Writing Emotion

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

I've had a bit of a think on this and I'd like to expand on the writing emotion and writing character emotion food for thought exercise.

Let's use Anger once more because it is a common and powerful emotion. There are lots of different kinds of anger. There's outrage, pettishness, cranky, righteous, offended, violent, rage...you get the idea.


Non verbal expressions of anger are the ways our bodies and actions show anger without having to say a word. Things like crossed arms, stomping feet, stalking off, pacing, throwing things , punching things, shaking, clenching fists, dive into physical activity like a sport or house cleaning, sulking...

Verbal expressions of anger can be in the form of shouting, screaming, yelling, deadly quiet, sarcasm, talking fast, talking more slowly and or distinctly, using short clipped speech,

Environment. You can also make use of the environment, background, other characters, objects, furnishings, weather, time of day, color, temperature, movement, clothing...to help echo or re-enforce the sense of anger.

Use of Language. In writing it down on the page word choices can help express anger as well. Using words or descriptions that are or invoke a sense of hard, glaring, sharp, pointy, hot, cold, slashing...

Think about the last time you were really angry. How did you react? What did you do? How did it express itself? How did you burn off or dispel the anger? Was it resolved?

Choose a type of anger, think of some of the non verbal expressions, think of some verbal expressions, think of how the surroundings could help reflect the anger and then, think of word choices and delivery. You don't have to work in all of these things in to each paragraph but you might want to vary them to keep your whole story fresh.

Possible scenarios: A lover's quarrel, a parent and child conflict, a betrayal by a friend, a boss unjustly reprimanding a subordinate, a dangerous driver nearly causing an accident, a day where every little thing goes wrong...

You can put it in a paragraph, scene or snippet if you like.

Comments

[captlychee.livejournal.com]

My whole LJ is like this! :)