Breaking the glass
Apr. 9th, 2006 12:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pbrayGot a decent chuck of writing done yesterday, and wrote some more this morning, but not happy with what I've done so far. It's competent, but mechanical. The emotion that should be there isn't. I'm holding myself back, keeping a glass wall between myself and the characters and it shows.
It should have hurt to write the last scene and it didn't. Small consolation that I'm experienced enough to recognize that there's a problem.
I'm not one of those writers who believes that you need to bleed along with your characters, but if the goal is a scene that will disturb the reader, then it damn well better disturb me to write it.
Time to take a mental health break and try again later this afternoon.
It should have hurt to write the last scene and it didn't. Small consolation that I'm experienced enough to recognize that there's a problem.
I'm not one of those writers who believes that you need to bleed along with your characters, but if the goal is a scene that will disturb the reader, then it damn well better disturb me to write it.
Time to take a mental health break and try again later this afternoon.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-10 05:53 pm (UTC)Stop analyzing. Show, don't tell. Don't show high-level emotion, show the visceral stuff, the sweaty palms, clenched stomach, and dry throat.
Since every scene you've shown me from this book that you didn't think had enough emotion had the above problem, I think I'm safe with this suggestion. :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-10 08:23 pm (UTC)