How To Show Emotions

Hi! Do you have any tips on making the scene emotional, I want to be able to move and touch my readers with my writing but it's really hard when I don't understand emotions and feeling and I'm usually a thinker but I really want to make my my reader feel sadness and grief with my character. So any tips for that? Or do I have to keep practicing? Hope you have a nice day! Thank you! Your blog helps me alot!

Hi :)

I’m a very empathetic person. I can get kinda cold if the emotions involve myself, but if it’s about other people or fictional characters, I soak those emotions up like a sponge. I can get really into all the emotional aspects of writing, so I’m not sure how to do it if you don’t understand the emotions that well, because it comes so natural to me. I will try to give a general overview of how to write emotional scenes, but if someone else can give some other advice, it’s greatly appreciated!

How to write emotional scenes

Focus on showing, not telling:

don’t just say the character is afraid or panicking

write the actions that would let an onlooker know

hands trembling, pulse and breathing picking up, frantic eye movement,...

if you describe it well enough, the reader will feel those things too

Dialogue:

of course, dialogue is still important

but I would keep it shorter than in other scenes

don’t make it too emotional or it can appear sappy

exception: motivational speeches

think about the difference between showing and telling

are the characters trying to conceal how they really fell by saying something else?

Make the reader relate:

relating to a character makes the reader much more empathetic to them and it creates emotions in them

so try to get the reader to sympathize with your character by showing their journey and their goals

but if you want to have a rival in that scene, do the exact opposite

make the reader unsympathetic to that character to make them feel anger towards them or satisfaction if they get defeated

Heavy scenes:

there is a difference between an emotional scene and a truly traumatic experience

you don’t want the reader to feel the full range of human trauma

if the reader is getting too emotional, it could keep them wanting to continue reading

so in extremely emotional scenes try to show the overall picture

don’t go into specific feelings, but try to show how this affects your character as a whole

you can even try to make the scene feel more distant, almost numb and devoid of deep emotions if the reader already knows how traumatic this would be for the character

sometimes this could affect them even better than showing all the emotions because they can create their own emotions

always remember: you want to pull at your reader’s heartstrings - not break anything

Hope you have a nice day as well and good luck with your writing!

- Jana

So I’m writing two fanfic harry x tvdu crossover I need to ask something. which one of the Weasley twins should Hope date?

family: “why are you just sitting in ur room smiling at ur phone?”

me who’s been reading smut about fictional characters for the past 6 hours:

the look of love (for writers)

"it's all in the eyes i was once told"

catching the stare of someone across a crowded room

subtle furrowing of eyebrows beyond a blank facade

coldness easing into warmth

a fond mothering gaze

corner of the lip nudged upward

forced glower/glare as they break underneath

batting their lashes, playful

a boisterous laugh

intrigue piercing the stoic

proud smugness at the other's success

lingering glances

a childish joy bursting through

pupils dilate

eyelids shut in a look of peace, calm and trust

look of longing/betrayal

"there was once a time when they were mine"

terseness

features fold into a scowl

an urgent flinching back

coldness returns (as though the warmth had never come)

lips part then purse

invasion of shock

slow stare at the floor

the ripple effect of a swallow

frustrated breath/sigh

bitter laugh in reminiscence

dread tearing through the seams of their composure

look of hatred

"darkness"

mean smirk- teeth bared grimace- scowl

dismissive gaze

gaze of contempt/impatience

threat lowering the voice

sardonic goading grins verging on manic

rolling one's eyes

flicker of irritation in the eyes

stares stubbornly ahead despite distraction

gritted teeth, clenched jaw

fierce biting remarks

even measured complexions betraying no thought

strangling oneself back from violence

utter apathy

murderous silence hanging in the stare

snobbish laughter

smiling at another's downfall

I'm considering writing a Harry Potter x TVDU au crossover. But I'm having kinda a hard time on which one I should write, but I have 2 ideas. (They both are Mattheo Riddle and Harry Potter fanfics. They will be posted on my wattpad as well _lazybitch_)

The first one is called Swan Lake, where Odette, who is the adopted daughter of Klaus Mikaelson and Hayley Marshall has a doppelganger named Odile, who was very close with Voldemort during their time at Hogwarts. (inspired by the ballet Swan Lake)

or

The second one is called Beauty and the Beast, in which Klaus and Hayley's adopted daughter, Estelle, is the daughter of two death eaters who were killed by Voldemort. In her third and fifth years, she catches the eye of the chosen one and her best friend's twin brother.

Raw. Next question