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C. S. Lakin

C. S. Lakin is an editor, award-winning blogger, and author of twenty novels and the Writer’s Toolbox series of instructional books for novelists. She edits and critiques more than 200 manuscripts a year and teaches workshops and boot camps to help writers craft masterful novels.

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Emotions in Writing: The Author’s Guide to Stirring Up Big Feels

If you know how to convey emotions in writing, you know how to draw your reader in, hold them captive, and make them remember you forever.

And if you think that sounds manipulative, my brother/writing partner once referred to this skill as the art of “jerking people’s emotions around.”

But he’s right, and we writers might as well own it. The only reason anyone picks up a novel is because they want to feel something.

Thrilled. Terrified. Soothed. Devastated. Anxious. Intoxicated.

Sure, fiction makes us smarter and more insightful. But let’s be real: the only reason it succeeds in making us think is because it first succeeds in making us feel . 

So how do you become an all-powerful emotion wizard?

It’s all right here. You’re about to learn how to plot a story built for emotional resonance and draft scenes that speak to your reader’s soul. So… big stuff.

Let’s start feeling those feels.

Lay the Emotional Groundwork

The first rule of emotions in writing:

Set up your story to elicit big feels.

New writers especially tend to think building emotion is a matter of heartbreaking dialogue or shocking cliffhangers. And sure, that’s part of it. 

But the fact is, it won’t matter how well you nail those micro details if the story itself doesn’t feel authentic and resonate with your reader.

So before we dive into the matter of bringing out emotions in your writing, let’s lay the groundwork for a powerful story.

Know How You Want Your Readers to Feel

What specific emotional experience are you trying to create for your readers?

Or to put it another way:

If you were going to read a book in your chosen genre, what would you want to feel?

Be specific, because specificity is your mightiest tool when it comes to conveying emotions in writing.

For example, you’d probably want the romantic subplot in an adventure novel to charm and delight you. Maybe even dizzy you up a bit. 

But if you pick up a romance , you’re looking for a full-on swoon. Those love scenes had better make your heart race, make you breathless, make you believe in love again no matter what broken dreams lie in your past.

Revisit some of the books that made you want to write in your genre in the first place. Make notes about how you feel, when you feel it, and what the author did to spark those emotions. 

Then, as you draft each new scene, go into it knowing exactly what you want your readers to feel so you can make it happen.

Establish Relatability

How are you going to get your reader to emotionally invest in your protagonist?

You’ve got to offer at least a glimmer of relatability, and you’ve got to do it early. 

Fortunately, this is way easier than you might think. Your reader doesn’t need to see their actual life reflected in your story. They also don’t even need to see their personality reflected in your character. All they really need in order to relate is a glimpse of vulnerability. That’s it.

In White Ivy , Ivy Lin is a young Chinese immigrant trying to carve out a path to status and power in a cold new world. She’s a protagonist with a shockingly negative character arc , and I definitely do not recognize my life in hers.

But on page one, I learn two important pieces of information.

She feels invisible and she wishes she could trade her face for someone else’s.

These are near-universal vulnerabilities. Even though Ivy’s feelings are connected to the very specific experience of being an Asian immigrant in the U.S.—an experience I couldn’t claim to understand intimately—I can at least say there have been times in my life when I’ve felt invisible and unappealing.

This is why literature is such a powerful tool for empathy. Great books start with an emotional entry point. They show a character’s insecurities, fears, failings, or wounds, inviting the reader to say, “Oof. Yeah, I know that one.” Suddenly, the unfamiliar becomes the understandable. 

Flesh Out Characters

Once you’ve hooked your reader’s heart by dropping some relatable vulnerabilities, follow through by making sure your characters are multi-dimensional creations.

This includes side characters and antagonists . You want your players to feel human (even if they’re not). This means they’ve got to have:

• Compelling motivation

Also remember that your characters do not exist in a vacuum. They’re influenced by their upbringing, culture, economic class, race, gender, sexuality, ability, physical and mental health , and about a million other things. Let your reader see how your characters’ influences shape who they are.

On that note, backstory helps a lot as you build emotion into your story. What has your character been through? How has it shaped their perception of the world? What old wounds are they carrying? 

This stuff can get pretty dense, but it’s worth putting in the work. I recommend checking out these two Dabble articles to get started:

• How to Write Compelling Characters From the Inside Out
• No Pain, No Gain: Giving Your Characters a Compelling (and Traumatic) Backstory

Get Readers Invested in the Outcome

So how does the actual plot factor into the process of jerking people’s emotions around?

The good news is that you’ve already done a lot of the heavy lifting in your character development. If your readers care about your protagonist, they’ll care what happens to your protagonist.

But you still need a plot that supports all your hard character work. This means:

‍ Your major characters should face both external conflicts and internal conflicts. As the external conflict intensifies, it should heighten the internal conflict (and vice versa). You can learn more about how to do this here .

‍ You continuously raise the stakes for your protagonist. With each new twist and turn, your hero(ine) has even more to lose.

‍ The protagonist’s choices drive the plot. Don’t make your main character a constant victim of their circumstances. At best, a passive character will only elicit pity, which is the most boring of all emotions. Allow your very human protagonist to make choices that make the conflict worse.

‍ It all makes sense. Logic has an important role to play when it comes to emotions in writing. A gaping plot hole or unsupported character decision will break the spell you’ve worked so hard to cast. For a great guide to plotting an airtight story, download our free ebook , Let’s Write a Book .

Now that you’ve designed your story to stir the soul, let’s get down to the details.

How to Convey Character Emotions in Writing

You’ve laid your foundation. Time to wipe the sweat off your brow and get into the nitty gritty.

Here’s how to bring your character’s emotions to life when you actually get down to drafting.

Use Sensory Details to Set the Mood

Conveying character emotions in your writing isn't just about telling the reader what your character feels.

It’s also about reflecting those feelings in the scene itself. This is especially true when it comes to your point-of-view (POV) character . 

See, even if you write in third person, you still write through the lens of your character’s perception.

You might write in third-person limited , where you only show one character’s perspective at a time. Or you might write in third-person omniscient , which allows you to hop from one character’s POV to another’s. Either way, the character’s emotional state should be reflected in the scene you set.

For example:

“I just can’t marry you,” Daniel had said in the suffocating heat of his car.

So simple, right? One quick scene detail—”suffocating heat”—immediately puts us in Ivy’s shoes. We know what kind of hurt this break-up brings: the kind that makes it hard to think, hard to breathe, hard to stay calm. It's a hot, suffocating kind of heartbreak.

Now, the reason “suffocating heat” works so well to establish an emotional experience is because it’s a sensory detail. It’s concrete. Believe it or not, that’s the key to sliding your reader’s feet into your character’s emotional shoes.

We tend to think of “feelings” as abstract, but when it really comes down to it, we experience everything through physical bodies. We’ve built associations between what we feel in our hearts and what we see, hear, taste, smell, and feel on our skin.

That’s why, if you want to give your reader the heebie-jeebies, your best bet is not to tell them it was really scary in the alleyway, but to show them the long shadow of the broken fire escape ladder. The old advice “show, don’t tell” is really about giving your audience all the feels.

Get Into Your Own Body

Here’s another reason why sensory details are so essential to communicating emotions in writing:

We experience emotions physically. We know what we feel because our body tells us what we feel.

If you’ve never thought about this before, now is the time to start noticing.

What physical sensations arise when you feel angry? Anxious? Amorous? Try to notice. Write it down. Remember it when you’re trying to convey your character’s emotions.

This is honestly one of my favorite things about being a writer—the phenomenon of feeling and observing at the exact same time. I’ve had full-blown panic attacks where my inner writer was still there watching and murmuring, “Oh, interesting.” as she scribbled in her little notebook.

In addition to observing yourself, you can find great examples of how to convey the physical experience of emotion in any book that’s successfully sparked emotion in you . 

But if you want the masterclass, check out The Sign for Home . Part of this novel is told through the POV of Arlo, a young DeafBlind man who experiences the world through physical sensation. The result is a lot of passages like these:

‍ Electricity ignites all over your brain, causing the hair follicles on your arms and the back of your neck to vibrate. 

‍ You had never met the principal before, but his power was legendary. Your face felt hot. Your stomach tightened. You wanted to pee.

When our brains read passages like this, they register these physical experiences as if they were our own. We feel the vibration and, therefore, the excitement. We don’t put ourselves in the character’s shoes as easily when all we know is that the character was “psyched.” 

Master the Art of Subtext

This is another skill that takes some real-world observation and a lot of novel-reading to master.

You probably know you can’t have your characters running around saying exactly what they feel all the time unless it’s an actual character trait. Real people don’t do that, so if your characters do it, your reader’s going to remember that this is all make-believe. 

Pssheww! That’s the sound of your reader’s emotional connection exploding.

So then how do you help your readers hear what your characters aren’t saying?

One helpful fact about human beings is that we’ve developed a sort of subtext shorthand. We already have phrases that we know will signal our feelings without requiring us to do the dirty business of actually stating those feelings outright. 

For example, here’s a line of dialogue from Seven Days in June with zero context.

‍ “Fine. Go explain to Audre why you’re scared to try new things.”

You don’t need me to tell you anything about the scene in order to understand that the speaker is tired of the listener’s crap. Right?

So, as a writer, all you have to do is start noticing our universal shorthand for “I’m pissed” and “I’m jealous.”

You can also use the descriptions between lines of dialogue to clarify your characters’ states of mind. Here’s another passage from the same novel:

‍ “What’s he like?” Shane knew he was going too far.

‍ “Travis Scott?”

‍ “Audre’s dad.”

‍ Eva sat back in the booth, hard. She grimaced and massaged a temple with her knuckles. “He’s stable .”

‍ Shane went further. “Where is he?”

‍ “You tell me. Where do men go when they’re done?”

You can feel the tension, right? To create it, the author taps into Shane’s thoughts (as he’s the POV character in this scene) and Eva’s actions. (Not to mention that stinging line at the end.)

It also helps that the author has written vivid characters. By this point in the story, we know these people well enough to understand how they’re likely to feel in this conversation. 

Incorporate Body Language

In the last example, Eva’s body language served as a clue that there were big feelings bubbling behind her measured words.

But body language and facial expressions aren’t just a subtext tool. They provide a window into a character’s state of mind in any given moment. Here’s Eva just standing around at a prestigious event right after unexpectedly running into Shane:

‍ [The dress] had gotten tighter somehow, sucking at her like Saran Wrap. She kept shifting it around her hips.

In other words, she can’t get comfortable… physically or emotionally.

Now, there’s one big challenge when it comes to using body language to convey emotions in writing. Most of us end up falling back on the same all-too-obvious body language cues.

‍ She wiped away a tear. He grinned. They shrugged.

My first drafts are positively riddled with shrugs and quiet smiles. A big part of polishing later drafts is going back over these boring descriptions and coming up with more specific, less repetitive details.

‍ The Emotion Thesaurus is an extremely helpful tool for this. So is good ol’ fashioned real-life observation.

Banish Clichés

As long as you’re searching that first draft for overused body language and facial expressions, you might as well look for clichés , too.

Because when we’re trying to get the reader to experience an emotion, we start loading up the clichés. 

‍ A single tear fell from his eye. She glared daggers. Their heart shattered into a million pieces.

These phrases are so common they’re almost meaningless. We’re numb to them. Unfortunately, their prevalence also makes them the first thing that comes to mind when we’re trying to describe emotions in writing.

Keep pushing past the first thought. Maybe even the second and third, too. Play with metaphor and (once again) use the physical to make the emotional come alive. 

When you do that, you can replace “They were meant to be” with passages more like:

‍ With him, she was at ease: her skin felt as though it were her right size.

(That’s from Americanah , by the way.)

Trust Your Reader

Finally, be aware that it is possible to overdo emotions in writing. 

Sometimes writers are so eager to make sure the reader connects with the character’s experience that they overload every page with feelings.

Emotional manipulation requires light touch. When a reader sees a lot of feelings talk, they stop seeing the story and start seeing the author frantically trying to tug at their heart.

Trust them to be smart enough to follow your subtext and the emotional logic of your story. When in doubt, invite your beta readers to tell you about their emotional experience of your novel.

Also allow your genre to inform how thick you want to lay it on. A noir mystery novel will probably take on a more cold and objective tone that only stirs curiosity and the occasional chill. 

Romances, on the other hand, tend to do a lot of emotional check-ins.

Know your readers. This is all for them, after all.

Let Dabble Help You Become a Master Manipulator

Now you know how to build a story that resonates and bring it home with powerful prose.

You’ve probably also figured out that this can be a messy process. Dabble can help.

Dabble’s Plot Grid allows you to plan, review, and edit your entire plot in one glimpse so you can see your characters’ emotional journey clearly. Plus, handy features like Comments and Stickies help you stay on top of pesky clichés and excessive shrugging.

The best part? You can try all these features and more for free for fourteen days. No credit card required. How does that make you feel? Click here to get started.

Abi Wurdeman is the author of Cross-Section of a Human Heart: A Memoir of Early Adulthood, as well as the novella, Holiday Gifts for Insufferable People. She also writes for film and television with her brother and writing partner, Phil Wurdeman. On occasion, Abi pretends to be a poet. One of her poems is (legally) stamped into a sidewalk in Santa Clarita, California. When she’s not writing, Abi is most likely hiking, reading, or texting her mother pictures of her houseplants to ask why they look like that.

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What's the defining line between sci-fi and fantasy? There's actually a lot more to it than magic versus technology.

Does science fiction alone feel too limiting for your vast imagination? Do you feel like your fantasy world could use a dash of futuristic technology?

Prose describes how you write your book, and it can be challenging to get right. So, in this article, we cover what makes good prose.

Emotional Writing: 36 Prompts for Expressive and Impactful Content

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on August 30, 2023

Categories Writing , Creative Writing

If you’re a writer, you know that the goal of writing is to connect with your readers. One of the best ways to do that is through emotional writing.

Emotional writing is all about evoking strong feelings in your readers. When readers can connect with the emotions of a character in a story, they are more likely to become invested in the story through the end.

Understanding emotional writing is crucial for any writer who wants to create a meaningful connection with their readers. Emotional writing is not just about making readers feel happy or sad. It’s about creating an emotional connection that lasts long after the story is over.

It’s about making readers feel like they are a part of the story. Emotional writing can be used in any genre, from romance to horror to science fiction.

If you want to master emotional writing, you need to learn the techniques that will help you create an emotional connection with your readers. There are many different techniques that you can use, from using sensory language to creating relatable characters. By mastering these techniques, you can create stories that will stay with your readers long after they’ve finished reading.

Key Takeaways

• Emotional writing is all about evoking strong feelings in your readers and creating an emotional connection that lasts long after the story is over.
• Understanding emotional writing is crucial for any writer who wants to create a meaningful connection with their readers.
• To master emotional writing, you need to learn the techniques that will help you create an emotional connection with your readers, such as using sensory language and creating relatable characters.

