Some things words cannot express?

[ascanius]

Do you think that their are some things, no matter how many times you try, you can never express. I ask this Because I have been trying to write how one such thing, how I feel when I play the piano. I'm not good but it is something I absolutely love. When I play, always classical, Chopin or Beethoven, I turn of the lights, close my eyes and play feeling every resonance of the chords passing through me an into my fingertips, I can do this for hours. This is where I am having trouble there is so much more going on that just that....It's like the music is a part of my vary being. How do you describe something so emotional that I cannot find words for. I feel my descriptions never capture that moment in time, and never will. To say that at times I have had tears welling in my eyes, which I have and something I have never shared with anyone, just sounds dumb when I read it. Does anyone else have this problem with certain emotions?

 

[Amanita]

I have the same problem and with many different emotional situations. It all seems perfect in my head but it hardly ever translates to the page the way I want it to. For some reason, it always feels riddiculous to me if I go into more detail and if I don't it feels too distant from the characters. This is one of the most severe flaws in my writing if not the worst of all. I'd be glad to see a bit of advice what to do about that.

 

[Penpilot]

I don't know, sometimes, maybe. My general experience leads me to two conclusions about myself when I encounter this type of problem. This may or may not be true for you, but I find it's true for me. When I can't describe the emotion of a moment, it's either A) I'm trying too hard or B) My writing skills aren't good enough yet to convey what I want.

Not much I can do for B except keep writing, but for A, here are some things I do. One is walk away for a little while and come back to it a few days or a week or so later. Sometimes when I walk away and come back, it just comes to me like it was so obvious, or surprisingly, I find what I wrote is a lot better than I thought. Another thing I do, which is kind of opposite is I think on it as I'm falling asleep or moments after I wake. The brain I find is untethered a those times and a lot of things flow free and come together in ways that I wouldn't have thought of at other times. It's why I keep a scratch pad by the bed. These thoughts tend to fade quickly too.

And finally, my last resort is just state the facts of the experience as plainly and straight forward as possible, no fancy words, or complex sentence structure, just bluntly what my senses feel and what thoughts go through my head. If this doesn't work for me, I know it's B.

 

[Jon_Chong]

There are things that words can't simply express. That's why we have misunderstandings and miscommunications. Knowing this is half the battle with writing. That being said what I find helps is to remember this: keep it simple and keep it empirical. What does that mean? Describe the physical sensations. Leave the readers to guess on the emotional impact. Hope this helps

 

[JCFarnham]

It's a ridiculously cheap trick but when this happens to me in my first person stories I say precisely that "words cannot express". Our nature as writers of fiction is to want to write down those emotions precisely and in full, but the fact is I'd say such emotions would resonate better with readers if left vague.

Many people have experienced such a moment, when you love something so much you can't label it, when the action or object and your feelings towards it are what they are and nothing more... and to that end you may find your readership can fill in the blanks. I mean as long as you lead them neatly to that kind of conclusion you don't need to be able to do "the feeling of playing music" justice.

Of course I'd hate myself for such a cop out, but isn't the best writting the kind where your able to ping your readers emotions? Your own don't really matter, as long as they experience a similarly satisfying emotion while reading the passage you've done your job.

 

[The Din]

This might seem like odd advice, but: Try getting wasted. I find my writing gets a lot more emotive after the tenth beer. I stop worrying so much about punctuation and propriety and instead pour a lot more emotion into the prose. Granted, I have to go over it the next day and make sure I didn't get sidetracked, or get carried away with a sex scene, but I am constantly surprising myself with the imagery I come up with in such a state. And if the grog doesn't help, you could always try hallucinogens...

I'd recommend backing up before hand, and for anyone under the legal drinking age: Stay away from the stuff, it'll rot your brain.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

With rare exception, I think that writers should never write that something defies description or cannot be expressed in words. (Characters can say things like this, but narration shouldn't.) One of the greatest things about writing is its ability to succinctly describe something that someone else might have difficulty coming up with a way to describe. I've lost count of the number of times that I've come across an elegant turn of phrase that explains something in exactly the way I think of it.

