S16:E8: 6 Tips to Write Deeply Emotional Fiction

Learn the art of writing deeply emotional fiction. Discover six tools to infuse stories with emotional resonance that lingers for readers.

[writethepath]

I like to use the way the character's body feels or moves to contradict whatever they are saying with dialogue, and what drives the scene is whether and how much the other character notices

[KatAdVictoriam]

FWIW I've always kept a handwritten journal and a LiveJournal. It's habitual though after doing it for 30 years. I know that some people struggle with journaling, or have a hard time sticking with it. Having a writing craft book like "The Emotions Thesaurus" widens vocabulary so I'm not using the same language every single time. I think people - especially if they are struggling with writing about resonant emotions in their story/characters - I do recommend journalling. Start jotting down things (that you feel safe and comfortable writing about I mean) as if you're a journalist or investigator observing the facts objectively. Write it down and keep it for future reference. Ask people that you know hypotheticals, or if you're a younger person, ask older people in your life how they felt when they experienced a certain thing if you are unsure about to approach writing that experience if you've never had it yourself, for example. Pay attention to the language they use to describe it, or what their body language is as they speak of things. Tuck it away to use later :)

[OlettaLiano]

The way I learned to write emotions was to read books written by authors who are excellent at writing. A few of the authors I learned the most from are, Jae, Haley Cass, Haley Cass, and Rachel Lacey.

[TheZetaKai]

Rule #7: Don't pull your punches. Go for profound emotions, not mild ones. Just as your characters should suffer from extreme challenges and setbacks, so as to make a better story by overcoming them (or failing to), so too should they experience strong, powerful emotions. Love and hate. Hope and fear. As long as the plot supports those emotions and justifies them, then it is good drama, not melodrama.