36 Prompts to Spark Emotional Writing

Prompts can be an excellent way to unlock your writing inspiration when it comes to emotional writing. Here are a series of ideas, grouped by emotion:

Happiness 😊

• Write about a happy memory from childhood
• Describe a time you felt pure joy
• List things that make you smile

Sadness 😢

• Write a letter to your younger self about a time you were hurting
• Describe a loss that had a big impact on you
• List things that help lift you when you’re feeling down

Anger 😠

• Write about a time you felt wronged
• Describe a situation that makes your blood boil
• List healthy ways to express anger

Fear 😨

• Write about an irrational fear you have
• Describe a scary experience from your past
• List things that help you feel safe and comforted

Disappointment 😞

• Write about a time you felt let down
• Describe a situation where you didn’t meet your own expectations
• List ways to reframe disappointment into opportunity

Jealousy 😒

• Write about a time you felt envious of someone else’s success
• Describe a situation that brought out your competitive side
• List ways to feel genuinely happy for others

Embarrassment 😳

• Write about an awkward memory that makes you cringe
• Describe a time you really embarrassed yourself
• List things that help you laugh at yourself

Pride 😌

• Write about an accomplishment you feel proud of
• Describe a time someone made you feel valued
• List your unique strengths and talents

Gratitude 😊

• Write a thank you letter to someone important to you
• Describe a simple pleasure you’re grateful for
• List small joys you want to appreciate more

Love ❤️

• Write about someone who means the world to you
• Describe what unconditional love feels like
• List ways to show love in your daily life

Hope 😌

• Write about a dream you have for the future
• Describe a time you overcame a challenge
• List reasons to remain optimistic

Inspiration 💡

• Write about someone who motivates you
• Describe a time you felt deeply inspired
• List things that spark creativity for you

Understanding Emotional Writing

Emotional writing is a form of writing that evokes strong feelings in the reader. It is a way of conveying emotions through written words. In this section, we will explore the basics of emotional writing and the importance of emotional writing.

Basics of Emotional Writing

Emotional writing is all about creating an emotional connection with the reader. To achieve this, you need to use language that is evocative and descriptive.

You need to describe the emotions that your characters are feeling in a way that the reader can relate to.

This can be achieved through the use of metaphors, similes, and sensory details.

One of the most important aspects of emotional writing is character development. You need to create characters that are relatable and have a depth of emotion.

This means that you need to understand your characters’ motivations and desires, as well as their fears and insecurities.

By doing so, you can create characters that feel like real people, and the reader can empathize with them.

Importance of Emotional Writing

Emotional writing is important because it can make your writing more engaging and memorable. When readers feel emotionally connected to a story, they are more likely to remember it.

Emotional writing can also create a sense of catharsis for the reader, allowing them to experience emotions that they may not have felt in their own lives.

Emotional writing can also be therapeutic for the writer. Writing about emotions can help you process your own feelings and experiences. It can also be a way of exploring different perspectives and gaining a deeper understanding of the human experience.

In conclusion, emotional writing is a powerful tool that can be used to create a strong emotional connection between the writer and the reader.

By understanding the basics of emotional writing and its importance, you can create writing that is engaging, memorable, and meaningful.

Techniques for Emotional Writing

Here are some techniques that can help you write emotional scenes that will stay with your readers long after they have finished reading your work:

Show, Don’t Tell

One of the most effective ways to convey emotion is to show, not tell. Instead of telling your readers that a character is feeling sad or angry, show them through the character’s actions, thoughts, and dialogue.

For example, if a character is feeling sad, you can describe how they slump their shoulders, avoid eye contact, and speak in a quiet voice.

Use of Language and Dialogue

The language you use in your writing can also help you create an emotional connection with your readers. Use powerful, descriptive words that evoke strong emotions in your readers.

For example, instead of saying a character is “angry,” you can use words like “furious,” “enraged,” or “livid.”

Dialogue is another powerful tool for conveying emotion. Use realistic, authentic dialogue that reflects how people actually speak. This can help your readers feel like they are eavesdropping on a real conversation, which can make the emotional impact of the scene even more powerful.

Creating Authentic Characters

Creating authentic, believable characters is crucial for emotional writing. Your characters should have flaws, fears, and desires that make them relatable to your readers. This can help your readers empathize with your characters and feel emotionally invested in their story.

Effective Use of Imagery

Imagery is another powerful tool for emotional writing. Use sensory details to help your readers experience the emotions along with your characters.

For example, describing the smell of the rain during a sad moment can help your readers feel the character’s sadness. Sensory details ground the reader in the moment, which can make them feel it more.

In conclusion, emotional writing is all about creating a connection between your readers and your characters.

Types of Emotional Writing

When it comes to emotional writing, there are several different types of writing that can utilize emotions to create a powerful impact on the reader.

Here are some of the most common types of emotional writing:

Writing Emotions in Fiction

Fiction is one of the most popular genres for emotional writing. This is because in fiction, the writer has complete control over the characters and the situations they find themselves in. This means that the writer can create scenarios that are designed to evoke specific emotions in the reader.

Whether it’s a heart-wrenching love story or a thrilling action sequence, fiction can be a great way to explore emotions.

Emotional Writing in Nonfiction

Nonfiction may not seem like an obvious choice for emotional writing, but it can be just as effective as fiction. In fact, nonfiction can be even more powerful because it deals with real-life situations and experiences.

Whether it’s a memoir, a personal essay, or a self-help book, nonfiction can be a great way to explore emotions and connect with readers on a deeper level.

Script and Novel Writing

Script and novel writing are similar to fiction in that they allow the writer to create characters and situations that can evoke emotions in the reader. However, script and novel writing can also be more challenging because they require a strong plot and well-developed characters.

This means that the writer must be able to balance the emotional content with the overall story arc.

Poetry and Emotional Writing

Poetry is perhaps the most obvious choice for emotional writing. The very nature of poetry is to evoke emotions through language and imagery.

Whether it’s a sonnet, a haiku, or a free verse poem, poetry can be a powerful tool for exploring emotions and connecting with readers on a deep level.

No matter what type of writing you choose, emotional writing can be a powerful way to connect with readers and create a lasting impact. By exploring the different types of emotional writing, you can find the style that works best for you and your message.

Creating an Emotional Connection with Readers

To create an emotional connection with your readers, you need to engage them, evoke emotion, and build anticipation.

Engaging the Reader

Engaging the reader is the first step in creating an emotional connection. You need to capture their attention and keep them interested in your writing.

One way to do this is to start with a hook that draws them in. You can use a question, a quote, or a startling fact to grab their attention.

Another way to engage your reader is to use vivid descriptions and sensory details. This helps them to visualize what you are writing about and makes the experience more real and tangible.

You can also use anecdotes and personal stories to make your writing more relatable and connect with readers on a personal level.

Evoking Emotion

The key to emotional writing is to evoke emotion in your readers. You need to make them feel something, whether it is happiness, sadness, anger, or fear.

To do this, you need to use descriptive language that paints a picture in their minds.

One way to evoke emotion is to use metaphors and similes. These comparisons can help readers to understand complex emotions and situations.

You can also use repetition and parallelism to create a sense of rhythm and emotion in your writing.

Turning Pages: Building Anticipation

Finally, to create an emotional connection with your readers, you need to build anticipation. You want them to keep reading and turning the pages to find out what happens next.

One way to do this is to use cliffhangers and plot twists that keep them guessing.

You can also use foreshadowing to hint at what is to come and create a sense of anticipation. This can be done through subtle hints and clues that are woven throughout your writing.

By building anticipation, you can keep your readers engaged and emotionally invested in your writing.

Mastering Emotional Writing

Emotional writing is about diving into the heart of your characters, understanding their joys and sorrows, and portraying these feelings so authentically that your readers cannot help but feel them too.

Here are some techniques to help you master emotional writing:

Writing from Personal Experience

One of the most effective ways to write emotionally is to draw from your own experiences. Think about a time when you felt a strong emotion, such as love, anger, or fear. Use that experience as a starting point for your writing.

By drawing on your own emotions, you can create characters and situations that feel authentic and relatable.

Observation and Awareness

Another way to write emotionally is to observe the world around you. Pay attention to the people you meet, the places you go, and the things you see. Notice the details that make them unique and interesting.

By observing the world with awareness, you can create characters and situations that feel real and vivid.

Distancing and Perspective

Sometimes, it can be difficult to write emotionally when you’re too close to the subject matter. In these cases, it can be helpful to create some distance and perspective.

Try writing from the perspective of someone else, such as a friend or family member. This can help you see the situation in a new light and create more emotional depth in your writing.

In conclusion, emotional writing is a powerful tool that can help you connect with your readers on a deeper level. By mastering emotional writing, you can create impactful stories that resonate with your audience.

To become a master of emotional writing, it’s important to understand the power of emotions and how to use them effectively in your writing.

You should also learn how to create characters that are relatable and evoke emotions in your readers.

Additionally, it’s important to understand the impact that your writing can have on your readers. Emotional writing can be a powerful way to inspire, motivate, and even change people’s lives.

Overall, emotional writing is an essential skill for any writer who wants to create impactful stories that resonate with readers.

By mastering emotional writing, you can create stories that are not only entertaining but also meaningful and inspiring.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to write emotions in text.

To write emotions in text, you need to use descriptive words that evoke a feeling in the reader. Use sensory details such as sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch to paint a vivid picture of the emotion you want to convey. It’s also important to show, not tell, the emotion by using actions and dialogue that demonstrate how the character is feeling.

How to write emotions in a story?

To write emotions in a story, you need to create characters that are relatable and have realistic emotions. Use the same techniques as writing emotions in text, but also make sure to give your characters a backstory and motivation for their feelings. Use the plot to create situations that will naturally evoke emotions in the characters, and make sure to show the consequences of those emotions.

What is expressive writing?

Expressive writing is a form of writing that focuses on expressing your emotions and thoughts. It can be used as a therapeutic tool to help you process and cope with difficult experiences. To practice expressive writing, set aside time to write about your feelings and thoughts without worrying about grammar or structure. The goal is to let your emotions flow freely onto the page.

How to write an emotional essay?

To write an emotional essay, you need to choose a topic that is personal and meaningful to you. Use descriptive language to paint a picture of the experience or person you are writing about, and use storytelling techniques to create a narrative that evokes emotions in the reader. Make sure to connect the emotions to a larger theme or message that you want to convey.

What is an example of an emotional word?

An example of an emotional word is “heartbroken.” This word immediately evokes a feeling of sadness and loss. Other emotional words include “ecstatic,” “terrified,” “nostalgic,” “enraged,” and “grateful.”

How do you convey overwhelming emotions in writing?

To convey overwhelming emotions in writing, use strong sensory details and vivid language to create a visceral experience for the reader. Use short, choppy sentences to mimic the feeling of being overwhelmed, and use repetition to emphasize the intensity of the emotion. Make sure to balance the intensity with moments of relief or release to prevent the reader from becoming too overwhelmed themselves.

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How to Write Emotion: 5 Ways to Make Your Readers Feel Emotion

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: Aug 19, 2021 • 3 min read

One of the most powerful writing skills an author can have is the ability to tease emotions out of the reader. Many readers turn to novels to be transported to a world of intense emotion, whether it’s the grief of a loved one’s passing or the euphoria of falling in love for the first time.

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Novel writing ,

Emotions in writing: how to make your readers feel.

By Louise Tondeur

When it comes to writing, people often focus on plot, character, and setting, but the emotional landscape you create in your story is important too.

In this guide, you’re going to learn ten ways to convey emotions in your writing, so you can create unforgettable characters and delight your readers, immediately drawing them into your stories.  

You’ll get a set of practical techniques to use, whatever kind of story you’re telling, many of which I didn’t know about when I wrote my first two novels.

We’ll look at why characters are key when it comes to writing emotion and achieving emotional mastery, then I’ll answer three of the most frequently asked questions about emotions in writing.  

Why Are Emotions Important In Writing?

As story creators, we want readers to identify with our characters and immerse themselves in our story worlds, so they get hooked and keep reading. We do that using emotion.

Emotion also helps readers gain understanding and perspective from different viewpoints, as well as providing an opportunity for them to escape from the ‘real world’ for a while.  

There are three types of emotion in writing:  

• Emotion experienced by you, the writer
• Emotion experienced by the character  
• And an emotional response from the reader

These are different things. For example, you might feel impatient to finish writing a scene, while your main character is in love, and you’re aiming for the reader to feel suspicious. Or perhaps you’re in love with your characters, your point of view character feels guilty, and you want your reader to be desperate find out what happens next . 

Consider your own emotions and whether they are ending up on the page.

Here’s a fairly common example: a writer feels bored and therefore writes a scene where the characters are bored, which will bore her readers. I’m using a negative to make a point – so bear with me! 

You can address how you are feeling by using Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages, and by learning self-care for writers; both of which are outside the scope of this guide. Or see our article on writing and burnout for more self-care tips.

There is a way of using your own emotional experiences to your advantage when writing emotions, using a theatrical technique called ‘emotion memory’ – more on that later. 

Going back to the example of the bored writer writing a boring scene that bores the reader, the solution to this problem is to consider upfront what emotional effect you want to have on your reader, asking: 

What do you want your reader to experience?   

The best way to create an emotional response in your reader is to have them identify with your characters and fully immerse themselves in their world.

If you’re telling any kind of story, whether you’re a playwright, a screenwriter, a memoirist or a novelist, the steps are the same:  

• Decide what you want the reader to experience. 
• Get the reader to identify with your main characters. 

Easier said than done, right? Keep reading! 

Focus On Your Characters  

We’ve established that, when conveying emotion in writing, the most crucial thing to consider is how to get readers to respond to your characters. Here’s one way to do that. I call it the C.A.S.E. method for short, which stands for contradictions, action, sympathy and empathy: 

• Well-rounded, authentic characters, just like all human beings, will have contradictions . Contradictions make characters seem real and therefore relatable. 
• Readers like characters who take action , and who do something about the dilemma they’re in.   
• Initially, readers will sympathise with the main character, and want to know what happens next.  
• As the problems deepen, readers empathise with the character and wonder what they would do in the same situation. Empathy happens as a result of the first three. 

Here’s an example from the psychological thriller Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (2022): 

• The main character, Jen, feels guilty about not being a good mother, but at the same time, she’s prepared to do anything to help her son. (Contradiction)  
• Jen tries to solve the seemingly impossible problem she faces. (Action) 
• We feel sorry for her because of what happens at the beginning of the book and as a result – I won’t give it away. (Sympathy)  
• We can stand in her shoes and see the world through her eyes because of the vivid detail McAllister uses and because of the compelling dilemma Jen faces. We wonder what we would do in a similar situation. (Empathy) 

Character contradictions, action, sympathy and empathy work together. If one is missing, it feels like something is wrong!

All four will affect your readers’ emotions and elicit a response in them, leading to emotional engagement – and they’ll want to keep reading.  

How To Convey Emotion In Writing   

So you know you need C.A.S.E., but also, in order for readers to engage, the emotions your characters experience must seem authentic. How do you do that? I’m glad you asked!

Here are ten ways to convey emotion in your writing. You can use: 

• Observation from life 
• Emotion memory 
• The body  
• The whole message 
• Emotional leakage 
• Idioms 
• Imagery 
• Emotion encyclopaedias 
• The objective correlative 

1. Use Observations From Life

During your day-to-day life, observe how you and others experience and exhibit emotions. What goes on in your body and mind and in your environment? What behaviours and words are associated with the emotion? If you work with other people, this technique is particularly useful. Take a breath, observe, and note down what happened later.

Over time you’ll create a resource you can draw on when you’re writing. There are instances where it wouldn’t be appropriate to step back and observe in the moment, of course, but you can still make notes later. I’ve put observation first because it’s the most important. 

