Create emotion, not sentimentality, in fiction
Good writing requires the use of emotion, both in writing and in the writer. What? Emotion in the writing itself and in the author? Yes, good writing requires emotion from the words and from the writer. In reality, good writing requires creative and effective use, not overuse, of emotions.
Preparing fiction, whether in a short story or a novel, without emotion results in telling more than showing. Telling a story can provide readers with the necessary information, but showing allows the reader to “see” the events, actions, and development of the plot. Showing emotions without resorting to sentimentality is an important component of writing powerful and vivid stories that readers can visualize.
In high school and college, most classes focus on thinking, on the mind. Teachers and professors encourage, and even require, students to use big words, figures of speech, literary devices, and long, dense sentences to create excitement when writing.
Yes, figures of speech and literary devices have a place in poetry. Yes, if used sparingly and creatively in fiction, figures of speech can convey complicated emotions. However, when overused or misused, figurative language, according to Stephen King, in In writing, “The results are fun and sometimes embarrassing.”
However, emotions are necessary in fiction writing. According to Dianna Dorisi-Winget in “Let’s Get Physical! Writing Emotions in Fiction,” Since emotions are such an integral part of the human condition, “… fiction writers must employ a description that accurately expresses feelings of a character “. However, he continues, the simplistic and overused descriptions leave the reader indifferent. Using cliches (these overused and simplistic words or phrases) results in sentimentality.
When we talk or read about highly emotional topics like romance and death, we are tempted to use cliches. After all, they are found everywhere and represent the shortcuts we use in songs and words. Kristen Williams, in “No Place for Hallmark,” emphasizes this need to avoid these shortcuts in the articles we write.
Williams defines sentimentality like the exaggerated and affected use of emotion in writing. Affected is further explained by being more frequently connected to clichés and melodrama, which “affect” the emotion, showing only the surface without substance or justification, without foundation. These types of writing emotions do not have a fresh perspective on the experience, but they are shortcuts.
Writers, especially beginners, use sentimentality because doing so is easy. Admitting or describing complicated situations is difficult. Using sentimentality means presenting things in black and white, not delving into the complications that really exist. “Good writers,” says Williams, “will dive right into this complexity rather than just on the surface.”
James Scott Bell echoes this thought in his article “Leave Them With Hope”: “Delve into the heart of your character. As an author, you must feel great emotions as much as your fictional creation does.”
Authors can avoid sentimentality without losing the emotion necessary to reach readers. The writer simply has to deal with emotion in an original and complex way, trying to avoid abstract words and ideas. This is accomplished by sticking with specific descriptions. As Bell said, the author must experience the emotion and describe it with the five senses, write it as he “feels” it. Abstract words and ideas can be interpreted by others in different ways, depending on the definition of the readers. Details are required to bring the emotion to life.
How can writers avoid “sentimentality”? One exercise is to list common reactions to an emotion. The author then examines those physical reactions that emotions produce, and the simple and overused descriptions are physical reactions to the emotion. However, the idea is to find other ways to explain these reactions so that the reader is not indifferent. “The trick,” says Dorisi-Winget, “is to tap into your ’emotional memory.’ Go beyond the pounding heart and clenched fist.”
If the fear is described, the “sick stomach” could turn into the tilt as the moment the dizziness made the lunch want to escape. Details tell the story; if used well and creatively, the details “show” the story.
Writers don’t have to abandon abstract thoughts and words entirely, but most of the description should be concrete. Williams says he uses no more than twenty percent abstraction and at least eighty percent detail when he uses emotion in his writing.
Avoiding sentimentality allows you to use the writer’s perspective, not someone else’s. Then the writers create the emotion required in “good” works of fiction.
Sources:
1. Bharti Kirchner, “It’s show time!” The writer August 2005.
2. Dianna Dorisi-Winget, “Let’s get physical! Writing emotions in fiction”, ByLine February 2006.
3. Ellen Macaulay, “Acting Lessons”, The writer April 2005.
4. James Scott Bell, “Leave Them With Hope”, Writer’s Summary December 2005.
5. Kristen Williams, “There’s No Place for Hallmark,” http://www.wow-schools.net/hallmark.htm.
6. Robert Olen Butler, “The Dynamics of Desire”, The writer October 2005.
7. William G. Tapply, “Don’t be a SHOWOFF”, The writer November 2005.
