Good writing requires the use of emotion, both in the writing and from or in the writer. What? Emotion in the writing itself and in the author? Yes, good writing requires emotion from the words and from the writer. Actually, good writing requires a creative and effective use, not an overuse, of emotion.
Preparing a fiction, whether in a short story or a novel, without emotion results in telling more than showing. Telling a story can provide readers with necessary information, but showing it allows the reader to “see” events, actions, and plot unfold. Showing emotion without resorting to sentimentality is an important component of writing vivid and powerful stories that readers can visualize.
In high school and college, most classes focus on thinking, on the mind. Teachers and professors encourage, even require, students to use big words, figures of speech, literary devices, and long, dense sentences to create excitement in writing.
Yes, figures of speech and literary devices have a place in poetry. Yes, if used sparingly and creatively in fiction, figures of speech can convey complicated emotions. However, when overused or misused, figurative language, according to Stephen King, in In writing“The results are hilarious and sometimes embarrassing.”
However, emotions are necessary in fiction writing. According to Dianna Dorisi-Winget in “Let’s Get Physical! Writing Emotions in Fiction,” since emotions are such an integral part of the human condition, “…fiction writers must employ descriptions that accurately express the feelings of a character”. However, he continues, the simplistic and overused descriptions leave the reader unmoved. The use of clichés (those simplistic and overused words or phrases) results in sentimentality.
When we talk or read about highly emotional topics like romance and death, we are tempted to use clichés. After all, they are everywhere and represent the shortcuts we use in songs and words. Kristen Williams, in “No Place for Hallmark,” emphasizes this need to avoid these shortcuts in the articles we write.
Williams defines sentimentality such as the exaggerated and affected use of emotion in writing. Affected is further explained by being more often connected to clichés and melodrama, which “affect” emotion, showing only the surface without substance or justification, without foundation. These types of written emotions do not add a new perspective to the experience but rather are shortcuts.
Writers, especially beginners, use sentimentality because doing so is easy. Admitting or describing complicated situations is difficult. Using sentimentality means presenting things in black and white, without delving into the complications that really exist. “Good writers,” says Williams, “will dive right into this complexity rather than hovering on the surface.”
James Scott Bell echoes this thought in his “Leave Them Hopeful” article: “Dig into the heart of your character. As an author, you should feel the big emotions as much as your fictional creation does.”
Authors can avoid sentimentality without losing the emotion needed to reach readers. The writer simply has to deal with the emotion in an original and complex way by trying to avoid abstract words and ideas. This is achieved by staying with concrete descriptions. As Bell said, the author must experience the emotion and describe it with all five senses, write it as “feels” it. Abstract words and ideas can be interpreted by others in different ways, depending on the readers definition. Details are required to make the emotion live.
How can writers avoid “sentimentality”? One exercise is to make a list of common reactions to an emotion. The author then examines those physical reactions that produce emotions, and the simple and overused descriptions are physical reactions to emotion. However, the idea is to find other ways to explain those reactions so that the reader does not remain impassive. “The trick,” says Dorisi-Winget, “is to access your ’emotion memory.’ Go beyond the pounding heart and clenched fist.”
If fear is described, “sick stomach” could become the tilt like the time seasickness made lunch want to run away. The details tell the story; used well and creatively, the details “tell” the story.
Writers don’t have to abandon abstract words and thoughts entirely, but most of the description should be concrete. Williams says that he uses no more than twenty percent summary and at least eighty percent detail when he uses emotion in his writing.
Avoiding sentimentality allows you to use the writer’s perspective, not someone else’s. Writers then create the emotion required in “good” pieces of fiction.
Sources:
1. Bharti Kirchner, “It’s showtime!” The writer August 2005.
2. Dianna Dorisi-Winget, “Let’s Get Physical! Writing Emotions Into Fiction,” By Line February 2006.
3. Ellen Macaulay, “Lessons in Acting” The writer April 2005.
4. James Scott Bell, “Leave Them Hopeful” Writer’s Summary December 2005.
5. Kristen Williams, “There’s No Place for Hallmark,” http://www.wow-schools.net/hallmark.htm.
6. Robert Olen Butler, “The Dynamics of Desire,” The writer October 2005.
7. William G. Tapply, “Don’t Be a Showoff” The writer November 2005.