2. Use Emotion Memory

Emotion memory is a technique developed by the theatre director Stanislavski, where actors recall experiencing an emotion to enact it authentically on stage. It’s where method acting comes from!

There’s a section on Stanislavski in Dramatic Techniques for Creative Writers by Jules Horne (2018) in case you want to follow this up.

Here’s how to use emotion memory in your writing: 

• Recall a memory in as much detail as possible, using the senses .  
• Start small: use the memory of leaves falling from trees in a park or the hottest day in summer or your earliest memory of the festive season, for instance.  
• Don’t do this with troubling memories at first, and if you do want to explore more difficult or intense emotions, have someone around to talk to, plus the support of a writing group.  
• Now imagine you can connect to a character’s (made up) memories in a similar way. 
• Use memory in your writing to convey the feelings that came up as you or your character remembered the past. 

3. Use The Body

Both observation from life and emotion memory will help with this one.

Write about internal and external bodily sensations.

When your character is angry, for example, where in their body do they feel it? If someone slaps them across the face, they might feel pain from the slap, and a hot sensation in the chest, or they may experience tunnel vision. Hint at these bodily experiences during the relevant scene.  

For example, in the opening sequence of The Namesake – depicting the birth of the main character – Jhumpa Lahiri shows us Ashima’s emotions using:  

• Her contractions,  
• The people around her,  
• Her memories.  

In fact, Lahiri uses observation from life, emotion memory, and the body both to show us how Ashima might be feeling as she goes into labour, and to evoke an emotional response in the reader.

There’s only one paragraph where we’re told directly how she feels – ‘astonished’ and ‘terrified’ – and even that’s in the context of a recent memory.

In other words, the opening of The Namesake is also a good example of communicating emotion using show not tell . You can read the opening via the ‘look inside’ feature on online bookstores. 

4. Use The Whole Message   

In his book Persuasion: The Art of Influencing People (2013), James Borg discusses research by sociolinguistics experts that shows:  

“a [spoken] message could be classified as 55 per cent visual (non-verbal), 38 per cent vocal (such things as tone or voice, rhythm, inflection) and 7 per cent verbal (meaning the actual words used).” (p. 58) 

Only 7% of spoken communication comes from the meaning of the words! When we hear people talk, we are all used to looking for clues from other sources. Your readers will do this too and will bring some of that experience to bear on your story.

This means that using a character’s tone of voice and behaviour to show that they are angry or embarrassed – or even using body language instead of dialogue – will work much better than simply telling us about it. 

5. Use ‘Emotional Leakage’   

Related to the idea of using the ‘whole message’, James Borg also tells us that we communicate in intentional and unintentional ways. This is good news for fiction writers, because unintended ‘emotional leakage’ (body language, gestures, fleeting expressions) can give away how a character is feeling inside.

For example, body language might undermine what a character is saying, showing us how they are truly feeling. Because we’re used to looking for the 93% of a message that isn’t verbal, we’ll attribute more meaning to body language than to the words a character speaks.  

James Borg has also written another book, called Body Language (2008), where he explores this idea further.  

We communicate through context, too: through personal circumstances, social status and presentation, through clothes, hair and personal grooming, for instance.

In a story, if a character’s presentation is out of the ordinary for the situation, or conflicts with their supposed social status, this immediately causes intrigue.  

For instance, when a character who looks as if he spent the night under a hedge turns up as the replacement vicar at a wedding service, the reader will wonder what’s going on and why.

Your character’s thoughts and contexts can usefully contradict other aspects of what they say and do, so you can use context and ‘emotional leakage’ together. For example, if a character turns up to her daughter’s wedding with two black-eyes and a hangover and tells everyone she’s fine, the reader will know that’s not the case.  

Agatha Christie frequently uses emotional leakage to indicate how her characters are really feeling, but also to trick us with misdirection and red herrings.  

For instance, near the beginning of Sad Cypress (1940), Mrs Welman’s two nurses are talking over tea, and we get a scene involving mainly dialogue. We learn that “Nurse O’Brien pursed her lips and put her head on one side” and a few lines later “over their steaming cups the women drew a little closer together.”  

A few paragraphs further on, we hear that Mrs Welman woke in the night asking for a photograph of Lewis, a handsome man who was not her husband. Christie tells us that “Nurse Hopkins had a long nose, and the end of it quivered a little with pleasurable emotion.” 

The two nurses are acting as if they are proper while we know they are gossiping. What’s more, the reader is listening in, sharing in the gossip.  

6. Use Idioms

Used sparingly, idioms are a handy shortcut: readers will know what you mean.

‘Her heart sank’, for example, lets us know the bodily sensation and the emotion in three words.

More interestingly, you can play with idioms. Rewrite them. Invent your own. Write the opposite.

However, don’t rely solely on idioms to convey emotion, and avoid using idioms repeatedly.

Some emotional idioms are so well-worn they’ve become clichés : a ray of light representing hope, for instance.

Generally, if it’s difficult to imagine it happening to you or in front of you, or if it doesn’t communicate what you want to say in enough depth, it’s probably a cliché, so is best avoided.  

7. Use Imagery

What is the emotion like when it happens to you or your character? Observation from life and emotion memory will help once again.

For example, in my first novel I described a character feeling mortified by saying she ‘went cold slowly, like someone was pouring cold custard over [her] head.’ In the same novel, I described emotional pain which was ‘like a stone in the middle of [her] chest.’

In both of these examples, I was using an image to describe the bodily sensation experienced by the character, which would then (hopefully) convey the emotion to the reader without naming it.  

Years after my second novel was published, I realised I was far too fond of using balloon images. For instance, ‘Alex felt as deflated as a popped balloon’, and ‘Mrs Brown’s face [hovered] in front of her like a balloon’, and ‘the words bursting out of her mouth like balloons.’  

Unfortunately, when I want to convey emotions, I immediately think of cold custard, stones, and balloons, like I’ve invented my own personal clichés! So be aware that you may have to ‘murder your darlings’ if you grow too fond of particular images like I did. In my current work-in-progress, I’m having to edit for internal stones and balloon images – I managed to avoid the custard! 

Ask yourself how deep you want to go: to convey deep emotion, use your own imagery. To avoid slowing the pace, use quick idioms, but do so sparingly.  

8. Use Form   

You don’t have to be writing concrete poetry or avant-garde fiction to use form to convey emotion. This simply means invoking an emotional reaction in your reader – usually to illustrate how a character is feeling – using the shape of the writing. You could create a fast pace and short clipped sentences to show anger, and give us poignancy and sadness using a slow pace and long sentences, for example.  

At the beginning of Jośe Saramago’s novel Blindness the dialogue isn’t punctuated, creating a sense of confusion after a character goes blind. Saramago replicates what it would be like to suddenly go blind – to hear voices but not know who is talking – so that the reader’s confusion matches the character’s. 

9. Use Emotion Encyclopaedias

I’ve left emotion encyclopaedias and resources until near the end of this list of techniques because you need to use at least a couple of the others in conjunction with them. However, doing some research is useful, especially if your POV character is experiencing things that you never have, and if they are very different to you.  

You can find lists of emotions online. For example, google ‘emotion wheels’ or ‘feeling wheel’ and you’ll likely find a diagram you can download and put up on the wall in your writing space. You can use the emotions on the wheel to brainstorm how a character experiencing that emotion might behave or what body language they might display or what bodily sensations they might notice.  

Emotion reference books for writers include: The Emotion Thesaurus by Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman (2019), Body Beats to Build On: A Fiction Writer’s Resource by April Gardner (2019) and Character Reactions from Head to Toe by Valerie Howard (2019). 

10. Use An Objective Correlative

The objective correlative, or what we called the OC where I used to teach, was made famous by T.S. Eliot. In fact, Eliot said the objective correlative was the only way to communicate an emotion to a reader, which is why I’ve left it till last. There’s no need to read up on literary the theory unless you want to; as readers and viewers we’re used to seeing this technique in action, especially in films.  

It’s where a writer uses a thing – an object or a place or event (even the weather) – to invoke an emotional response in the reader, and therefore, in a story, to demonstrate how a character feels, without mentioning the emotion . Earlier I said that using a ray of sunlight to suggest hope is a bit of a cliché. It’s also an example of the OC. Watch a few Hollywood blockbusters and see if you can spot some more over-used examples of the objective correlative! They are often weather or nature-related. 

Here’s another example. If I tell you that a character walked home in the rain, got soaked by a passing car, only to discover they were locked out of their house, you’ll probably assume they feel miserable. There’s nothing intrinsic about water or losing your keys that means you have to feel miserable. The OC works for two reasons, because the reader or viewer: 

• Puts themselves in the character’s shoes almost automatically – we ask how we would feel if the same thing happened to us. 
• Assumes that you’re showing us this rain-soaked character for a reason, otherwise why would they be there? Elements of a story are supposed to communicate something – so we attribute meaning to them. 

Notice how, for the OC to work, you have to use show rather than tell. In fact, the objective correlative is, at least partly, a formal way of saying ‘show don’t tell’. Conversely, if you’re not sure how to show instead of tell, then try the OC. Use a thing to represent an emotion. 

Emotional Writing: Top Tips  

Here are three top tips for conveying and evoking emotion in writing: 

1.  If you try any of the above techniques, make it observation from life. Stepping back and observing the life around you will help more than anything else.  

2. Remember that your emotional response, your readers’, and your characters’ are all different, but will have an impact on each other.  

3. As with all things in writing, conveying emotion is about balance. Think about whether you want the pace to slow down or speed up, for example, when editing a scene.  

Frequently Asked Questions

In this section I’ll answer three of the most asked questions in relation to emotions in writing:  

• How do you show emotions in dialogue? 
• What are emotional beats in writing? 
• Why is emotion important in literature? 

How Do You Show Emotions In Dialogue?

When writing dialogue  it’s often better to show your reader your character’s emotions by embedding small details and actions between the lines of speech. The scene from Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie that I mentioned earlier is an example of this. You’re also giving the reader the chance to visualise where the characters are in space.

By the way, it’s usually better not to use adverbs after speech tags, which are a ‘tell’ rather than a ‘show.’  

Embedding a lot of action and detail in dialogue slows the pace, so consider how fast you want the scene to move and vary the pace across the story as a whole.   

Occasionally use the following during the dialogue to show us the emotion: 

• body language,  
• facial expressions,  
• interaction with the environment 
• internal bodily sensations (quick ones, from the point of view character)  

What Are Emotional Beats In Writing?  

Embedding small details and actions between the lines of speech can be described as ‘adding emotional beats’ to your dialogue. That is, moments of pause where you show us your character’s feelings and what they’re experiencing, even when it’s only a raised eyebrow.  

At a structural level, emotional beats are the moments when a character has an emotional response to an event, and it motivates them to take action. Emotional beats are, therefore, like the character taking a breath before continuing to solve the dilemma set up at the beginning of the story.  

You’ll want a character to be doing something active during the emotional response. Being overcome by grief or realising they’re in love while working on the checkout at a supermarket or arranging flowers in a hospital, for example, works better than the same thing happening when they are lying in bed or watching TV.  

Why Is Emotion Important In Literature?

We turn to stories to entertain us and also to help us to make sense of the world. Emotions are important in literature because they help us to understand people better, enabling us to practise empathy and problem-solving through reading. In fact, researchers have proved that literature graduates are more empathetic! Deep emotions transport us into the world of the story, allowing us to fully immerse ourselves and escape our ‘real world’ problems for a while.  

From a writing point of view, we can use emotions to draw readers into the story and keep them hooked. If your story lacks emotional impact, it’s likely you need to work on the characterisation and on ‘show not tell’. If you want to learn to evoke emotion, start there.  

And Finally…

I hope you have enjoyed this guide and that it will help you to develop the confidence to try different ways of expressing intense emotion through your writing. It’s such a thrill to hear a reader say that your work has affected them.

Remember that characterisation and achieving an emotional impact on your reader are key to conveying emotion, so put aside some time to try out the ten techniques listed with this in mind. 

Don’t forget – the emotional effect you want to achieve will come through redrafting. So keep going!  

About the author

Louise Tondeur is a Jericho Writers editor and also writes fiction, poetry, plays and nonfiction. Her two novels, The Water’s Edge and The Haven Home for Delinquent Girls, are published with Headline Review, and her short story collection, Unusual Places , came out in 2018. Louise lives near Brighton with her wife and son and two black cats and teaches on the Open University’s Creative Writing MA. See more on her Twitter or Amazon author page .

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15 Emotion-Based Writing Prompts For Digging Deep

• Post author By Marisa Donnelly
• Post date May 8, 2018
• Categories In Creative , Writing Inspiration , Writing Resources
• 1 Comment on 15 Emotion-Based Writing Prompts For Digging Deep

It’s one thing to write efficiently, it’s entirely different to write effectively , but neither of those would be possible (for creative work) without writing emotionally. These fifteen emotional writing prompts will help you to dive into your feelings, challenge you to think deeply about some of the more personal topics in your life, and bridge the gap between your experiences and the characters on the page.

Prepare to be pushed into a more vulnerable realm of thinking and creating. 🙌💡

2. Write as if you’re seeing someone in your life for the very first time.

What do you notice about them? What are you drawn to? Now write from your current perspective of knowing and seeing them all your life. What do you appreciate/notice that differs from your first impressions? Can you highlight their uniqueness, their attributes that identifying them as who they are?

3. Write to, or about the last person you kissed.

You can do this one of two ways:

1) Write to that person first as if you were to give them this paragraph/piece as a letter. 2) Write about this person as if he/she is a character in a story. You can add yourself as a character, too, if you want to keep some distance from the story. You can also write in total third person, where both characters are written about more objectively.

4. Listen to an old song and write the emotions that come forth.

This can be a breakup song, love song, favorite song, childhood favorite song, etc. Whatever you choose, pay attention to the emotions you’re experiencing. Can you describe them? Can you describe without any characters at first? Then add characters, can you show how you/the character is feeling in listening instead of telling the reader?

5. Consider what you would change in your life, write a letter to your younger self based on those things.

Then, to challenge yourself, incorporate this letter into a monologue between characters (first, second, or third person).

6. Write a stranger’s story.

Find a place where you can (inconspicuously) people watch. Pick a stranger and write his/her story. Where did he/she come from? What’s his/her background, fears, present thoughts, love life? Embellish into a short story.

7. Make a ‘happy moments’ list and write a scene from one of those times.

Sometimes to get inspired we simply need to create or remember a situation. On a blank sheet of paper, create a list of favorite memories (aka: your ‘happy moments’ list). From that list, select one at random and write either your story of being at that place, a loved one’s perspective, or create a story with characters in the third person. Really describe the scene so that the reader can engage and picture where you are.

8. Write to or about your fears.

If you wrote a letter to your fear, what would you say? Can you incorporate these thoughts into the inner monologue of a character in a story? Into a poem? Etc.

9. Write a third person scene in which you are apologizing to someone in your life indirectly.

Sometimes we fall into first person habits because they’re easier. Challenge yourself to write about something present in your life (a person you’ve hurt) but in a way that creates distance between you and the characters. Have one character apologize to the other through your use of third person pronouns and setting up a scene. (Tip: Challenge yourself by switching the sex of the person apologizing to the opposite of you for even more distance between your emotions and what you’re putting on the page.)

