ghost stories in the comments.  

5 Tips for Tackling Writer's Block

by Celeste Cox

Here's the thing: writer's block is a thing. It happens. One second the story is flowing like delicious golden liquid onto the page, and the next you feel like you might as well be staring at a three year old's drawing. In crayon. And even that would be more inspired than the gibberish you've just written.

But here's another thing: blocks can be moved. It's not called Writer's Great Impenetrable Wall. It's just a block. It doesn't have to mean the end. Just make like a lego master and move the dang thing. I know, I know. Easier said than done. So here are 5 tips for tackling that mean old writer's block:

1. Take a SHORT Break.

This is definitely the favorite amongst all writers. *Raising my hand slowly* Mine too. It's the well deserved break! We are writers. And it's our passion. But it's hard. Especially when our minds just aren't cooperating. Especially when writer's block shows up! That break is more than well deserved. It is necessary. But here's the problem with "break time". It either lasts way longer than it should. Or there are way too many of them. But I had to go and get another drink, you say. And then I had to use the bathroom. And then I needed a snack! Hey, I get it. But don't let these breaks be a lazy way out. Keep them short. You know how long you really need.

2. Get Inspired.

What inspires you? What makes your insides spark up like the Fourth of July? If it's nature, go for a walk, look out the window, or watch the Discovery channel. If it's a certain song, listen to it. Maybe it's a smell. A book, a movie, a color. Whatever it is, let it inspire you. Make it happen.

3. Write Anyways.

Yes, you have written garbage. And yes, you will write garbage again. And YES, it's okay. That's the wonderful thing about writing. You can write the worst thing you've ever written and still be happy about it. Because you're writing. You're doing what you love. What you crave. And then there's the bonus: there's always something within the garbage. A small piece of treasure. And you never would've written it had you not allowed yourself to stink up the page.

4. Work on Something Else.

You want to finish what you're working on. You need to finish it already! I know. But sometimes you just need to take a step back. Instead of completely taking a break from writing, work on something else. Preferably something fun and easy. Then go back to your work in progress and you'll find that you CAN get past whatever it was that was causing you to go a little more crazy than usual.

5. Get Help.

Read articles (like this one!). Read a book on writing. Or find yourself some writing prompts. Whenever I have really icky bad writer's block I love doing this exercise I learned in one of my creative writing classes. Here's how it works. Find a picture. Any picture that sort of speaks to you. Don't take forever finding a picture though, or now you're just dooming yourself. Here are some random ones for you. A)

B)

C)

D)

E)

F)

G)

H)

Now set the timer! I like to change it up sometimes but let's do 5 minutes. So for 5 minutes write whatever comes to mind about the image you chose. It can be a poem, short story, random facts, random sentences that don't even go together, whatever! Just write. 

AND THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO EDITING ALLOWED. 

This is just you letting it all out. No holding back. Whatever comes to mind.

Once the 5 minutes are up, read it. Admire it. Yeah, yeah, it's probably a mess, but isn't it a beautiful mess? And look! You wrote something! You thought writer's block had defeated you, that you were incapable of writing even one more word. But you did it.

Too Much to Say

by Patricia Cates

Unlike many of my fellow writing comrades, I do not suffer from writers' block. Please do not be envious, for the opposite is just as detrimental a malady. What plagues me instead is an ongoing rush of thoughts to the brain that cannot be constrained. I always have too much to say. One would think that this would be a blessing, right? Well I can tell you it is not. As a busy parent, with little time to write, staying organized and focused is crucial. I get frustrated because I am often neither.

My stories seem to get started but never finished. I have way too many WIPs. There is seemingly always some new idea that is more enticing than the last, popping into my head and distracting me from the current project at hand. Am I alone in this?

I don’t know about you, but my faults lean towards the tendency to want to put too much detail into one area of my book, when I should be working on another. I want to delve into every scene and obsess about it, or get lost for hours in overly tedious dialogue that I could easily work on at a later date. I've been like this since the 5th grade. I'll never forget agonizing over a paper I spent the entire weekend perfecting. Monday I was scolded by my teacher as it was meant to be a three page practice in creative writing. I had proudly turned it into a 13 page play, thinking I would get a high mark for my efforts. Hardly! I had to can the entire thing and start fresh. 

Shouldn't I be past this phase yet? By all means I know what I am supposed to be doing with that precious time. It’s just so difficult to stay on task when thoughts are flowing. Sound familiar? If you recognize yourself as part of this gaggle of gregarious gabbers, I may have found a great remedy.



Try channeling a favorite author. Think of the poet, author or playwright who inspires you most. Simply pretend to be them for the duration you intend to write. I personally like to sit at my desk and become Sue Grafton for a few hours. (What a dream that would be!) I find her composition to be very clear and concise. This in turn aids me in being clear headed and concise, which means I spend way less time editing.

