Hi people (aliens/hobbits/shapeshifters/etc.)! Been brooding over this one for quite some time. Enjoy today's post, and if you have questions, opinions, suggestions, or just want to chat, stop by the Contact Mimi page and drop me a line :) Have a lovely day!
You get home from a hard day at school or work, you throw yourself onto the nearest object of furniture, ignoring your family or pets and start to sulk. You're angry. You're sad. You're embarrassed, neglected, grieving, ashamed, jealous, stressed, indecisive, hurt, or annoyed to your last strand of rope. That's what we've all felt, whether we've hid it behind a mask of a smile or a scowl, and no one likes it. But I'd like to briefly discuss how feelings like this, seemingly negative, can also be beneficial when you write.
Emotion in writing can be hard to convey. Letters don't have expressions or become louder or softer or use inflection to convey meaning. Now, a character's emotion, maybe we'll talk about that another day, but what about when you're writing about, say, a tree? How to make the emotion come through? Here's a few examples of what diction, or word choice, can do. I've written these over the past few weeks, depending on how I've been feeling.
Simple (lack of emotion)
The tree on the hill had green leaves. It was raining, and the wind was blowing, too, the sky overcast so that it was unclear exactly what time of day or night it was. The tree was moving with the wind, and the rain clouds overhead were colored gray.
Hurt/Angry
The tree bent under the force of the gale that rocked it, nearly snapping under the fury of the torrent of rain that pounded mercilessly at the tender green leaves; leaves that were ripped to mere shreds of soft green flesh scattered over the hill. The hail in the storm made a small whistling sound as it flew through the air like so many bullets intent on a single target. The black, towering clouds of rain and hail, thunder and lightning, bore down upon the solitary tree with a cry of battle flashing through the night sky. The tree lashed its branches out desperately, then cowered once more as the wind and rain screamed together with the beastly roar of the thunder, battering the small trunk down again into hopeless.
Lonely
The tree stood all alone on the hill as the wind curved around it, as if avoiding touching the fluttering leaves on its branches. The tree was surrounded by its own kind, a vast forest spread out across the Earth, but on the hill, this tree stood strangely solitary, like a soldier guarding something long forgotten, with no orders to leave its post or fall to be at ease. The tree still stood when the rain came, tapping gently on the leaves, tinkling through the twigs, making small laughter at the tree, which had no friendly protection for its branches and leaves like the trees below, sharing branch space with others. The tree stoically bore the ages, watching mountains crumble under the indifferent wind and the unforgiving rain, regrowing its leaves year after year with no purpose but to survive.
Cheerful
The wind whistled through the branches of the tree, the tree's leaves dancing with a light rustling sound that might as well be singing. The first few drops of a rain shower pitter-pattered through the branches of the tree, and the tree stretched toward the replenishing coolness of the soft clouds above. The tree swayed with the gentle wind, as the shade of the clouds cooled its leaves, and the rain refreshed its roots, while the sun peeked out from the wispy light gray clouds at the tree on the hill.
So you can see, from just three examples, how very different it made you feel, because the writer was feeling different when writing the passage. Of course, professionals and the naturally gifted can exploit these emotions without feeling the same way themselves, but until then, or if there's a very important passage you don't want to fall flat, try waiting until emotion crashes into you like a tidal wave. Writing out your feelings, even if it isn't really about you or your situation, can be very therapeutic.
As always, may your writing grow ever stronger!
Live long as prosper,
Mimi
This has been another unscheduled and unexpected post of Writing with Mimi, a blog about fandoms and creative writing and other random nonsense. If you enjoyed it, please tell Mimi. If you hated it, please tell Mimi. And if you have nothing to say, well, make something up about a pie or a fez or something of equal value and tell Mimi about that. Today's Awesome Thing: Raxacoricofallapatorious is easier to spell than I previously expected. Thank you for reading!