10. Write a letter to your body.

Do some self-reflection. What are things you love, change, working on. Can you craft these introspective thoughts into a character? (Tip: Challenge yourself to do the reverse, too. If you’re very insecure about your legs, can you build a character who is super confident? Can you create an insecurity in a character that you don’t possess.

11. Write about a character with a secret.

12. Write about a conversation you’re longing to have.

What is something you wish you could say to someone? Create a scene in which you (or a character) is having this conversation. Use both dialogue and nonverbal cues as well as build the scene around the characters to make the moment more believable.

13. Write a poem about sorrow.

Incorporate vivid language, detail, and figurative language to create a mood rather than outright saying words like “sad,” “pain,” or “hurting.”

14. Write a love story that starts with a very strange opening line of dialogue.

15. Pick sides on a controversial topic and write from a character who strongly believes that side, or the opposing side.

Challenge yourself to create a believable character from either end of the spectrum. Provide the scene, situation, and background to make that character dynamic and interesting, even if the reader may not agree.

Featured Image Credit: Gabi Nehring

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Creating Emotion in the Reader

I wrote an article on the importance of creating emotions in readers, but I’ve noticed that writers are looking for specifics on how to accomplish that. So, this article complements that first one, presents practical tips on how to stir the reader’s emotions.

_____________________________________

Readers like to be touched, moved, by story. They like to imagine themselves in worlds and situations that challenge them, that give them opportunity to do and be something other than what they do or are in their real lives.

Fiction, whether in book or film or games, allows people to not only step into other worlds, but to experience those worlds. To do what they can’t in the course of a normal day. To feel beyond their normal feelings.

Since readers want to immerse themselves in other worlds and other lives, what can writers do to make that experience authentic, to make the fictional world real for a few hours?

One technique the writer can make use of to create reality out of fiction is to induce emotion in readers, make them feel something of what the characters are experiencing. Writer and reader know the fictional events aren’t real, but the emotion can be. Readers can fear and feel joy and be excited and know grief. They can laugh and cry, shiver and rage. All from reading a story.

But how can a writer accomplish this? How does a writer make readers feel emotion?

1.   Write in scenes, showing rather than telling . That is, don’t report that a character is afraid or giddy or grieving. Show the results of character emotions through the character’s actions . Show what fear or giddiness or grief does to him. Character action and response is a good place to focus.

This is a major key for rousing reader emotions. No one gets emotional over a report. They do get emotional when they can step into someone’s shoes and experience his or her feelings as if those feelings were churning inside them .

Delores was afraid to open the door to the basement steps. She stood at the far side of the kitchen, debating what to do. vs. Delores’s hand trembled as she reached for the locked doorknob. Tom had warned her not to open the basement door when he wasn’t around, but he was due home soon, so what could happen? She bit her lip and tightened her fingers around the cold knob. A shiver shook her. She inhaled only a shallow breath and then struggled for another.

And nearly shot through the ceiling when the microwave dinged, letting her know her tea was hot.

2.   Make a character sympathetic , so the reader identifies with her.

If the reader can identify with a character—with her dreams or habits or choices—he can also identify with her emotions—pains and joys and sorrows. (Readers can also identify with the shared human condition, so sometimes a particular situation will resonate with readers even before the character becomes involved.)

Make sure the reader knows/understands/identifies with the character before trying to connect emotionally. The reader won’t be affected by a character’s deep emotions on page one, simply because he has no ties to the character. By chapter three, if you’ve put the reader in the character’s place in the story, what touches the character can touch the reader. By the novel’s climax, the reader should so identify with the lead character that the character’s pain becomes the reader’s pain, his triumphs, the reader’s triumphs. The reader may have a physical response—laughter or tears or shivers—as if whatever happened to the character had actually happened to the reader.

You know how this plays out in your own life. A death reported on the nightly news means one thing when it’s a stranger and something totally different when it’s someone you know or a relative of someone you know.

Help your readers know your characters.

Make your character believable and sympathetic so the reader wants to be that character, wants to go through everything he goes through for the length of the story.

3.   Make a character unsympathetic , so the reader feels anger or repugnance toward him.

A character who is hated has already created an emotional response in your reader. I’m not talking caricature or stereotype here. I’m talking about creating a character who is soul ugly or evil or unfeeling, but one who belongs in one story and no other.

Your unsympathetic character might be no one of consequence in another book. But here, in this particular story, his actions/words are destructive to your protagonist or to someone close to him.

Cruel characters doing cruel things—cruel in the eyes of the protagonist or the reader—can affect the reader. If the character reacts to the cruelty, the reader can as well. Or, if the reader feels something because of what a cruel character does, you’ve already stirred his emotions.

If, however, your protagonist has no response to the cruel actions of another character, your readers may feel both bewildered and cheated. Show the reactions/response of characters to the actions of another character . Characters must do more than think about the evil of another character. They must have a response in terms of action and/or dialogue.

4.   Don’t hold back . If you want to reach the reader’s emotions, you need to write emotion-evoking scenes. Killing or injuring a character’s child, pet, or loved one can touch the reader, if the reader has sufficient investment in the character.

If Sarah gets a phone call, with someone saying her son has died, readers won’t feel grief, even if you show Sarah grieving, unless you’ve created a tie between Sarah and the readers, unless you’ve prepared for the death ahead of time, showing Sarah’s love for her son, perhaps her fear for his life or her dreams for him.

If he’s never been mentioned and we don’t know how much he means to Sarah, an announcement of his death will have no emotional impact on the reader.

If, however, Sarah had been worried for his safety or has been sitting at his hospital bedside, the reader is connected both to Sarah and her son, and his death can shake up the reader.

Don’t be afraid of killing off someone close to your main characters or of taking away something else dear to them . If they are crushed, the reader can be as well. This is fiction; you’re not really hurting someone if you write them into a car accident.

Death or injury aren’t the only ways to hurt your characters. Misunderstanding, betrayal, and forced choices that hurt their friends are all ways to agitate characters. And when characters are agitated, readers can be as well.

5.   Tease the reader with hints of what’s to come . You see this in romantic comedies, the backward and forward dance between a couple just falling in love. The tease, the delay, the anticipation makes the payoff dramatic and satisfying.

In mysteries and suspense, anticipation increases tension and therefore increases the emotional impact. Fear drawn out to just the right degree gives a satisfying snap when hell breaks loose.

6.   Recognize that word choice can greatly affect reader emotions . Some words are triggers in themselves and can be used to set off the reader.

Putting an especially nasty cuss word in the mouth of a character who doesn’t curse can jolt the reader. It’s a strong signal that something is very wrong.

Verbs or nouns that are socially loathed or that remind readers of hated people or abhorrent practices can be used to instantly rouse the reader. Of course, you can’t use this technique too often because the reader will feel manipulated and feel anger toward you, the writer, rather than with a character or the story on the page. You can manipulate readers; you shouldn’t let them feel the manipulation.

Some words convey lightness or humor or passion. Other words have little emotional shading. Choose your words with their impact potential in mind.

Even common actions can be influenced by word choice. Do characters cross a room or lope or shuffle? Do they race across town or merely make their way through traffic? Do they demand or ask for something? Do they heave or lift or haul or pick up an object?

Know the power of word choice in eliciting emotions. Use words throughout a scene to express your exact meaning so a scene is cohesive and the emotion consistent. Don’t mix light and fluffy words into a dark, heavy scene unless you’re doing so for effect . That is, be aware of your word choices and what they can do to the scene and the overall tone of the story—increase tension because you choose the right word combinations or diffuse tension because you’ve used ill-matched words.

Note—Even though you want the words to create a tight scene, one with cohesion and consistency, this doesn’t mean that all characters in the scene will have the same agenda and speak to the same end. That is, you may have a character quite at odds with the other characters and what’s happening. Your antagonist may not care that he’s caused negative events in the protagonist’s life. He might not feel remorse or pain at what’s happened. And therefore he may talk at cross purposes with other characters. This, of course, creates a tension all its own and can set the reader on edge.

7.   Create a situation that’s important, vital, or life altering, if not life threatening . Make sure there’s something at stake for the character, make sure his actions reflect the importance of this something, and make sure he tries to do something to change this intolerable dilemma. Produce in the reader both the emotion from the situation and the hope that the character can triumph.

8.   Put your characters under time constraints to increase tension, to cause them to make decisions they might not ordinarily make, to set them—and the reader—on edge.

9.   Force your character into making a decision between a bad choice and a worse choice . This kind of situation pulls the reader in whether he knows the reason for those bad choices or not. The reader feels for the character, for him having to make bad decisions that both character and reader know will cause even more problems.

10.   Move the story . Don’t dwell so long on an event that the reader loses interest or the urgency wanes.

11.   Write realistic scenes with realistic problems , problems that are conceivable for the characters and world you’ve created. Events, characters, and setting must be logical for your world. Don’t give your reader a reason to doubt the truth and possibilities of your story and story events. Don’t give them a push out of your fictional world.

12.   Surprise the reader by turning the story in an unexpected direction . Keep the reader off balance, unsuspecting, so he can be blindsided and thus feel more unsettling emotions.

13.   Write conflict into every scene . Conflict can be character to character, character to himself, character to events, and character to setting. An agitated character can pass that agitation to the reader.

14.   Adjust the pace for the emotion you want to create . Use short sentences and paragraphs to speed the pace, to encourage suspense and fear. (Readers read faster and feel the story is moving at a faster pace when there’s more white space on a page.) Use longer phrases and paragraphs to slow the momentum, to ease off the forward rush, to create a sense of relaxation or calm.

15.   Choose words with deliberation . Use harsh or sharp words for the harsher emotions, soft-sounding and soft-meaning words for gentle emotions. (Or, cross up your words and emotions to create confusion. But remember that you want the reader confused in the same way the characters are confused, not unable to follow what you’re saying.)

16.   Reduce the use of unnecessary and unrelated detail to keep the focus on one emotion. Characters involved in chases don’t notice the flowers or the store fronts decorated for Christmas. Lovers in their first sex scene don’t notice every object in the room; they’re far more interested in one another.

Stay in the moment and only turn the reader’s attention to what’s important for this moment and this scene and the characters involved.

There are, of course, exceptions to this piece of advice. Yet, when you’re trying to build emotion, don’t dilute it or distract the reader with unrelated details. Use your details in other scenes, when it’s appropriate to introduce them.

Do use detail that will heighten emotion.

17.   Use setting to influence the reader and deepen his emotional response . Paint your rooms, put sounds in your outdoor spaces, add smells to your attic. Imagine how these elements would influence your readers—dark rooms, dark colors, enclosed spaces, echoing spaces, wide-open fields, silence, the living room of a house where someone was murdered, the living room of the house owned by the lead character’s enemy, a courtroom, a boardroom, back stage during a concert, back stage three hours after the concert-goers have all gone home.

Play with setting so you put your characters in the best locale for each scene. Need to ramp up unease? Move the scene to a deserted office at night. Need something lighter than the bedside of a comatose patient? Take the scene to the hospital’s cafeteria. Or chapel. Or business office.

18.   Use sense details to mire readers in the reality of the scene . What can the character hear and smell? What does a change in sound mean? What does the absence of sound mean for the character and the reader? When a character reaches into a dark hole and feels something brittle, does the reader break out in goose bumps? What if the character felt something soft and silky, something like springy curls? Does the reader’s pulse jump?

Play with all five senses to keep your readers involved, maybe off balance, but always interested in what’s coming next.

Use each of these methods, not just one, to raise an emotional response in your reader. Touch the reader often, noting that each scene doesn’t have to register higher on the emotional meter than the scene before. (Though emotions do rise through the climax, the rate of the climb isn’t consistent and emotional impact can be variable; both character and readers need variations in intensity. Downs are as important as ups.)

Don’t hesitate to mix emotions . A heroine in a suspense thriller can’t be frightened all the time. Use humor or lust or exasperation or anger or joy to change the type of tension for her and for the reader. Take the reader up and down and then up again. Readers like ups and downs, not a flat line of no emotion, of zero affect. Keep the reader engaged by making her feel. Stir up your readers.

Tap into emotions to give your readers a read that satisfies on all levels.

Related posts:

• Get Pushy—Push Character Conflict and Reader Emotion
• Keep Readers Close to Action and Emotion
• Engage Readers Through Character Reaction

Tags: emotion , readers     Posted in: Craft & Style , How to , Writing Tips

Posted in Craft & Style , How to , Writing Tips

109 Responses to “Creating Emotion in the Reader”

thank you for this very useful piece 😀

Frida, I’m glad you found it useful. Thank you for letting me know.

I’m an aspiring writer (though only 14), and after reading this, it’s given me useful insight on how to develop emotions in my characters. This helped a lot since theres a lot of tragedy

Really, HJ?? Me too!…only 13 though…I’ve always had trouble with making readers feel emotion. One of my greatest weaknesses.

haha, looks like there’s a lot of us. I’m twelve.

14. I’m wanting to write a short story, problem is I don’t know what to write about.

I’m twelve also and an aspiring author. Thanks for the tips. In my book I am working towards killing the main character in an emotional way, and this is very helpful for it.

I’m almost 12! I’m currently 11 and I was struggling to write the perfect thing. I was bored one day so I found this one show on tv and it showed a person being dropped out of a window and it showed sweet flash backs of the main person with the person who went out the window. It was so heart breaking that it inspired me but I didn’t know how to write it. Now I do though!

15. I mostly write fanfics, and this is one of the most crucial part of a fic – making readers feel emotion. Thanks for putting this up.

*snarls* “Great, now there’s competition.”

(lol, jk, I’m 14 too)

me too, i’m fourteen too!

Same! I am 15, and I have problems with dialogue. My characters tend to be distant. I am really trying to work on that, making my characters stand out in unique, memorable ways that will stick to the reader throughout their day.

\Im only 12 and I love writing. my first trilogy has actually been accepted by a publishing company. but this article was really helpful gives me a lot of insight

HJ, I wish you great success with your writing career. I hope it proves enjoyable and challenging and profitable. Something to help you achieve your goals is to write often and read more often.

I’m glad this article was helpful for you.

thank you so much…..this blog help me so much in my thesis…..i hope you will continue making such a useful info’s

Earl, I hope to continue with the blog for a long, long time. I’m glad you found info useful for your thesis.

I just found you and thanks, I was looking for exactly this advice.

Chuck, I’m glad you found the information you were looking for. You are most welcome.

I am also an aspiring writer at the age of 17, and I’m currently writing my first novel. I’ve attempted a few times before, but I lacked any engagement with my characters and there was certainly not a variation of emotion- all doom and gloom! However, I’ve found that with planning, reading and writing everyday, the quality of my work is really improving. (I’m well into Chapter 13). I can’t thank you enough for this post- very helpful! Often, you find yourself wanting to say so much, but don’t quite know how to in order to ensure the reader’s empathy. I want the reader to really FEEL in the more tragic scenes. (One of which involves the main character losing her mother). I will definitely be trying these tips! Thank you so much!

Abbey, I wish you success upon success as you continue to write. I can verify that yes, as you write and practice and write some more, the quality of your work will improve. You also obviously already know that there’s more to writing than simply doing it—if you’re looking at writing sites online, you know there are tools available to strengthen your skills. I’d say you’re off to a great start to your career.

I encourage you to write and study and live a full life.

You are most welcome for the tips.

Thanks so much! ^^ I’m fifteen, working on my first novel. It’s a dystopian, and I saw the Hunger Games today and wanted to play into my readers’ emotions like that movie did.