Whoever you believe will help you focus, and get into your groove, is fine. It's alright if they have been dead for centuries. I say all the better. A stoic and serious author from the 18th or 19th century is always a fun one to try on. There's no one like Dickens or Locke when you need to quell some of that exploding fervent passion during a YA or fantasy writing session.  And if you are into horror or sci-fi, why not pick someone wildly successful like Rowling or King?  

For any females who need a cure for wordy vivaciousness, I recommend assuming the brain of a Victorian era author. Incessant speech would have been viewed as intolerable in those days. These fine women would never have considered being such a thing as verbose. So remember when you are going overboard, that you would rather be invited to tea than deemed a bore.

 

This exercise is a sure bet when I’m heading off the deep end. I hope this both helps and amuses you, when you need to stifle that muse a bit. I know that if my erudite grandmother were still alive, she would have agreed that sometimes we writers just need some reigning in. She would have told me to slow down, because sometimes I just have way too much to say.

 

 

What makes a great story? It may not be exactly what you think.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about what makes a fabulous story. Is it character development? Lyrical language? Properly placed plot points? (Is it alliteration?) What makes that book so intoxicating that you can’t put it down, so addictive that you neglect your family, your housekeeping, heck, even sleeping and showering—just to find out what happens next?

Plot points, world-building, amazing characters—sure, those things are important. Just not in and of themselves. What makes a book not-put-down-able is a combination of all of these things, in the right amounts, in order to create a narrative that our brain can dive into and live for itself.  When we read a story, we don’t necessarily think about the mechanics of why we can almost feel the heat from the raging fire, why our heart breaks in two right along with the protagonist as she watches her board a war-bound plane, or why we want to jump for joy when the hero strikes a fatal blow to the heart of the dragon. We might attribute it to “just a great story” without understanding that there are very concrete psychological and physical causes for the way we become immersed in the story.

My son and I were talking about dreams and nightmares the other day, and I was explaining to him how our dreams are often a way for the subconscious mind to work out problems in a safe environment, sort of like “safe mode” in Microsoft Windows. That dream about being in an out-of-control vehicle can help our subconscious mind deal with feeling out-of-control in a life situation we may be in, for example (or so it goes in the circle of people who try to figure that sort of thing out).

Psychologists have proposed that the human penchant for stories serves sort of the same purpose. Part of what sets us apart from animals is the ability to hear a story and experience it, thereby gaining knowledge with which to navigate the world. An example given is “Don’t eat those red berries. Grog from the next cave did, and wait until you hear what happened to him.” The hearer learns the red berries are not good, perhaps by experiencing Grog’s intestinal distress vicariously, and doesn’t have to learn from experience.

Research has shown that when we read, our minds can actually simulate what we are reading. A 2009 study published in  Psychological Science reports that as subjects read descriptions in a story of different actions, the parts of the brain responsible for those actions or emotions in real life lit up in brain scans. A person reading about a light switch being turned on has response in the area of the brain responsible for interpreting light. The conclusion drawn by the study is:

“These results suggest that readers use perceptual and motor representations in the process of comprehending narrated activity, and these representations are dynamically updated at points where relevant aspects of the situation are changing,” says Speer, now a research associate with The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) Mental Health Program in Boulder, Colo. “Readers understand a story by simulating the events in the story world and updating their simulation when features of that world change.”

(“Reading stories activates neural representations of visual and motor experiences,”Speer, Reynolds, Swallow, Zacks. Psychological Science. 2009 Aug;20(8):989-99. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02397.x. Epub 2009 Jun 30)

In short, we think in story. It’s the way our brains makes sense of the world around us. Other people’s stories do the same thing. Our brains can stimulate intense experiences—our brain craves the knowledge, because it wants to know how to, say, defend the family against an incursion of zombie bunny rabbits. The problem is presented, and then the story teaches our brain how the protagonist conquers it. We feel it—because our brain is running the scenario as if it were real, in order to gain the muscle memory for how to cope quickly with that scenario in real life. It reminds me of Keanu Reeves in the Matrix, downloading Kung Fu.

So, as authors, the goal is to tap into the brain’s need for the story. This is why the three-act plot, with plot points, pinch points, believable character development, etc., are so important. Our brain will believe the most fantastical of plots, if it is in the right format. We know what real humans are like, so unbelievable characters won’t ring true and will disrupt the program. A plot that doesn’t set up the problem properly, won’t engage the brain because it won’t even cross its radar of “situations I need to learn about so that I can file them away unless I need to handle one like it someday.”

SO. All of those “Million Dollar Outlines,” “Write Like Rowling,” “Write About Dragons” and ten-bajillion other writing helps have something. Unless you just organically write in the proper format, you’re going to have to either outline your story, or edit the hell out of it to get it into a format that the brain’s “operating system” recognizes as useful information. If not, no matter how beautifully your words flow, no matter how artfully you can describe the 6-moon sky over planet Whatchamacalit, your story will feel flat and your reader will not find themselves immersed in the world and the journey of your characters.

Here’s a little saying I found in my reading rambles that sums it up perfectly:

Art is fire plus algebra

—Jorge Luis Borges