 

[Caged Maiden]

I think you need to get deep inside a reader and give them the benefit of the doubt. By how you described turning off the light and closing your eyes..... well I knew then that it was something more spiritual/ moving than just hammering some keys. I think setting the tone like that will convey what you need it to to a reader.

 

[The Dark One]

With rare exception, I think that writers should never write that something defies description or cannot be expressed in words. (Characters can say things like this, but narration shouldn't.) One of the greatest things about writing is its ability to succinctly describe something that someone else might have difficulty coming up with a way to describe. I've lost count of the number of times that I've come across an elegant turn of phrase that explains something in exactly the way I think of it.

Bang on! I can think of no worse crime as a writer than admitting you don't have the words to express something and thereby abdicating responsibility for telling the story to the reader. And as Anihow suggests, focus on getting the tone right and the emotive insight will follow.

Try doing an exercise by just imagining any word in your grasp for conveying meaning. That word will somehow be meaningful to the mood/insight, so use it as the centrepiece of a discursive passage that paints a mood rather than describes a thought.

There are any number of ways of finding the words.

 

[Kelise]

Bang on! I can think of no worse crime as a writer than admitting you don't have the words to express something and thereby abdicating responsibility for telling the story to the reader. And as Anihow suggests, focus on getting the tone right and the emotive insight will follow.

Try doing an exercise by just imagining any word in your grasp for conveying meaning. That word will somehow be meaningful to the mood/insight, so use it as the centrepiece of a discursive passage that paints a mood rather than describes a thought.

There are any number of ways of finding the words.

I have to agree. Keep trying until you get it right, otherwise may as well leave it out. We're there to write, and if you can't do that and get each scene worthwhile, then it's just fodder, really. Make each scene count.

No one ever said writing (well) was easy.

 

[Rullenzar]

In my opinion <------

Everything can be explained. It's like a puzzle that has been scrambled in your head. All the pieces are there you just have to pick them out and lay them down correctly. What you should do is grab a piece a paper and make little jot notes of what your feeling as your playing. Stop while playing and make a note. Once finished sit down and go over your notes and start forming your thoughts into sensible sentences. You have a lot of room here to mix and match, redo, reorder until you get what you want and you have your pieces fitting.

From what you've given something like ' As Bobs fingers swam over the keys of the piano he lost himself inside the music. It was as if the music was pouring out of his soul, wave after wave, he had no control over his body. A gentle calm fell over Bob and he let the music take him through a wondrous journey into self discovery and bliss. '

Might be a little cheesy but it nips at what I think you were going for. Your description was good enough too. Especially since most of us I beleive understand what you were going for.

 

[Steerpike]

A similar issue came up in another thread. Words will never be able to perfectly express what is in the mind of the author. They are symbols that we use to communicate ideas, emotions, and the like. Because they are symbols by which we express these things, and not the things themselves, they are a step removed from the reality of the idea, emotion, or whatever it is the author wishes to express. Talented writers can do a very good job of approximating the thing, and that's when they move people, but it will never be perfect. If you expect writing to be a flawless representation of what you have in your mind, you'll always be disappointed with the written word. Instead, I believe the trick is to do enough to bring the reader into the same state of mind or state of emotion felt by the writer. It won't be identical to yours because the reader will be filling in the gap between the words and the thoughts or feelings with bits of herself, but if you do it right you'll move her, and in the same way you yourself were moved as the writer.

 

[Caged Maiden]

Instead, I believe the trick is to do enough to bring the reader into the same state of mind or state of emotion felt by the writer. It won't be identical to yours because the reader will be filling in the gap between the words and the thoughts or feelings with bits of herself, but if you do it right you'll move her, and in the same way you yourself were moved as the writer.

This is really difficult thing to achieve, but carries a ton of impact when you can achieve it. This is similar to how to achieve trance states. Basically it is hypnotism with the result being a sort of responsive sleep state.

Spoiler: How it works

Anyways, so you begin a short tale to take the person into an altered state, using affirmations, creating alignment. Every time you cause an alignment, the person falls deeper, closer to their trance, and whenever you miss, you pull them closer to reality.
So Imagine the tale is playing the piano, it might go like this:
Your fingers gently touch the polished keys. The first notes ring out. Soon you are playing your song, your fingers moving faster, competently.