Kim, I wish you great success with your writing. There’s nothing better than putting that first manuscript together. Here’s hoping you have fun as you work it all out.

This has been the best advice for writing i have every found. Thank You!!!! I have a narrative writing due soon and whatever i write sounds like a report. I’ve read many books that have such strong emotion and have touched me but i just can’t write like that. This has really helped me write the conclusion for my narrative writing… now i need to come up with the beginning.. ^-^

Thanks again!!!

Chloe, I’m very glad you found something here to help. When chapters and events read like reports, it helps to step away from actions and move to feelings or thoughts.

Another trick that might help in the short-term is to write a handful of long, long sentences, sentences you might never use. Get out of the pattern of she did this, she did that that comes out rat-a-tat-tat in short sentences. Change the sentence flow. Change the focus of the moment.

I wish you great success with your writing.

I am an aspiring writer by the age of thirteen, I am most experienced at fantasy and has studied ancient and medieval history both at home and in school for the last three years which had greatly helped in my writing. I am currently writing the third draft of my first novel. Yes, before reading this article, I showed my drafts to some of my friends. I had them feel for my characters at some points, but I want the protagonist’s journey to be perilous and will leave him mortally wounded both inside and outside. How do I show that?

Mark, congratulations on not only completing a novel but on your dedication to strengthening it. You are well on your way as a writer. And you’ve asked a great question.

First, I’m going to ask if you truly mean mortally wounded. That would indicate the protagonist will die from his wounds. I’m guessing that instead you merely mean severely wounded both physically and emotionally. (If he really does die from either the physical or emotional wounds, most of what I include here will still apply.)

For the outside, you could show him recovering from the injury—taking medicine, going through physical therapy, having other characters react to the damage and even to the scars as he heals.

For the inside, you could show a change in personality, whether that means being uncaring toward anyone and anything or, conversely, being more caring and tender toward a particular group (such as victims of crimes or burn victims). You can show him shutting down when before he was outgoing. You could have him unable to sleep, maybe repeatedly pulling an object out of his pocket, something that speaks to his emotional wound. Such an object could be the ribbon of a girl he failed to save or a pebble he picked up on the beach that reminds him of his loss.

He could lock himself up inside his home or head off alone, without his best buddies. He could visit a cemetery but be unable to cry over the grave of someone he lost. Or maybe the cemetery’s the only place he can cry.

You can also show both wounds through the eyes and words of others. They can say they’re worried about him or point out the odd behavior. They can try to devise ways of bringing him back into the regular world, ways that backfire when he turns on them, people who were always his friends.

He can give away a fortune or something dear to him, something that shows his priorities have shifted.

Such wounds, if they do change someone inside, often change behavior. And they make what used to be important unimportant. Look for ways to have him act in ways contrary to what used to be normal behavior.

You can also make him non-communicative until he just can’t stand the encouragement of others and then have him blow up, going crazy on his friends. Again, think of behaviors contrary to what he would have done before being wounded.

Many people turn to drink or drugs when catastrophes overwhelm them. I don’t know what age you’re writing for or if such a thing would be appropriate for your story, but he could always think he’d like to drown his sorrows, even if he didn’t know where to score drugs and had no access to alcohol. If he couldn’t find drugs or alcohol, or if he did try them but they weren’t successful in making him forget what had happened, he could see that as another failure, another way he wasn’t like the rest of the world.

You’ve got lots of options. See if some of these suggestions don’t get you started. If not, let me know and we’ll see what else might work.

I am 71 and I am starting to write a novel. Your tips are very useful for me. I laugh and cry by reading novels. I want to write a novel which should touch the hearts of others.

As I read through this, I read it as a mental checklist for my first draft of my drama/suspense story (written as a sort of skeleton for a graphic novel). Plot wise, I’m feeling proud of myself for knowing exactly where and how often I used these, but this post will definitely help me out with editing and better dialogue! Thanks!

Cay, I’m glad the article was helpful. I love that you know where you’ve included these kinds of items in your manuscript—you know your story well.

Good luck to you as you continue to write.

I am only sixteen years old, yet I want to become a writer or novelist! We have learnt a few of these techniques in English, and I recently got an A* in my creative writing piece! However I’m not sure I have the dedication to finish a novel the whole way through would hate the idea of me giving up on it unfinished, wondering if you have any tips? 🙂

A true writer would ask themself “If I a tossing is the storyline good?” If you answer no, consider changing the plot or adding in a couple of characters to stir the maim character. If you answered yes, then keep working at it and good luck 🙂 😉

James, I’m sorry. I must have missed this comment.

I would say to keep writing. Quitting is easy, especially when it’s time to rewrite and work through problems. But the only way to get through the problems is to work them out.

i started my novel when i was twelve, finished, when i was fourteen, realized it lacked emotion when i was fifteen, started rewriting it when i was sixteen, and here i am seventeen, practically finished the entire thing, and my readers think it really good. i recently passed my sixth anniversary of starting my novel.

so just keep writing. the better you get, the more dedicated and invested you become and the more likely you are to finish the work itself. and chances are if you’ve got an A in creative writing, you’re pretty good already and don’t need to undergo the arduous process i went through. and if you think its good, don’t be afraid to show it to friends, get them interested and get them to push you to finish. peer pressure works.

Thank you for sharing these tips! I’m in the beginning stages of writing a novel and though only 13, I strive to be a pro! Inducing the emotion is what sells a good book, so I’m happy that I got some good tips to connect the readers to my story. I will definitely try these and see how it goes. Thanks again!

Amazing article. I’m only 13, turning 14 soon, and have just read this article. I am currently writing a book and was struggling to write a sad and emotional scene, but this article has changed my whole perspective of the view to come from.

Steph, I’m glad to have been of help. Sometimes we just need that nudge toward a different way of looking at something and then it all clicks. I wish you great success.

Thanks for posting this — many solid examples and methods. I’m looking forward to reading more on your blog.

Glad to have you here, Glenn. And I’m glad you found something useful.

Hi there. I’m a single mom soon to be 33. I take time when I can to write but mostly for fun so I’ve never published. I have a story idea that started simple but keeps evolving in different ways & has nearly become consuming to the point that my thoughts get carried away when I sleep. I just found your bogs today & wish I’d found it years ago. My story has multiple important characters since it involves a sizable family of I guess you could say paranormals. One character in particular is a comlplicated puzzle, I`m having trouble portraying him in a way that is mysterious, emotionless, serious, & quite difficult for others to understand or figure out, without making him seem boring or less important in comparison to other characters. Do you have any advice?

Tina, what about the character would be fascinating to other characters or the readers? Can you tease at that? What interesting events happened in his past that make him interesting? What about him would have readers wanting to know more?

You have to hint and tease so that readers need to know more. Teasing about a character keeps readers interested, and it keeps them thinking about the character.

If you don’t know this particular character’s back story, that’s where you should start. Figure out who he is and what he wants and how he plans to get it. Then use that information to make him an integral part of the story.

Who can he make alliances with? Who does he oppose?

You don’t want everything to be too obvious, but you will want to fold some of his life into the story. Everything that happened in his past affects his present and future. You’ve just got to create something interesting for his past that makes him interesting in the present.

I hope that gives you a place to start.

I had been concerned that using his actions to define him would not be enough since his siblings are defined by more than actions. I was concerned but your advice has given me better confidence in the way I’ve been writing. Thank you.

Thank you a very helpful article, I was aware of some of the points but had forgotten about the power of using simple everyday words. Also I hope my characters become more realistic after reading your post, as I have started to create cv’s of past life events for my characters.

I just wrote one of my characters having a terrible headache and now I have a headache(not that bad, but it’s kind of annoying). I also just want it to be dark since the light is making my character’s headache worsen.

If it affects me like that, is it good?(it’s the only reason why I don’t write my characters in extreme pain in first person)

Thank you so much for this advice! I’m researching this topic for a school project and it was hard to find sources about what I was looking for and when I did they all came to the same point. Your article was very helpful with different ways to communicate to the reader!

That was an amazing piece! Some of these techniques are new to me and they are surely improving my writing. I write stuff ever since I was nine and even though I’ve never finished one nevel (though I’ve started more than twenty) I feel like writing is what I like to do best. Besides, writing is a challenge to me because even though I’m from Brazil, I preter to write in English as I find it easier to express myself.

Thank you for this informative and helpful article. In such a short and apt manner, you have described what is most material in a successful script. It has contributed greatly in widening my perspective. Thanks again for imparting this great learning.

Incredible article! Thank you very much, great resource of information.

Great article.

Your tips is really good. Write in scenes, showing rather than telling, make a character sympathetic and move the story is important tips. Write from your happy place and write everyday is also important.

Thank you very much. This is very helpful ^^b

I’m applying these tips as best I can. How is this:

While he wrapped Merryn a second time in the chains, her eyes snapped open, and she stumbled down on the ground. She backed a way and managed to kicked Maxwell in the crotch. Her anger boiled to surface, she pushed her self away, and rolled her shoulder trying to move the chains. The vines begin creeping upwards, itching to break free.

“Do you honestly think that—”

Recovering quickly, he slapped her on the face hard, stunning her.

“Think? I know. I know everything about your kind. I know every weakness and fear. I’ve been after you for far to long now not to. You will suffer for killing my son.”

Maxwell wrapped the chains a few more times on her legs for good measure, and locked them. He picked her up, laid her on her stomach on top of the horses saddle. Jumping on the horse, he took off with his solders following him.

The guilt and sorrow of that day come back like a blast of light. Of the city melting to the ground .. an image that was blocked out snapped forward. A young boy of black ringlets, clutching his mother near the city entrance, their mouths opened.

They screamed.

She vomited inside the sack.

oops a typo. meant to say kick

Could you delete that first posting? I needed to revise it a bit. Thanks.

Try number two:

While he wrapped Merryn a second time in the chains, her eyes snapped open, and she stumbled down on the ground. She backed a way and managed to kick Maxwell in the crotch. Her anger boiled to surface, she pushed her self away, and rolled her shoulder trying to move the chains. The vines begin creeping upwards, itching to break free.

Maxwell wrapped the chains a few more times on her legs for good measure, and locked them. He picked her up, while Jason held the large sack open. Maxwell tied the top. The enclosed space filled her with panic, and she squirmed. He laid her on her stomach on top of the horses saddle. Jumping on the horse, he took off with his solders following him.

I have two characters who have pushed and shoved and played all sorts of passive aggressive one-upmanship relationship junk on each other. I have rewritten the resolution so many times I was ready to go Hollywood. Her cracked ribs heal, they kiss in the moonlight, cue soundtrack. After this article I see that even though it is ratcheted up to the point of no return they can still hammer it out, if I can write it effectively, even if she ends up throwing a loaded tray of ketchup covered French fries at him in his restored ’64 Impala. Great post. Thank you.

Phil, I don’t know which would be worse—messing up the Impala or losing the chance to eat the fries.

Sounds like you’ve got your story in hand.

This is just what I was looking for to add depth to my characters and to help provide “The Hook” I want in the opening chapter.

I’m glad you found something useful here, Peter. Getting readers on board right away is a must.

This is pure gold. Back on to this post over and over again, still get new insight from it.

Adi, I’m glad to hear that the article is good for a second read. I hope it proves useful.

thanyou so much i have so many tests at the moment ,i have always wanted to be an author and this wil help me on my tests thanyou so much x

Greetings Beth, What a valuable find! Your insight, guidance, and experience, is proving most helpful and hopeful for fledgling authors. Thank you!

Very informative and helpful! I have a creative writing final due in a few days and was in need of some tips on how to provoke more emotion in my writing. This blog was explained and broken down very well, Thanks a lot.

Hi I have a book I am writing and I want my female character Clara to be hated by the reader now but I want the reader to feel sympathetic to her later in the book and hate the male character James which the reader will be sympathetic to in the beginning of the book. What is a good way to do this?

Nathan, since all characters should have strengths and weaknesses, you just need to make sure you introduce both strengths and weaknesses, positives and negatives, for both characters early in the story.

Show Clara doing something horrible, without explaining why she does it. Maybe later in the story you can show that she was forced into the action in some way. Or later in the story you show her regretting what she did. But you also need to show something positive about her near the beginning of the story. Yet tilt the balance toward the negative.

You do the opposite with James, tilting the balance in the beginning toward his positive attributes while still giving him a hint of a negative.

You give both characters positives and negatives so that it’s believable when they change at some point in the story.

Characters can change suddenly, when they see the error of their ways. But a main character usually changes over time, not instantly. Thus the character arc of the protagonist shows the character changing over time and shows how and why the character changes—because of the events that he or she goes through.

You’ll have to play with different personality traits and behaviors and even thoughts so that you get readers feeling what you want them to feel, but don’t hesitate to give them the traits they’ll need at the end. Or at least a trace of that trait. Even killers love certain other people or love their country or support a cause—they might give blood or donate to a cancer charity.

You’d handle the details a little differently if one or both of your characters are hiding their true selves and only let their inner selves be seen near the end. So they aren’t what they seem to be at the beginning, they’re just playing a part. Readers will want to know they could’ve guessed that a character was pretending to be something he wasn’t based on clues you include. But you’ll want to go very light handed with those clues because you don’t want to give away the pretense too soon.

Plan for places throughout the story where you can purposely show both characters being themselves and being who they aren’t. As the story nears the end, start your shift. Show the characters doing or saying or thinking the way you need them to be at the end.

Change the words you use to describe them. Change the words they use when speaking to others. Use short and cutting sentences for the character you want readers not to like. Have the unlikable character interrupt the speech of others or be rude in other ways. Have him or her be selfish.

Does that help? There’s a lot you can do, but this shifting of the balance should give you a few more ideas.

I’m also writing a book; however it’s a non-fiction story, an authorized biography. I can see that many of these techniques would be useful in creating emotion for the person I’m writing about. Do you have additional, specific advice for non-fiction writing? It’s vital that readers be able to emotionally identify with with this person; otherwise, the book is pointless, and this is a story that has the potential to save lives. It needs to be shared. This is not my normal style of writing, so I really need help connecting the reader emotionally to my subject.

Hi friends,

I am a beginner. just started writing couple of paragraph for a fiction novel idea i had been having for a while. please review and suggest improvements.

Why do warriors have to suffer their pain silently? Is it unbecoming of a warrior to cry even when one is in extreme pain? Mara did not know what will happen to him once he gets inside the cave. He was sitting on the muddy ground at the right side of the cave waiting for his turn. There was no moon and the winter night was pitch-black. The fluttering flame of torch which was behind his back will soon be out. The swaying of trees, the rustling of leaves and the howling of wind were trying to subdue the all-encompassing silence. One of the “brothers of secret oath” Kuttuvan who had just come out of the cave was sitting next to him.

[Describe how he looks] Even in dim light Mara noticed that Kuttuvan was shivering. His clothes were wet. He was wearing wrap around cloth above his loincloth. His upper body was covered in cloak. He was also wearing turban. He was gasping heavily. His mother was sobbing and rubbing his back. She was blowing into his wounded palm to relieve the pain. The nauseating smell of burnt flesh meant that the wound was deep. His hands were shivering and his legs were shaking.

Mara and other “brothers of sacred oath” wear clothes similar to kuttuvan. Generally they carried bow, short sword and catapult, as weapons. Today they were stripped of them.

