Getting emotion on the page can be one of the hardest parts of our writing craft.
It is one of my most common comments when giving feedback to writers and something I find myself going back to layer in as well during my own revisions.
Why is it so hard to access this emotion in our words when, as writers, we often feel things so deeply?
I think we get in our heads about it.
We are so often told to “show don’t tell” in our writing, which can tend to lead to relying on lots of somatic cues and body language that doesn’t actually invite our readers into our protagonist’s mind and heart. This type of writing, while needed and necessary, when used as the ONLY indicator of emotion, keeps the reader on the surface level forced to interpret those cues ourselves.
And let’s face it, we all experience physical sensations or interpret body language differently.
An eye roll could mean anything from indifference to barely contained anger to disgust. Will the reader know from your scene which applies?
An internal tremor might rightfully indicate fear or anxiety for the reader, but if the reader is unsure WHY the protagonist is afraid (especially if the protagonist is simply boarding a train and, say, not running away from giant spider monsters), it doesn’t resonate as fully.
Really landing emotion on the page heightens a reader’s bond with the protagonist, invests the reader in the story, moves the reader, and elevates the scene (and story) meaning.
LOOK TO YOUR PLAYLIST
I have been thinking about how I can help the writers I work with (and myself, to be honest) to practice getting emotion on the page. I realized one of the easiest ways for me to access emotion is through music.
A song can make me feel:
- Energized – Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys
- Joyful – Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder (I dare you not to feel joy listening to this one)
- Heartbroken – I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton (and Whitney’s version, too, of course)
- Love – Adore by Prince
- Mama Love – Lullaby by the Chicks
- Nostalgic – Closing Time by Semisonic (hello, senior year of college)
- Grief – [REDACTED] (aka the song from the father/daughter dance at my wedding)
- Silly – MmBop by Hanson
- Empowered – Armor by Sara Bareilles; Shake it Out by Florence + the Machine
And so much more…
Shoot, The Highwomen album is a roller coaster of emotion for me and Bon Iver makes me feel deeply which astonishes me since half the time the lyrics make no sense to me.
Music moves us in three minutes. A task that feels a lot harder than the 300+ pages we as novelists have to play with.
So how do musicians do it?
LET’S PLAY
The more I looked at my sample list of songs above, the more curious I became.
The lyrics to MmBop are actually quite existential for the teenagers who were singing it at the time. They played this silly, upbeat music underneath those lyrics, almost making it a weird commentary on how we ignore these realities under a sunny disposition (or maybe I’m reading too much into it!).
This led me to study how these songs are creating these feelings in me as a listener.
You can do the same. Make a list of songs that make you feel things and label the emotion each song elicits. These could be your go to workout songs that keep you pumped up or the soothing tunes you pick for a relaxing bath or your go tos when you just need a good cry.
Now, listen to these songs and ask yourself:
- Are there metaphors, lyrics, specific words that jump out?
- Is it the music itself? Can you describe what about the sound is touching your emotional heartspace?
- What’s the atmosphere of the song? Can you deduce a setting from the song? What does that setting evoke in the music?
- How does the song build or ebb and flow to create emotion? What role do dynamics play?
- What about the drum beat? How does it drive the song?
Each of these things can teach you something about how the song uses story, setting, pacing, and imagery to show you emotion.
Back to MmBop.
If we simply read the lyrics, it would be a different experience than hearing it complete with the layers the band added to the song. Relying on only somatic cues or body language to show emotion is the equivalent of only reading the lyrics or only hearing the drum beat or only hearing the back-up vocals. The song whole changes as a result of layering notes, percussion, and harmony to the lyrics.
How can you similarly layer pacing, atmosphere, tension, and meaning to your words to create the emotional result in the reader you desire?
BE INSPIRED
Listen to a specific song that elicits an emotion in you.
Write a scene based on the song. Add characters or dialogue or a backstory. See if you can capture that emotion from the song in your scene.
Don’t forget to think about the music layers: the imagery, the dynamics, the drum beat.
What can you learn from this exercise that you can use in your next draft or revision?
I have been playing with this exercise and hope you will, too!