Writing emotively?

[TheokinsJ]

This subject has been plaguing my thoughts for quite some time now, because I can't remember any instance where I've seen it done. No doubt you've all seen a movie where the main character's love interest or best friend dies or comes close to death, prompting a really emotional scene with dramatic music- something like the introduction to the game 'The Last of Us' springs to mind, where the main character's daughter dies in the opening few minutes- I'm not usually one for crying, but I really started tearing up after that one.

I have big plans for my WIP and there are events that come about that I really aspire to connect to the reader on an emotional level- my MC's best friend and lover, the only person he has left in the world, leaves him- for reasons I won't go into, but you get the point- it's supposed to be a very emotional moment as he realises the only thing in his life that he has left, the only thing he loves, walks out on him. There are also one or two major character deaths, moments when close family members of the MC die, (Just incase you're all wondering, it's not all doom and gloom, it does end with a 'happily ever after' of sorts, but there's a lot of tragedy on the way).

So I suppose my question is, can emotion like this be done with writing? I've written emotively before, but I don't think I've ever fully captured the atmosphere I am trying to create, and I'm beginning to wonder if the atmosphere I'm aiming for, can even be created in words- Can writing be just as powerful as tv and movies when it comes to creating that emotion? How do you go about creating invoking emotion in the reader? And also, if any of you know some good books/extracts from books to read that are great examples of emotive writing at work, please feel free to suggest them!

 

[CupofJoe]

TV, Films and Games have it easy.
They get to show you how the character's react to an event. You are left in no doubt how you are supposed to react.
[Cue swelling music as X falls to their knees and cradles a dieing Y in their arms in the rain. X howls and we see their tears mix with the rain as the music climaxes...]
Yes it can be done, but Writers have to allude to what is happening and wait for the reader to catch on.
I think you have to establish the importance of the event and then use sparing language to get across its impact.
One of the lines/scene that always makes me cry is in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Atticus Finch has just lost the case. Everyone is leaving and he just just about the last one out.
As he walks, all the people in the balcony [friends and relatives of Tom Robinson] stand as Atticus passes.
The pastor looks down at scout and says something like "Miss Jean-Louise, your father is passing".
Only then does she begin to see how they see her father...

 

[Penpilot]

You want a book to twist your emotions into a knot, read The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Between books and TV/Movies, each has it's strengths. One thing a book can do better than movies is get into a character's head. IMHO emotions can be done much better in books than in movies. In books complex emotions and their context can be set up in a more natural way than in the movies. In movies it's a lot harder to do complex emotions. That's why they tend to stick to the straight forward relationships and emotions and motivations.

For example. Two scenarios, one where emotions are simple and easy to understand. The other, a little more difficult to understand.

Movie scenario : You killed my son. Now, I kill you.

Book: You raped my daughter, but she going to voluntarily marry you. (This is actually part of an award winning book)

What's possible and delivering on it are two different things. Delivering on the emotion in a book is squarely on the shoulders of the writer and it takes skill, just like it takes skill to deliver on emotions in a movie. Some writers just don't know how to do it in a subtle manner, so you get some cringe-worthy scenes. See the Star Wars Prequels on how not to deliver on emotions in a movie.

So yeah, darn tootin' it's possible to deliver on powerful emotions in writing. It's one of the things it does best.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I think this is one of the situations where "show, don't tell" is a really good advice. But, it doesn't just apply to the scene in question, but to everything that comes before it as well.
You have to set the reader up for the emotional breakdown. If the person walking out really is the MCs best and only friend, you'll have to show them doing best-friend kind of things together. You'll have to show the connection between them and the strength of the bond that binds them together, to make sure the reader really understands it. By doing so, breaking that bond will have a much greater impact, and you will need less words to describe your MCs feelings.

Ideally, you'd leave out any description of the MCs feelings at all and you'd just show his physical reactions and, if applicable, his internal monologue.

This is an example from my WIP of a similar situation. It's from the first draft and I can see myself making changes to it when it comes time to edit. Before this section I've spent quite a bit of time describing how Enar and Amanda are having a great time together. Then Enar says something really stupid and this happens:

“I...” Amanda took a deep breath and stood up. “I should go. Goodbye.” She turned away and started walking.

“Wait! Wait, please, I'm sorry!” Enar sprang to his feet and took two steps after her.

He wanted to grab hold of her and make her stay. He wanted to explain, to apologize, to make everything right again – like it had been a moment ago, when he was happy and she was smiling.

He let her go.

What was the point? He'd been thoughtless and cruel and he'd hurt her feelings. Sure, he hadn't meant to, but he'd done it anyway. Too late now. No explaining and apologizing would make that undone. He was a bad person; socially inept, thoughtless and stupid. Fat too.

While the execution is far from perfect I think it exemplifies what I was trying to say earlier. I do tell the reader what Enar wants to do, but I'm not telling them how he actually feels.

 

[BronzeOracle]

Yes its common in movies, TV and books to strengthen a relationship before it gets broken. It almost becomes predictable - you see friends sharing a moment or couples enjoying their company and think 'OK so something's going to go wrong here'. I've been reading Tad Williams 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn' series and every time one of the protagonist's companions die there is a scene beforehand where they bond. Without showing that there wouldn't be the emotional impact of the loss that follows.

I do find film and TV can be very emotional due to the power of music and the actor's performances, but of course it does depend on how well these are pulled off. I remember Richard Jenkins defending his daughter in 'North County' or Keisha Castle-Hughes crying as she is trying to sing a maori song in 'Whale Rider'. Just on these actors' performances (there's no music) the emotion I felt was huge. Likewise the soundtracks 'Ygritte's Theme' and 'Kingslayer' definitely add emotional power to the scenes of Ygritte's death and Jaime's confession in the Game of Thrones TV series (its definitely not Kit Harrington's acting!!). In fact its scenes like these that inspire me towards writing emotional scenes, even if the way they are conveyed in writing is different to film/TV.

BTW I like that vignette Svrtnesse its a good example of showing rather than just saying 'he felt terrible and guilty' - you can see by his thoughts how gutted he is.

I did find some good emotional writing in the Harry Potter series. I found Harry's loss of Sirius heartbreaking - Sirius is as close to a parent as he can get and they're about to be united at the end of book 3, then they are broken apart by the authorities who are chasing Sirius. Sirius manages to escape and then he comes back in another book to rescue Harry only to be killed. And there's that scene when Harry is in a complete rage unable to deal with the loss and Dumbledore is trying to help him. I think that JK Rowling does push the emotional buttons a lot, the nemesis and antagonists are very unfair to the protagonist and when things go right for him they soon go wrong, he struggles to show restraint when his opponents do not. At points I felt borderline emotionally abused by her writing but she is good at making you feel for Harry and his friends.

 

[Scalvi]

I've never really tried but I would imagine you would try to use a little detail as possible. I feel like too many details would cause the reader to try to process too much and make the experience more cerebral than emotional.

If you've built the character well, you could force a short flashback to evocative characteristics or formative moments to bring the loss into perspective.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I've never really tried but I would imagine you would try to use a little detail as possible. I feel like too many details would cause the reader to try to process too much and make the experience more cerebral than emotional.

I think, at least for my writing, I want to use details that do powerful work. If you choose well, they depict emotion precisely and you don't need as many descriptors.