Thanks, Akil

Thank you for this article! For the last four years now (from age 13 to 17, and I’m sure it will eventually be beyond that) I have been working on a fantasy novel. When I was 13 I started writing out a 19-chapter story that was all over the place, and I stopped writing it around 14. When I realized how underdeveloped my plot really was, and what caused me to feel lost in the events of the story, like nothing was really happening, I fleshed out the characters more and got to know them better and why they feel the things that they feel, and I began to tediously whittle down a very vast and vague idea to a narrowed, more cohesive plot that I feel will work better than other not-so-cohesive plot lines that I initially came up with. At this point in time, I think I’m getting somewhere with a more thought-out plot, and I think that I truly understand my characters now; their motives, their opinions of each other, and their feelings, and I have begun writing a new version of the story that I am pleased with. I have cared about my characters during all this time; I can’t seem to let them go! 🙂 (And I won’t, I don’t think, ever). I think that I’ll return to this post again eventually to help me with the story as it progresses, because my characters are so rich and fleshed out in my mind that I want to do them justice when I articulate them and their experiences, and really connect them with the reader. Again, thank you!

most readers would find a story more interesting if they can feel moved by what they’re reading

An article that begins with I is deemed to never reaches the audience understanding, a more courteous approach by targeting how to benefit would be better aphrehended, as a hint never begin an article using the (first) pronoun

composed of one letter,

you can start by writing an article and then editing it to make a more beneficial version of the same article

a sister in humanity from a humble corner of the globe

WOW just what I was searching for. Came here by searching for emotion in fiction

These tips are so good! I’m currently writing a fanfiction of IU (Lee Ji Eun) on asianfanfics. I’m only 14 and totally not into kpop, IU being an exception. IU’s music is one of a kind! She is a brilliant artist, lyricist, producer, actress, vocalist and the sweetest and cutest human being on the earth. Me being a Uaena and star candy (what IU calls her female fans) totally enjoyed reading this guide. Thank you so much for your effort and putting oout there things like these which help people ^.^ I hope the best for you 🙂 If you have time, I suggest that you listen to IU’s albums, her dramas: Moon Lovers Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Dream High (her first ever drama where she starred in as a second lead) and My Mister. You will totally not regret this decision ^^ IU is an angel Check her out! And again thank you for your effort. My story goes by the name of ‘The Mystery Of Love’ on aff (it’s still in works though)

Hi , so i’m 17 and my first language isn’t English but i will try to make my first novel which will probably involve lots of dukes, commoners and a young prince who is heir to an endangered kingdom so i had probably no idea on how to actually write the scenes but after reading this i’m starting to understand how to do it properly so , Thank you for everything !

Hello, I just want you to know that your article is very useful, for sure this can help me in my next writing project. Thank you for sharing.

This is one of the useful articles that will help to improve my writing skills. Thank you so much for sharing your information.

I really appreciate how inspire me by sharing this article with me. It will improve my writing skills in near future as I am trying to write non-fiction novel.

Thanks a lot for this piece. Any ideas on how to start the opening paragraph of my romance novel?

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How to Write Emotion: An Experimental Study

As Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi explain in The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression , we must take our innate skills of observation and transfer them to the page, by both verbal (dialogue) and nonverbal means (physical signals, mental responses, and internal sensations).

Award-winning author and writing coach C. S. Lakin later warned me of the failure to explicitly convey emotion:

You don’t want your protagonist to seem like an unfeeling robot. Readers will hate him if you do.

To avoid this, she suggested I buy a paperback thriller and highlight every explicit emotional sentence until I learned how emotion occupies nearly every page. I decided to make a bigger project out of it.

The Emotional Deep Dive: A By-the-Numbers Experiment

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (affiliate link)

On the 477 pages of my favorite thriller, Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons , I highlighted all 1,988 (by my count) sentences with explicit emotional content. That’s an average of over four per page! For each, I populated three spreadsheet columns:

1.  The page number.

2.  The emotion (from the seventy-five listed in  The Emotion Thesaurus ).

3. The sentence itself.

As much as I learned from doing this, the real lessons took place when I began sorting the entries in different ways.

Discovering the Emotional Story

Leaving the spreadsheet sorted by page number, I found I could follow the story by emotional content alone.

Plotting the number of emotional sentences per page showed the nice emotional pacing you’d expect from a bestselling author, with peaks near the plot points and pinch points .

Kristen Kieffer writes about such cadence in her post “ How to Create Strong Pacing For Your Story “:

After dealing with the physical consequences of an instance of conflict, your character should address—or possibly repress—the emotional ramifications of the conflict, which can range from joy at a victory to intense grief, fear, or anxiety surrounding a loss.

And what was seen near the ninety-five percent mark around page 452? You guessed it—the maximum emotional sentences per page density of the novel’s climax .

Identifying the Emotion “Buckets”

The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi (affiliate link)

Sorting the 1,988 rows by emotion (as listed in The Emotion Thesaurus ) produced tightly grouped examples of how a master writer portrays each emotion.

Since the emotional labels themselves are subjective—the dividing lines between anger and rage or surprise and astonishment will differ for each reader–your and my emotional labels won’t always match.

Some unique scenes can evoke opposite reactions from different readers. After a short story reading during one of my writer’s group meetings, a Stephen King-inspired author had each of us feeling vastly differing emotions:

1.  Amazement, at how such a scene could unfold.

2.  Disgust, for the setting described.

3.  Happiness, for the darkly humorous sequence of events.

The character’s emotions, however, should always be clear and truthful. As Martha Alderson points out in her post “ Connecting with Audiences Through Character Emotions “:

Thoughts can lie. Dialogue can lie, too. However, emotions are universal, relatable and humanizing. Emotions always tell the truth.

Portraying Emotion

Sorting the entries by sentence provided perhaps the most interesting learning experience. It showed how much repetitive emotional content is directly told instead of shown (e.g., “Langdon was amazed” on pages 21 and 22).

In his 2017 post “ How to Produce an Emotional Response in Readers ,” Donald Maass calls this the “ inner mode , the telling of emotions.”

It also works with repetitive actions  (e.g., “The camerlengo smiled” on pages 304 and 305), what Maass calls the “ outer mode , the showing of emotions.”

So why don’t these repetitions immediately distract readers from the story, as repetitive setting descriptions surely would? I believe that, similarly to why dialogue tags being more perceived than read , emotional content is more felt than read.

Sorting the emotional content this way also displayed identical snippets of dialogue that evoked drastically different emotions, due to their context. Two such sentences seem to convey annoyance and pride, respectively:

1.  “Correct,” Kohler said, his voice edgy. (Page 59)

2.  “Correct,” Langdon said, allowing himself a rare moment of pride in his work. (Page 165)

You’ve Got a Book in You by Elizabeth Sims (affiliate link)

As just one example, Elizabeth Sims, in her 2013 guide You’ve Got a Book in You , demonstrates how the word “Oh” is endlessly flexible:

1.  “Oh,” he grunted.

2.  “Oh!” Cassie couldn’t believe her luck. “Oh!”

3.  All at once he understood. “ Ohh .”

Despite the time this experiment took to complete, I recommend writers repeat this project with a copy of their own favorite novel. You may never see written emotional content the same way again!

Wordplayers, tell me your opinion! On what novel would you like to try this experiment? Do you think it would help you learn how to write emotion? Tell me in the comments!

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Matt Gianni is the author of Lever Templar , the first in his Castellum One series of dual timeline historical fiction/contemporary thriller novels. When not writing, he enjoys salsa dancing on Seattle's east side. Besides his website , you can connect with him on Facebook , Instagram , or Twitter .

Maybe I can do this with Nancy Drew or a sci-fi book.

Hi Carly, A Nancy Drew novel should work well for this.

I do like Nancy Drew and have plenty of them. I should start reading.

Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Matt!

My pleasure – thanks!

I am wondering if you are going to do an article on Captain Marvel movie released this Friday and Avenger: Endgame April 26?

Planning to! I’m sick right now, but hoping to get to the theater for Captain Marvel next week.

thanks for telling. What specific writing subject are you going talk about using the movie as an example?

Don’t know. Have to see it first. 🙂

Thanks for sharing the results of your project. That’s pretty darned interesting. I particularly liked this insight: “I believe that, similarly to why dialogue tags being more perceived than read, emotional content is more felt than read.”

Hi Eric, Yes, I would not have realized that without highlighting sentences like “Langdon was amazed” on adjacent pages, then flipping back and asking myself “Hey – how’s he getting away with this? . . .”

It is fascinating to see the show and tell in actual successful use! Katie did a lot of work for us to benefit from.

Not me. This is actually a guest post. 🙂 Matt’s the one who did all the work for us!

But we’ve all learned so much from all your other posts!

Thanks, Matt. I generally know all this as a writer, but every now and then, someone puts it across in way that totally connects the dots. And you did just that. I would love to try this with one of Nalini Singh’s paranormal romance books.

Thanks Rayka – very nice of you to say. I come from an unemotional non-fiction technical writing background, so writing emotional content is something I really had to work at. And I’m still working on it . . .

Me too. Quite a struggle . Thanks for this exercise! I may try it on chapters from books in different genres.

Thanks, Tracie. Some have suggested the romance genre rather than thriller – I’m sure that would be a target-rich environment also!

I hate replies that say “I really needed to hear/read/etc this” because they usually are spam comments with a link to a gambling site or whatever. But … I really needed to read this today. I just read book one in a widely popular thriller series that included several movie and series adaptations. Everything we fledgling writers are told not to do was done. (Side note, I read books 8 & 9 before 1.)

I have long felt that, for much of the population, emotional keywords summon the feeling. As with object-oriented programming languages, the word opens up the reader’s own content library. Like men hearing the word “erection.” 😀 Sproing!

What a great learning project! I”d like to try it with one of Susan Wiggs’ women’s fiction.

Thanks, Jen. Yes, I had a lot to learn about writing emotional content (and still do!). This project really helped open my eyes.

Such a great post, thanks. I’m planning to do this with a romance novel, since that is what I’m trying to write. Romance is really emotion driven, so it should be a revealing experiment.

Thanks, Sally. Romance isn’t my genre, but I’d imagine it would work just as well as thrillers (and maybe better!) for such a project.

I’d like to try this experiment with Eudora Welty’s The Optimist’s Daughter. The novel is all about emotion without it being a soap opera. How did Welty pull that off? Plus it’s a short book.:-)

Thanks for the comment, Priscilla. There were times during this project when I wished Angels & Demons was a shorter book . . .

The insight on the repetitive emotions is especially interesting. In my manuscript, I’ve been wondering if I’ve said that people smile far too often. Since it’s one of those frequent emotional indicators (and can mean different things) maybe it’s not so bad. I hope (cringing in insecurity, not smiling).

Thanks, Lisa. “Smiling” is pretty general so I would think you could probably get away with it quite often. But I got dinged by my editor by expressing nervousness with “Sweat pebbled his forehead” twice. Even though the two were separated by hundreds of pages, there was something about “pebbled” that took her out of the story enough to tell me “Hey, you used that before.”

Writing emotions is so difficult. I’m going to pick a book and follow Matt’s suggestions although I do have a problem making marks in books, I’m already doing that to some extent. Thank you.

Hi Mary, I’m the same way usually, but just decided to by a trade paperback copy that I knew I wasn’t going to do anything else with but this project.

Another layer of complexity added to writing a novel. “Oh,” she sighed.

Thanks for a great idea!

Thanks, Febe. I learned a lot from it.

So, if I understand this correctly, you’re saying an emotional tell can work when done correctly? Wow, this makes the task of working emotions into our writing so much easier. I am definitely going to take my favorite book and analyze it. Thank you!

Hi Diane, I would not have thought so before seeing the exact three words “Langdon was amazed” repeated on pages 21 and 22. I would not have even noticed if I wasn’t highlighting emotional content. Emotional showing might still be preferable, but I think we can get away with repetitive emotional tells more than other repetition, like repeated setting descriptions that could really turn off readers.

Thanks for the post, Matt. I particularly liked the note about emotions being felt more than read. Also, what an inspired experiment! I’m keen to get started. 🙂

Thanks so much, Joan. Yes, I learned a lot by doing it!

Certainly going to do this with one of my favorite books. Speaking of analyzing, when looking for problems in a story,(according to Dramatica), how can you tell if, say, the overall story problem is manipulation?

Hi Casandra, Are you familiar with K.M. Weiland’s Story Structure Database? I think a lot can be learned about overall story structure there. I also found her “Structuring Your Novel” book very useful as well as the graphic by Matt Gemmell.

Ah, ha! I’ve been making MRUs and having nothing to put in most of the emotion part of the MRU, and vaguely tempted to post around the internet begging for a clue.

Well, this mostly because of avoiding telling…

And now, all I have to do is find a book that I can do this with. Well, that and organize myself enough to do it. But, one problem at a time!

Hi James, Yes it does take a lot of time. Priscilla Bettis left a comment about using a shorter book or novella – that sounded like a good idea!

I’m a slacker. I’m going to try doing this using a few chapters out of a Dan Brown novel and a Fiona McIntosh novel. I’ll make sure I include a highly emotive chapter and a non-emotional chapter.

Good idea, Kale. Getting through the entire Angels & Demons took a lot of time!

This was a really awesome post. Thank you so much. I’m currently working on my first draft of a YA contemporary, and my book coach recommended I read Story Genius because I wasn’t writing enough of the emotional story in my pages. I added more emotion to my pages but I feel like I’m being *dramatic* by emoting so much (although I’m sure some people would suggest there can never be too much emoting in a YA novel!) Anyway, pointing out nearly four emotional sentences per page is astounding, especially in light of how much you said telling emotion. I think that might have been why I’m feeling too dramatic. There was too much showing the emotion, which feels hyperbolic to me. I’m going to try telling more and see how that reads.

Also, I think I’m going to try your exercise with a few John Green favorites or Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.

Thanks so much, Sara. I learned a lot from it. But fair warning: it takes a lot of time.

Matt! This is not your grandfather’s deep dive. A deep dive would be a few lectures from your psychology professor and a follow-on homework assignment. What you have here is more along the lines of a Captain Nemo exploratory venture through the Marianas Trench.

I can’t wait to give it a try. If you don’t hear from me in about a month, notify the DSRV (Deep Sea Rescue Vehicle) Service of my last known location. 🙂

Hi Richard, I’m glad you’re going to try it. You’re right – it did take a lot of time, but it was so educational.

I have thought putting adverbs in to an action was the best way to communicate emotion but his has made me realize there’s more to it.

Hmm . . . I never thought about categorizing by sentence type (direct, indirect, verbal, facial, body language, internal, etc.) – that would’ve made an interesting extension to this project.

Hi Matt, What a great idea. This is synchronicity because I’m at that point in my current wip with editing and wondering how far to go with emotion. I think I’ll try it with one of my favorite Nora Robert’s books or perhaps Louise Penny’s Beautiful Mystery because that particular story has stuck with me a long time. Thank you!

Thanks, Robin! I did learn quite a bit from it, but it sure took a long time.

I feel like I should try this with one of the LOTR books…

Hi Icy, That sounds ambitious – those are huge books!

Thanks for the informative post, Matt. It made me cry. What? No. It made me laugh. Did I say that? I’m kidding. I enjoyed the post very much.

Ha – thanks, Dennis!

