I’m surprised when I run into people who think authors shouldn’t access any emotions while writing. They feel one must remain calm, clear-headed, and at peace even if the scene is one of anger or fear. Never been given an explanation of why it’s bad to become emotional while writing, but I’m assured it will lessen the quality. Clearly, I disagree with this idea.
I think an author has to access the proper emotions on some level in order to get it across in the story. They don’t have to be weeping to write sadness or roaring in anger like their character. One can ‘access’ the emotions without letting them take over. Even letting them peek out as you write will help to pick the proper words to get them across. For example, it doesn’t feel genuine if I’m sitting there meticulously thinking about synonyms for glee since that means I don’t feel it. The words I use will become flat and the characters tend to lack the proper nonverbal aspects. A little dab of what I need is enough to help cross that bridge.
I think my mentality does stem from the belief that authors put some of themselves into their writing. Call it the soul, heart, emotions, or whatever, but a person leaves a trace of their inner self when they write a story. This isn’t something the reader can see and point out, but they can feel it coming off the words. It’s an energy that triggers emotions, which I think is best done by the author feeling them in the moment. Almost like we’re leaving a slumbering spell on the pages. It won’t work if you’re numb and stoic while writing a high emotion scene.
Now, I do understand where people are coming from with this. We tend to be raised to keep our emotions hidden, so showing them is bad. For women, they might fear being called unstable, bitchy, unhinged, or other words for mentally ill. For men, they might fear being called weak, a wuss, crybaby, and other mocking, emasculating phrases. It’s messed up for everyone, especially since keeping emotions locked up leads to blossoming mental illness. Not to mention physical issues as well. So, some authors might not want to release their emotions even onto the page because they aren’t comfortable showing them to others.
This act does come with vulnerability too. If you put your sadness into a scene and a reader says it’s funny, you can feel hurt. It might seem like they are mocking your pain even though they didn’t mean too. Yes, a reader is open to their own interpretation of scenes, but that doesn’t erase the potential damage. As I said, an author puts a piece of themselves on the page and that can be emotionally risky. Many, especially new authors, might not want to take that risk.
So, what do other people think about becoming emotional on some level while writing? Does it help, harm, or mean nothing to creating the story?
Legends of Windemere 