by Joanna Slan, @JoannaSlan
New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber has said, “If you don’t cry while you’re writing it, the reader won’t cry while she’s reading it.”
Easier said than done.
Putting emotion into your manuscript takes practice. The act of writing typically starts in the left hemisphere, that part of our brain given to sequencing. Otherwise, what we write would be a jumble of words. However, when arranged logically, words become sentences, sentences make up scenes, and scenes build action. At the peak of several scenes, we reach a climax. But that highpoint doesn’t mean much to the reader unless it evokes intense emotion. For that we need the right hemisphere, the section of the brain where emotions are perceived.
Let’s take a real life example, the mass shooting in a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado. The facts by themselves have great impact. With them in hand, we understand logically what happened. But when we learn about the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of the people involved, our emotions become fully engaged. Only then can we recognize the full impact of the tragedy.
Most of us have a side of the brain that we favor. We resist switching from one side of our brain to the other because switching takes energy. But as writers that’s exactly what we need to do! Because to offer our readers an engaging experience, we must appeal to both of their hemispheres—and we can only do that by using both of ours.
Writing with Both Sides of Your Brain
To overcome your natural resistance, break the process into two steps, a left brain pass and a right brain pass. First lay down the narrative track, the logical sequence of events, using the left side of the brain. This should cover the basics, the who, what, when, where, why, and how. Once your narrative is in place, commit to a second pass, using the right side of your brain.
When working with the right side of your brain, pay particular attention to these areas:
1. Sensory information—What are your characters smelling, seeing, hearing, tasting, and touching? With your mind’s eye, “look” for color, pattern, texture, flavors, scents, and distinct images, because that is how we process sensory input. When readers experience the world the way your character does, they will find your book more enjoyable.
To activate your senses, consider doing on-site research. To get the details right in my new mystery, DEATH OF A SCHOOLGIRL, I visited a carriage museum. There I spent time examining the sorts of conveyances used in 1820. After running my hand over the horsehair seats, touching the wood-rimmed wheels, and sniffing the old leather, I used what I learned to write a scene where my protagonist, Jane Eyre Rochester, travels by coach to London.
2. Specifics—Choose detail over generalities. It’s not a dog. It’s a pit bull. Or an Irish wolfhound. Or a Corgi. See how the image changed in your mind as the words went from general to specific? Whenever possible, exchange any vague reference for its exact counterpart.
3. Strong verbs—Vivid verbs add clarity. Try to eliminate any variation of “to be.” That includes was, is, be, been, and so on. (For a terrific refresher course on reducing your use of the “to be” verb construction, go to http://www.uoflife.com/wc/creative/be.htm)
During your second pass, imagine yourself in the role of your characters. Ask yourself, “What would I be feeling if this was happening to me?” Don’t be afraid to act out the scene, because that will help you get the physical reactions right. Once while writing a woodland scene in a Kiki Lowenstein book, I reached to my mouth to pluck out a stray twig that wasn’t there. Readers often tell me how realistic that scene is
I’m not surprised. If it’s real to me, I know that it’ll be real to my readers.
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Joanna Campbell Slan has taught writing to corporate executives and at Illinois State University. She’s the author of the Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series, which includes PAPER, SCISSORS, DEATH, the Agatha-Award finalist for best first novel. Her newest mystery series debuts with DEATH OF A SCHOOLGIRL (Berkley Trade/August 7), the first book in The Jane Eyre Chronicles, featuring Jane Eyre as an amateur sleuth. Visit Joanna at www.JoannaSlan.com
Elizabeth – Thanks for hosting Joanna.
Joanna – Thanks very much for this advice. It’s so interesting and so easy to forget that writing is a holistic process. Using both sides of the brain to evaluate what we’ve written and enrich it makes a lot of sense.
Joanna, I have cried when writing a scene AND if a story I write is too scary I might need to write it during the day or not sleep. However, I have made myself continue which helps the scare factor in the story. Who needs to sleep anyway?
Thanks Elizabeth for hosting.
Teresa
Thanks so much for your post today, Joanna!
Sensory information is always a little low in my books, so I appreciate the reminder of its importance. Your research in the carriage house sounds fascinating! Looking forward to reading “Death of a Schoolgirl.”
Excellent tips! I tend to use the left brain side, so adding emotion isn’t easy.
Thanks for this. I’m writing the first book of a 4 books romance series. It’s my first romance and I admit to being an action writer. I’m finding that the emotions are getting easier as I move along. I know I’ll be adding more emotion and sensory details in future revisions.
Its great to meet Joanna and thanks for the post. I work hard at adding emotion to my characters and sometimes use emotions to drive their decision making process, for better or worse.
Hi Elizabeth and Joanna – what a great post – love the left brain right brain passes … just makes so much sense.
Cheers and thanks – Hilary
I have certain scenes I know I just have to write longhand. I have a long history of journaling to sort the emotional stuff and so if I write that way, there is naturally more emotion than what I type directly. I DO tend to have a few scenes each book that make me cry but I think I have to write them completely fresh to get them that way. It is my later passes that are more analytical.
Elizabeth, I remember Anne Perry and Nancy Pickard saying they both added the sense of smell last, in an editing pass. I think we all have to find what works best for us.
Alex, if you’re a left brainer, emotion is definitely something you’ll need to add consciously.
Margot, this is just another tool. We need those big shiny red Sears toolboxes, right?
Stephen, you are right. Emotion does drive decision making, so it’s our job to import the reader so the decisions make “sense.”
Teresa, interesting. You’re doing the opposite with your scary scenes of what a lot of romance writers do to get in the mood. Whatever works!
Hilary, glad I could help, and Hart, sounds like you’ve found a solution that works for you.
That’s really what all of this means…finding what works for you, personally, as a writer.
I really enjoyed this post. I never thought about making two passes. I sort of do this, but they’re not distinct. I’m going to try this. Not only do I think I’ll be able to tap into more sensory and emotional input, I think it will help to improve the time it takes me to get the first draft complete. Thank you, Joanna.
And thanks, Elizabeth, for hosting her :)
Good luck to you, P.A.!
I love how you have broken down your tips into manageable, understandable steps. I have been warming my hands around the writerly campfire for a several years now, and have learned writing tips are easy to come by. Good writing tips–advice you can actually make work for you–is rare. Thank you so much for taking the time and for being generous enough to share your process.
Carol, much of what we do is intuitive, but this is so important that it’s worth handling it as a specific task.
Cathie, you are welcome. I agree–a lot of what I read about writing is gibberish. I think the essence of good teaching is being able to break things down for clarity’s sake.
This is an awesome post! I loved your tip on visiting sites to really get a sense of how things are.
Clarissa, sometimes a photo is NOT helpful. I recall seeing a malachite vase in Buckingham Palace. From the description, you might imagine it as being the size of a vase for flowers, right? It’s large enough for a person to crawl into it and hide! So a site visit provides different insights, often correcting mistaken impressions.