Thank you for this amazing assignment. I’m going to try this exercise with an ebook version to make it easy to transfer highlighted sentences to a database. I have not done this for a while, but there’s a way to export all highlights from a Kindle book, perhaps via the Amazon website. Pocketbook reader, an Android app, lets you export also. Much, much easier than retyping!

Great point, Sharon – I probably should have put that suggestion in the post. I was originally going to do this for less than half of the book, so when I decided to make the big project out of it using the whole book, I already had ~200 pages of the trade paperback highlighted. So I just slogged on.

I’m curious to know if you found some sentences with strong emotional content but which didn’t use any of the key emotion words from the dictionary. Sometimes the most powerful stuff has to be approached sideways. Were you able to find such context based emotions?

Hi J.A., Yes – in fact the vast majority were showing instead of telling. Like “The Aussie’s eyes went wide” for surprise, and “Langdon pounded his fist on the banister” for frustration. I also noticed Dan Brown uses a lot of POV character internal thoughts, italicized and ending with an explanation point, to convey internal emotion.

Good points. Try Ursula LeGuin’s “The Other Wind.” Masterful.

I love the “Oh” example. YouTube has a Key & Peele sketch called “OK,” where a character only says “OK” in response to all of her friend’s complaints about her boyfriend. Except the character’s tone varies with each “OK” that she says, and it’s enough to make her friend perceive her as having “spouted wisdom all night tonight.”

“OK!” “OK.” “OK?” “OK …” “O! K!”

Thanks for this post; you’ve reminded me to look into the “X thesaurus” series. I’ve been wanting to vary the facial expressions and gestures I have characters use with various emotions, e.g., furrowed brow, clenched jaw, etc. Your insight about the repetition of emotional displays is very reassuring; I’d been wondering about issues along those lines.

Thanks, Jamie – I’m glad you liked it. Yes, The Emotional Thesaurus is a great resource.

My first thought was “Outlander” or one of Gabaldon’s books. But “no way” am I going to spend that much time. I need to write, write, write. I will take a short peak, though . . . Thanks for the suggestions!

Oops. . . “peek”. . . or maybe “peak” expresses the emotion?

Aye, Sassanach – it is indeed time-consuming. Maybe you could try it on the first few chapters of Outlander? That was my intent with Angels & Demons until deciding to make such a big project out of it. An eBook would also make the copy/paste into a spreadsheet easier.

I want to try this on “the Girl with All the Gifts.” I love that book, and I saw it today at a local oppshop/thrift shop for $3 🙂

Sounds good, Aaron. Some commenters have mentioned copying and pasting from an eBook would be easier and take less time than highlighting and retyping from a physical copy.

I would never have thought of doing this. I think it would be very instructive although time consuming. I know I’d just get side tracked with the novel and forget I’m supposed to be logging the emotions!

Great point, Mel. But I’d read the book before, so I knew what was around every corner. Still, I had to remind myself “highlight emotion!” I still probably missed some.

Love it; super intriguing post. This should be a series of posts, as one just barely skims the surface.

Thanks so much Matt. Yes, I’m working on some other “experimental” projects that may reveal other writing insights from well-known authors. K.M. Weiland sounds receptive to more such posts in the future so, like a bad penny, I may be back.

What a great post! I’ve heard of a similar highlighting exercise, only with dialogue – so the writer learns how much dialogue to use – has to be from a well-written book they love.

Looking forward to hearing more from you, Matt!

Thanks, Sassy Brit. I hope to post again later this year.

What a very cool experiment, Matt. Interesting that so much is told (I bet this varies). It would be really interesting to graph out the percentages within the three act structure to see if the usage of emotions increased at turning points, etc. as it does at the climax. Good on you for thinking to do such a thing. 🙂

Thanks, Angela. Yes, that would be very interesting – I can guess where the peak emotional densities should be. Thank you so much for writing The Emotion Thesaurus with Becca Puglisi – what a great resource!

The main part of this that sticks with me is the idea that a certain amount of repetitive “he smiled” or “she frowned” might be okay, just the way “he said” can appear lots of times. Did I get that right?

Hi Thea, For Dan Brown, that seems to be the case. When I read Angels & Demons for pleasure years ago I didn’t notice anything repeating – it was just like watching a movie inside my brain. But when I sorted the spreadsheet by sentence, I saw all these repeated “tells” of emotion. Maybe when we read “he smiled” all we remember is “he’s happy.”

What do you mean by ‘repetitive emotional content? We’re forever being TOLD not to TELL. Show the emotion on the face, body language, etc. Is the TELL used more in certain genres? But “Langdon was amazed’ is a straight TELL. His eyes widened is SHOWING but doesn’t delineate the exact emotion. What sorts of instances on the page of are you including as EMOTIONS? Tell, show? Maass’s OTHER mode, seems to me, to suggest that elements such as scene, weather, gestures, etc are indicative of emotion.

Hi Annette, Yes, there were a few other cases of the “Langdon was amazed.” sentence – I just mentioned the two that were on adjacent pages. When reading for pleasure, I never noticed – I just felt the emotion as I took in the scene. I only noticed the repetition of tells when I started highlighting for this project. I just sorted my spreadsheet by sentence again, and there are no fewer than eleven “Kohler looked X.” sentences, with X = angry, astonished, incredulous, nonplussed, ready, startled, stunned, surprised, thunderstruck, uneasy, and unsettled. To me, these are all tells, but again I never noticed until highlighting for this project. So for me, I must just be remembering the feel of the emotion, not the words describing it. I hope that makes sense.

Yes, actually I do have Structuring Your Novel. It’s very useful and I would recommend it to anyone.

Hi Casandra, Yes, isn’t that a fantastic resource – it’s how I place all my plot/pinch points as I outline. Have you seen the visual chart that Matt Gemmell made from it?

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/resources/structuring-your-novel-visual-chart/

This is a literary hand-grenade! A veritable revolution in thought! We’re always told ‘show don’t tell’, but really the masters should be teaching we acolyte authors ‘show don’t tell setting, but tell don’t show emotions’.

Hi Don, Looking through my spreadsheet again, I see over half of the emotional content is actually shown (i.e. Langdon lay wide-eyed on the pile of books.), but there sure is a lot of telling also (i.e. Langdon was stunned). In retrospect, it would have been nice to use one more column to label as either “shown” or “told” so I’d know the exact percentages.

I love the idea of doing this research and thank you for this insightful exercise. But I would be careful to note whether Dan Brown specifically has a prose style any writer really wants to emulate. Dan Brown is known for masterful plotting, not works of gut-wrenching emotional gravitas. I’m worried people are going to walk away from this believing that redundant writing, clumsy dialog attributions and repetitive actions are the key to writing emotion. What you at studying here is bad writing.

Probably the best piece of writing advice I’ve read is from Stephen King, who admits to his own literary sins by explaining “I do it for the same reason any other writer does… Because I am afraid the reader won’t understand me if I don’t. I’m convinced that fear [of being misunderstood] is at the root of most bad writing.”

When you see a writer both telling and showing a character’s emotion, they are living in that fear. It’s totally possible to write compelling characters without relying on these verbal crutches. We learn this by studying the true masters of emotion, the ones who can tear you apart with a single line of dialog or (in the case of my favorite author, Ray Bradbury) a single description of a green trolley. I’d urge us all to dig deeper on this one. What book did you read that absolutely wrecked you? Study that one.

Thanks, Christy. Critics have said a lot about how Dan Brown’s writing could be improved, but he’s still one of my favorites. My intent here was to describe the experimental method, what it revealed in the case of this one book, and recommend others repeat the process with a copy of their own favorite novel, thus revealing how its author presents emotion on the page. Thanks for the Stephen King advice also – is that from his book ON WRITING? I’ve read it but don’t remember that bit. But I understand that fear he describes – in the first few pages of THE SHINING, I see the sentence “Jack felt a slow, hot grin.” Telling instead of showing. Perhaps we can get away with a few cases of telling, rather than showing, emotional content more easily than we can with the telling of other aspects of our writing.

Excellent! I read a book last fall, “Where the Crawdads Sing,” that was emotional at every turn. I would be highlighting often…author Delia Owens is a master of emotion.

Your post encourages me to delve deeper into writing emotions that the readers feel. Thank you!

Thanks, Mary J. You could repeat the process for a few chapters of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING. The real interesting thing is sorting the columns first by page number, then by emotion name, then by the actual sentence – and even a small sample will probably show you things about how Delia Owens treats emotional writing.

I think everyone is into conveying emotion effectively I always write for ’emotional effect.’ An analog is when people tell jokes. Do they know how to get a laugh!! The concept of selecting words statistically that convey different aspects of narrative, telling, showing, etc. goes back to the Pulp Fiction era, and before. Pulp Era Writing Tips, this is not a link, in Amazon, contains one article reprint that expands on the underlining technique. The first Tip from Elvis Joberg, who is a female, Is to take four pencils with different colored leads and underline: action, description, narration, and conversation. Some words are underlined twice…!!! This is just one of her ‘tips.’ And the book contains too many more gems to mention….

Thanks for that Rick – that sounds like a good resource! I’m not as familiar with the Pulp Fiction Era as I should be.

Matt, this is endlessly fascinating! Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles was the first book to make me weep in a good, long while—which I think would make it a prime subject for this experiment. Now to find the time…

Also, a big thank you for pulling a quote from my Well-Storied article on pacing. That was a lovely surprise!

Thanks, Kristen. Yes, this experiment does take time, but some have suggested copying and pasting from eBooks to speed up the process. Those Well-Storied articles are great – thanks for posting them!

I think it is important not to tell the very emotions of non-POV characters. An edgy voice – external evidence – is fine, but being amazed – looking into one’s head – is only OP for a POV character.

Thanks, Biep – I agree 100% I don’t remember Dan Brown being guilty of that during this experiment. All cases of “Langdon was amazed” and similar were in his POV. For telling, rather than showing, or other character’s emotions, it was always “Kohler looked X” or “Vitoria seemed Y.”

Thanks for a great post I can use right now. Who did the stunning art work at the beginning?

I’m not sure. I got it off the free image site Pixabay.com.

Thank you Kerry and The Author Chronicles.

Thank you Loleta Abi and Five Links.

[…] monumental task. Peter Mountford analyzes the 3rd person limited point of view, Matt Gianni studies how to write emotion, Sacha Black tackles writing villains and heroes, Bonnie Randall explores what type of violent […]

[…] https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-write-emotion/ “Not too many years ago, I thought an accurately portrayed scene naturally caused readers to […]

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How to Use Pathos in an Essay: Connecting Emotion and Persuasion

Table of contents, the power of pathos, techniques for utilizing pathos, balance and ethical considerations.

• Aristotle. (n.d.). Rhetoric. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16357
• Edlund, J. R. (2019). The Ethos-Pathos-Logos of Aristotle's Rhetoric. Humanities Commons. https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:24300/
• Perloff, M. (2009). The dynamics of persuasion: Communication and attitudes in the 21st century. Routledge.
• Johnson, R. H. (2005). Imagining the audience in audience appeals: Audience invoked in American public address textbooks, 1830-1930. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 8(3), 429-453.
• Walton, D. N. (2013). The new dialectic: Conversational contexts of argument. University of Toronto Press.
• Kellner, D. (2009). Critical theory, Marxism, and modernity. In The Routledge companion to social and political philosophy (pp. 381-395). Routledge.
• Gardner, R. C. (2019). Environmental psychology: An introduction. Routledge.
• Pinker, S. (2014). The sense of style: The thinking person's guide to writing in the 21st century. Penguin Books.
• Cialdini, R. B. (2008). Influence: Science and practice (Vol. 4). Pearson Education.
• Sobieraj, S., & Berry, J. M. (2011). From incivility to outrage: Political discourse in blogs, talk radio, and cable news. Political Communication, 28(1), 19-41.

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How to Write a Hook by Capturing Your Reader With Emotion

by Joslyn Chase | 0 comments

What keeps you reading, turning page after page of a book, unable to put it down? A skillful writer has hooked you, capturing your interest. And if you want to create the same experience for  your readers, you need to learn how to write a hook.

What readers want

What do readers demand from the stories they read? They expect to be entertained, to learn something, to be intellectually challenged, charmed, or tickled. Readers want to have questions raised and answered and they love action, chases, and puzzles.

But above all, readers read to feel something, to be stirred emotionally.

That’s why learning to craft an emotion-baited hook can be one of the most powerful tools in your toolbox. So let’s take a look at how to do that.

Light the spark

While it’s great to learn and develop the skill of pulling the reader inside your character’s viewpoint, allowing them to sense and undergo story events along with the character, the real goal is to open the door to a personal emotional experience for your reader. It’s almost magic how the emotion can leap like a spark from your character to your reader, firing the synapses that lead to an emotional response.

Through word choice, placement, and other techniques, we can set the stage for this to happen. As always, it’s vital to keep your target reader in mind, customizing to their preferences, and remembering that hooks are not intended to spur the reader long-term—just far enough to get them to the next hook.

Using hooks in combination is smart, too, as different hooks work more effectively for some readers than others. Install a backup or two.

What constitutes an Emotion hook?

In the article on Danger hooks , I talked about how action is not necessarily danger—it has to go farther than that. In the article on Surprise hooks , I talked about how the questions raised can’t be ordinary questions—it has to go farther than that. And now, I’m telling you that the emotions used in an Emotion hook are not standard level emotions—it has to go farther than that.

In a story, you want your reader to experience varying degrees of emotion rather than being in high gear the whole way through. But when it comes to setting the hook, put the emotion on steroids. And never forget context and reader expectations—those factors can change everything.

For instance, let’s say Gilda enters a singing competition and loses to a woman named Brandy. Gilda would be upset about that—an emotion, but not necessarily an overpowering one.

But what if Gilda knew that Brandy was having an affair with her husband? Now the singing prize isn’t the only competition Gilda is losing to Brandy. The emotion triggered by that realization could be devastating and would certainly qualify for the hook.

Let’s look at some examples

“She swung the frying pan around with all of her might. She caught him on the side of his skull, and the pan seemed to reverberate in her hands. He was still there, still standing, just staring at her. And then…He reached out. She screamed as his hands fell upon her shoulders.” The Face in The Window , Heather Graham

This comes at the end of a home invasion scene, and you can imagine the homeowner’s overwhelming terror as the predator withstood her defense and kept coming for her.

“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.” Lolita , Vladimir Nabokov

Clearly, this is no casual emotion, but a soul-burning obsession that goes over the top.

“Once upon a time, in a far-off land, I was kidnapped by a gang of fearless yet terrified young men with so much impossible hope beating inside their bodies it burned their very skin and strengthened their will right through their bones.” An Untamed State , Roxane Gay

This is the story opening, and reveals a glimpse of fiery determination that prompts the reader to remember a time when they felt that degree of motivation.

How to craft an Emotion hook

If you didn’t think to thread hooks throughout your manuscript, don’t despair! Catch it in the revision process.

Let’s watch that in action. Pretend this is the first draft of a short story mystery and I started it like this:

I once helped murder an innocent girl, and it wasn’t the first time I’d done such a thing.

Okay, that might get a reader’s attention, but does it contain emotion? Not such that you’d notice. Let’s go to the second draft.

On summer days, I remember how I helped murder an innocent girl and fulfil a gypsy’s curse. I feel terrible about it, especially because hers was not the first death I was responsible for.

