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how to inject emotion into your writing
how to inject emotion into your writing

How to Inject Emotion Into Your Writing

One of the hardest tasks when it comes to writing a manuscript or short story is to be able to find a way to convincingly transfer the emotions that people really and truly feel

It is so important to ensure that fiction writing is full of emotion, and yet often one of the hardest tasks when it comes to writing a manuscript or short story is to be able to find a way to convincingly transfer the emotions that people really and truly feel in certain circumstances to characters in novels and stories.

There are however a number of ways to inject your creative writing with emotions in a way that is meaningful. Let’s have a look at the different ways that a writer can get effective emotion across to a reader.

1. Through action.

Actions speak louder than words, and an author must show and not tell. These are two of the most commonly uttered words of advice that are provided to writers and they should be adhered to at all costs. By showing the reader a character’s personality or by showing them an event, they are able to feel the emotions associated with that event. This in turn enables them to emphasize with the characters in the book.

2. Through descriptive characterisation.

They may at times be a little clichΓ©, but by adding in short phrases such as ‘always smiling’ or ‘cold, grey eyes’ when describing a character you will invoke a certain level of emotion within the reader, who will always feel that they either like or dislike a certain character and will form an emotional viewpoint on them.

3. Through dialogue.

It is important to add dialogue to most pieces of creative, fiction writing. Dialogue not only helps the reader understand a character’s personality much better, but it also helps the reader to form emotional attachments to certain characters and is a great way to convey a character’s emotion through showing and not telling!

4. Through the power of thought!

Including the thoughts of characters works emotively in a similar way to including character dialogue in a book or story. It allows the reader to find out how the character is feeling and also explains some of their actions. It also provides the reader with a chance to reflect on how they would feel, if in a similar situation or faced with a similar consequence.

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5. Through physical description.

By including physical description the reader is often able to see the emotions that are experienced by a range of characters, not just the viewpoint character, and so provides an opportunity for circumstance and emotion to be described objectively. This writing style will in turn draw the reader into the story further.

6. Through imagery.

Imagery can be a very powerful tool in creative writing if used correctly. To enhance your manuscript, why not try comparing emotions with concrete objects by using similes, metaphors and symbolism.

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