Writing with Feeling

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Anytime I write a novel, I make sure to write with feeling. What does this mean? It means getting into the minds of my characters; imagining what it would be like to be in their situations and under their circumstances, putting myself in my characters’ shoes. It means feeling their emotions, imagining their thoughts and reactions and seeing every detail through their eyes because if the author feels his/her characters’ emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, pain, excitement, etc.), the reader is likely to feel them too.

Expressing a characters’ emotions isn’t about just writing,

“So-and-so felt angry when she discovered that her husband of twenty years was cheating on her.”.

No. What it means is describing the jilted wife in terms such as,

“So-and-so’s eyes widened and she took two steps back when she discovered the red, thonged panties hidden in the top drawer of the nightstand on her husband’s side of the bed. Her cheeks flushed, her breath quickened and she begin trembling because she knew the panties did not belong to her! After twenty years of faithfulness, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children, this was the thanks she received!”

For me, writing with feeling requires great detail and innuendo. It requires leading the reader on. It is a way of ensuring that the reader can relate to the characters and if the reader can somehow relate to the character, especially the protagonist, the more likely they are more likely to like the character(s)and crave more!

Isn’t this what all authors strive for?