Okay now obviously there are several MAJOR differences to writing a novel, but what I want to draw your attention to is that when you are sending someone into a trance, you want minimal description. Anything that is in your mind which is not in theirs is an alignment miss. So if I were to SAY one of those things, for example: The beautiful melody pours from you as your fingers perfectly hit every note. You turn over your sheet of music. The subject might not have been playing from music but from memory. I just accidentally disturbed the flow of imagery.

Honestly, there's a million more ways to mess up the process than to get it to work perfectly. Now while I know this example is abstract, it relates to writing. When you are telling a tale, you are doing a similar thing. Though you are not trying to hypnotize your reader, you are trying to draw them into your world. When you use description, just try to think about whether the thing you are mentioning is bringing the reader closer to feeling what your character is feeling or pushing them away. Add the details you want your reader to feel, but carefully consider putting in other static details and descriptions at that time, because it will only detract from the alignment you are trying to achieve with your reader.

 

[Ghost]

I don't know if this will work for you, but I suggest explaining it as well as you can in the first draft. When you revise it, you'll see where it's lacking and you might be able to fill in the gaps or use more appropriate descriptions. Perhaps putting yourself back in that state and, instead of describing it, let yourself sink into it and something might come to you

It also helps me to brainstorm metaphors and similar emotions. When I listen to certain songs or classical pieces, I can feel the world fall away as the music envelops me. It's like a brief encounter with unattainable perfection that makes my heart ache. I imagine it's what some fervently religious people feel, a proximity to god, except music is my god. When the moment is right it's like being touched by something immortal and frightening in its beauty. I'm not religious--so it may not be a perfect analogy--but I try to think of what sensations are closest to the emotion i.e. music as a religious experience.

Maybe you don't need words to explain it. You could avoid the actual emotion as it's happening, just show the before and after. The character sees a piano and can't resist playing. He plays and when he stops he feels disconnected or like he's lost something. He's loath to step away from the instrument so his fingers linger on the keys. You get a sense of what it means to him without it being over the top the way "music as a religious experience" can be.

The words might not strike the same chord in everyone, but at the very least they can explain how you or your characters feel in a way that is relateable. Readers bring their own experiences to the table, but that doesn't mean your words won't have an impact.

 

[Lord Darkstorm]

I say stop trying to describe what you feel, and start showing it. When you play an instrument (which I do from time to time) it isn't what you are feeling but how your body reacts to it. The feel of the strings biting into the calluses on the fingers as they fret the next chord, and the way it almost hurts to stretch out just that little bit more to get the next one right, as the melody flows out and the vibrations of the guitar body moves out into me like it is filling me as it projects out the sounds so clear to bounce off the walls causing my breath to quicken with the feel of the next notes, of the complex melody and the interplay of fingers each working together between both hands to fill the core of my heart.

It isn't what I feel in emotions, but what I feel while playing. Let someone else take what they want from it. some will know, and others will dream. Either way, it works.

 

[The Dark One]

Anihow, you deserve a thrashing for revealing one of my own favourite techniques. I frequently attempt to (vaguely) put the reader into a trance - especially in action scenes.

Well as long as we're revealing secrets that work, here's another one. Use smell. Descriptions of smell are incredibly powerful and redolent of very strong imagery.

 

[JCFarnham]

A similar issue came up in another thread. Words will never be able to perfectly express what is in the mind of the author. They are symbols that we use to communicate ideas, emotions, and the like. Because they are symbols by which we express these things, and not the things themselves, they are a step removed from the reality of the idea, emotion, or whatever it is the author wishes to express. Talented writers can do a very good job of approximating the thing, and that's when they move people, but it will never be perfect. If you expect writing to be a flawless representation of what you have in your mind, you'll always be disappointed with the written word. Instead, I believe the trick is to do enough to bring the reader into the same state of mind or state of emotion felt by the writer. It won't be identical to yours because the reader will be filling in the gap between the words and the thoughts or feelings with bits of herself, but if you do it right you'll move her, and in the same way you yourself were moved as the writer.

This was precisely what I was driving at. Don't get it twisted I don't condone being lazy.