Getting Emotional

Making characters feel real to a reader can often be difficult to achieve. Sometimes, they just seem two-dimensional or flat. Many factors can contribute to this, including how you write dialogue. I touched upon character development in a previous blog 'Do you have character?' focusing on how you can develop characters by getting to know them better. Many writers do this by creating a character sheet detailing physical characteristics and backstory. You can even include things such as mannerisms and how your character would react in certain situations, what their goals are and their darkest secrets. But if you can't convey their emotions onto the page, they may still feel like cardboard cut-outs. The trouble sometimes is that we often know what emotions are stirred by the scenarios we write, but we sometimes use cliched emotions to convey how our characters react. Think for a minute about how you feel when you're angry. Do you exhibit your anger differently towards different people in different situations? How does someone close to you react when they are angry? Now, remember a moment when you were very happy and think about how that made you feel. Did you just smile inside or were you crying tears of joy? When you did something nice for someone else, how did they react and how did that make you feel? Maybe it was not the reaction you were expecting. We're all different. Some of us are introverts, whilst others are more flamboyant. The problem is, people rarely speak of their emotions, even though it's healthy to do so and when it comes to recalling what you felt during a certain experience it can difficult to remember or clouded by the memory by itself. Translating those emotions onto the page when you're putting your characters through the tribulations or euphoria of your plot can, therefore, be challenging. As I mentioned, it is said to be healthy to discuss your emotions or at least admit to them, good or bad so why not expose your inner-most thoughts and emotions in a diary or notebook. It is an excellent way of getting to know yourself and understanding what makes you react in the way you do. As a writer, it also provides you with a valuable resource to refer to when transforming your character into a real person that connects with your reader. So, next time you write a love scene or an argument, be sure to infuse some real emotions into your characters and watch them come alive.

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