So, now we’re getting a little more setting and flavor and we know he feels awful about what he’s done. But is it overpowering emotion? Not yet. Here’s the published version:

“When the breeze whistles through green leaves at a certain pitch or the crumbling smell of damp earth permeates the air, I remember the day I helped murder an innocent girl. Days like that, my part in fulfilling a gypsy’s curse and perpetuating a legend of blood and violence sits on me like a heavy sweat. The hell of it is, I don’t even count hers as the first death on my score sheet, but I’d roll naked through a bed of razor-fisted Dungeness to make sure it’s the last.” A Touch of Native Color , Joslyn Chase

Now we’ve got character voice, sensory detail, and fervent, tortured emotion. This hook will carry readers at least into the next paragraph where they’ll encounter more hooks.

Some final thoughts about writing hooks

We've reached the end of this four-part series on hooks. I'll leave you with these last notes:

• Train yourself to think in terms of hooks when you’re writing, but don’t sweat it if you miss an opportunity. Revision is a great time to employ hooks in your stories.
• Learn more about hooks and be aware of the different types that are available for your use. Mary Buckham has written some good books on the subject of writing active hooks .
• Use hooks in combination and thread new ones in as you go along.
• Always keep reader and genre expectations in mind when crafting hooks.
• Placement is as important as the hook itself. Create your hook as a standalone, or let it start or end the paragraph or scene. Don’t bury it.

If you missed the first articles in this series, check out question hooks , danger hooks , and surprise hooks . Now that you know the power of hooks and you have the tools to craft several varieties, go out and reel in some new readers!

How about you? What’s your favorite type of hook? Do you notice yourself getting “caught” by hooks in your reading? Tell us about it in the comments .

Once again, let’s practice developing a standard sentence into a compelling hook. Remember, the emotion involved in an emotion hook is extreme, so think in terms of overpowering emotion. Use one or more of the prompts below and craft an emotion hook as I did with my short story opening.

My mother called last night.

The envelope on Harry’s desk contained a pink slip.

Trudy ran a bubble bath and sank down among the lather.

Or use your own work in progress and craft an emotion hook from the opening paragraph or the close of a scene or chapter.

Write for fifteen minutes , and when you’re finished, post your work in the comments section . Be sure to provide feedback for your fellow writers!

Joslyn Chase

Any day where she can send readers to the edge of their seats, prickling with suspense and chewing their fingernails to the nub, is a good day for Joslyn. Pick up her latest thriller, Steadman's Blind , an explosive read that will keep you turning pages to the end. No Rest: 14 Tales of Chilling Suspense , Joslyn's latest collection of short suspense, is available for free at joslynchase.com .

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A Dozen Quick Hints

• 1. An expressive essay is about you , your thoughts, feelings, experiences, memories, and emotions. An expressive essay is written in the first person (I, me, and sometimes, we and us).   Use of the 2 nd person (you, yours) is not appropriate in this kind of essay .  
• An expressive essay is normally not subject to all the strict rules governing some other forms of college writing—for example, contractions and informal language might be allowable where they would not be permitted in informative writing. However, even though an expressive essay ordinarily uses a less formal style than other kinds of academic writing, you still must follow rules of grammar, spelling and word usage!   For example, do not call a person “that,” and make sure your sentence structure is correct.  
• It is customary in an expressive essay to use dialogue. English almost always requires joining-words for dialogue or quotes.    
• In expressive and descriptive writing, use descriptive language —that is, describe people, places, things and ideas that you make reference to, and do not simply name them.   Think in terms of the five senses :

Let your words carry the load, and do not rely on exclamation points . Even if the situation you describe is very exciting or emotional, avoid exclamations like: "Wow!"   " Damn!"   " Oh God!"   or the like.   And, never USE ALL CAPITALS to emphasize an exclamation.   This points you out as a childish writer. 

Essay on Emotions

Students are often asked to write an essay on Emotions in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Emotions

Understanding emotions.

Emotions are feelings that we experience daily. They can be happy, sad, angry, or scared. Emotions are important because they help us understand our world.

Types of Emotions

There are many types of emotions. Some common ones are joy, sadness, fear, and anger. Each emotion has a different effect on us.

Expressing Emotions

Expressing emotions is a part of being human. It’s okay to show how you feel. It’s also important to understand others’ emotions.

Managing Emotions

Managing emotions can be hard. But, with practice, we can learn to control our feelings. This can make us happier and healthier.

Also check:

250 Words Essay on Emotions

Introduction to emotions.

Emotions, complex psychological states involving three distinct components: a subjective experience, a physiological response, and a behavioral or expressive response, are fundamental to human experience. They serve as a universal language, transcending cultural and linguistic barriers.

The Role of Emotions

Emotions play a crucial role in our lives. They not only influence our mental state but also impact our physical well-being. They guide our actions, shape our relationships, and provide the lens through which we perceive the world. They can act as motivators, driving us towards specific goals or deterring us from potential hazards.

Emotions and Decision Making

In decision-making processes, emotions act as a compass, guiding us towards choices that feel right. They are intertwined with our cognitive processes, challenging the traditional dichotomy between emotion and reason. Recent research in neuroscience reveals that emotions are not just byproducts of cognition but play a central role in rational decision-making.

Emotional Intelligence

The concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI) has gained prominence in recent years. EI refers to the ability to recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions and those of others. It is a vital skill in navigating social interactions and maintaining mental health, highlighting the importance of emotional literacy in contemporary society.

In conclusion, emotions are an integral part of our existence, influencing our thoughts, actions, and interactions. Understanding and managing emotions are crucial for our personal growth and well-being. As we continue to explore the realm of emotions, we deepen our understanding of what it means to be human.

500 Words Essay on Emotions

The complexity of emotions.

Emotions, an integral part of human existence, are complex and multifaceted. They are powerful forces that can shape our actions, mold our perceptions, and influence our decisions. The study of emotions is an interdisciplinary endeavor, encompassing psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and sociology, among other fields.

Emotions can be understood as subjective, conscious experiences characterized primarily by psychophysiological expressions, biological reactions, and mental states. They are often associated with mood, temperament, personality, and motivation. Emotions are not just mere feelings; they are a sophisticated system that helps us interact with the world.

A pivotal theory in understanding emotions is the James-Lange theory, which postulates that our emotional responses are largely a result of our bodily reactions to stimuli. This theory suggests that we do not tremble because we are afraid; rather, we are afraid because we tremble. Conversely, the Cannon-Bard theory argues that physiological arousal and emotional experience occur simultaneously, yet independently.

Emotions and the Brain

Neuroscientific studies have identified specific brain regions associated with emotions. The amygdala, for instance, plays a crucial role in fear and aggression, while the hippocampus is linked with memory formation, which can evoke emotional responses. The prefrontal cortex is involved in the regulation of emotions, helping us to react appropriately to emotional stimuli.

Emotions serve several key functions. First, they prepare us for action by triggering physiological responses such as increased heart rate or adrenaline flow. Second, emotions can shape our learning and memory processes. We tend to remember emotionally charged events better than neutral ones, a phenomenon known as the emotion-enhanced memory effect.

Third, emotions facilitate our social interactions. They help us understand others’ feelings and intentions, enabling empathy and social bonding. Emotions also communicate information to others about our internal state. For example, a smile signals happiness and friendliness, while a frown indicates displeasure or concern.

Emotion Regulation

Emotion regulation is a vital aspect of emotional health and well-being. It refers to our ability to manage and modify our emotional reactions in order to achieve our goals or adapt to different situations. Techniques for emotion regulation can range from cognitive reappraisal (changing how we think about a situation) to mindfulness and meditation.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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75 Journal Prompts to Understand Your Emotions

Emotions can be tricky, right? One minute you’re on top of the world, and the next, you’re stuck in a whirlwind of frustration, sadness, or stress. It’s easy to get lost in the ups and downs, and sometimes it feels like understanding your emotions is just out of reach.

Still, understanding your emotions is crucial. After all, they affect how you relate to yourself, others, and the world around you. And let’s be real – burying your feelings under Netflix binges and endless scrolling only works for so long.

But there’s good news. All you need is a journal, a pen, and journal prompts to understand your emotions, so you can start untangling those emotions and actually make sense of them.

So, let’s dive in – it’s simpler than you think, and you might even be surprised by what you uncover.

How Journaling Helps You Understand Your Emotions

We’ve all been feeling overwhelmed by emotions and not knowing where to start. Maybe you’ve tried to ignore them, distract yourself, or even bottle them up, but, that rarely works in the long run. Journaling , on the other hand, can be an absolute game-changer when it comes to making sense of your feelings.

Journaling makes you slow down , reflect, and actually process what’s going on in your head. It’s like having a conversation with yourself, but with no filters, no judgment, just pure honesty. 

Plus, there’s actual science behind this – writing activates parts of your brain that help you process emotions more clearly. You’re not just reacting to how you feel anymore, but you’re starting to understand why you feel that way. And then it’s much easier to manage those emotions, instead of letting them control you.

If you want to get some clarity, journaling might just be the right practice for you. And, you don’t need hours of free time – just a few minutes a day to check in with yourself and see what’s really going on under the surface.

Identifying Your Current Emotions

• What emotion are you feeling most strongly right now? How is it showing up in your body?
• What happened today (or recently) that might have triggered this emotion?
• How does this emotion affect your thoughts and actions?
• If you had to name three other emotions you’re feeling right now, what would they be?
• What thoughts come to mind when you think about this emotion? Are they helpful or harmful?
• Do you feel like this emotion is familiar? When was the last time you felt this way?
• Are you avoiding any emotions? Why do you think that is?
• What do you need right now to help you process this emotion?
• What does this emotion want you to know or understand about yourself?
• How would you describe this emotion if it were a person? What would it say to you?
• What is the underlying cause of this emotion – stress, fear, excitement, or something else?
• Are there any unmet needs or desires fueling this emotion?
• How do you typically react when this emotion comes up? Is it a reaction you’re proud of?
• What would your ideal response to this emotion look like?
• How can you practice self-compassion while feeling this emotion?

Exploring the Root Causes of Your Emotions

• What past experience might be influencing how you’re feeling right now?
• Is this emotion tied to a specific belief or assumption you have about yourself or others?
• What expectations do you have that might be contributing to this emotion?
• Are you reacting to the situation in front of you, or is this a reaction to something from your past?
• How would your younger self handle this emotion? How has your reaction changed over time?
• Are there certain people or situations that consistently trigger this emotion for you? Why do you think that is?
• Do you think this emotion is based on reality, or could it be influenced by fears or insecurities?
• What stories are you telling yourself about this emotion? Are they helpful or hurtful?
• Is there a pattern to when and how this emotion shows up in your life?
• How did your family or childhood environment shape the way you deal with this emotion?
• What unmet needs are connected to this emotion? Is there something you’re longing for?
• Are you feeling this emotion as a way to protect yourself from something deeper?
• What part of your identity might be tied to this emotion? How does it shape how you see yourself?
• What assumptions are you making about the situation that might be fueling this emotion?
• If you could go back in time, what would you change about how you first learned to handle this emotion?

Understanding Emotional Patterns

• What emotions do you tend to feel most often? Why do you think these are your most common emotions?
• Do certain situations or environments consistently trigger strong emotions in you?
• What time of day or part of your week do you notice certain emotions showing up the most?
• Is there a pattern in how you respond to stress ? What emotion do you tend to feel first?
• How do your emotions change throughout the day? Are there specific moments when certain feelings emerge?
• What role do external factors (like the weather, your sleep, or social interactions) play in your emotional patterns?
• Are there particular relationships in your life that consistently trigger the same emotions?
• Do you notice a pattern in how you deal with difficult emotions? Do you avoid them, confront them, or something else?
• When you reflect on the past month , what emotional highs and lows stand out?
• Do you feel certain emotions more strongly in specific places (home, work, social settings)?
• When you feel an emotion repeatedly, what actions do you typically take (or avoid)?
• Are there specific thoughts or worries that frequently accompany certain emotions?
• Do you tend to react the same way to similar emotional triggers , or do your reactions change over time?
• What emotions tend to last the longest for you, and why do you think they linger?
• If you look at your emotional patterns, are there any emotions you’d like to experience more or less?

Cultivating Emotional Intelligence

• How can you name the emotion you’re feeling right now without judgment or labeling it as “good” or “bad”?
• What is this emotion trying to teach you about yourself or your current situation?
• How can you create a pause between feeling an emotion and reacting to it?
• What are some healthy ways you could express this emotion to someone else?
• When was the last time you acted on your emotions in a way that you felt proud of? What did you do differently?
• How can you be more aware of your emotional triggers without letting them control you?
• When you feel overwhelmed by emotions, how can you ground yourself and regain balance?
• How can you communicate your emotions more clearly to others without placing blame or guilt?
• What tools or strategies have helped you manage difficult emotions in the past? How can you apply them now?
• How can you show compassion to yourself when you’re feeling strong or negative emotions?
• What would it look like to take full responsibility for your emotions, rather than blaming external factors?
• When you’re in a heated emotional state, what are some ways you can respond thoughtfully instead of reacting impulsively?
• How do you differentiate between reacting from a place of emotion and responding from a place of logic?
• What boundaries can you set to protect your emotional well-being in difficult situations?
• How can you turn a current emotional challenge into an opportunity for personal growth?

Releasing and Letting Go

• What emotions or grudges are you holding onto that feel heavy or burdensome?
• How might holding onto these emotions be affecting your daily life and relationships?
• What would it feel like to let go of this emotion? What would change in your life?
• What steps can you take to start releasing these emotions in a healthy way?
• Are there past events or experiences that you’re holding onto? How can you come to terms with them?
• What role does forgiveness (of yourself or others) play in letting go of these emotions?
• How can you practice self-compassion while working through these emotions?
• What rituals or activities might help you symbolically or physically release these emotions (e.g., writing a letter, letting go of a memento)?
• How can you focus on the present moment instead of dwelling on past emotions?
• What positive changes could occur in your life if you successfully let go of these emotions?
• What new, healthier habits could you adopt to replace the old patterns of holding onto negative emotions?
• How can you support yourself emotionally during the process of letting go?
• What role does mindfulness or meditation play in helping you release these emotions?
• What support systems (friends, therapists, support groups) can help you in this process of emotional release?
• How can you celebrate or acknowledge the progress you make in letting go of these emotions?

Pin these journal prompts to understand your emotions for later!

Finding Your Emotional Balance

If you’ve ever felt lost when it comes to understanding your emotions, you’re not alone. Figuring out what’s going on inside your head can seem very challenging, but you don’t need to have all the answers right away.

Using the journal prompts to understand your emotions is a great way to start. Remember, everyone’s emotional journey is different, and what works for one person might not work for another. It’s okay to experiment and see what helps you the most.

Just keep in mind that finding your emotional balance is a process, and it might take a bit of time and some trial and error, but that’s perfectly normal. 

Keep writing, stay curious, and be patient with yourself. Each step you take brings you closer to a better understanding of your emotions and a more balanced emotional life.

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Emotional Pacing: Lessons in Writing a Trauma Memoir

As I began writing, I groped my way in the dark, daunted by the amount and nature of the material I had to cull. What I’d lived through was complex and layered, freighted with dark events and heavy emotions. More questions than solutions arose. For example, how should I present my mother’s abuse and neglect of me without those events overwhelming the narrative? How and when should I reveal that I’d discovered the family secret by snooping in my parents’ private papers when I was nine, leaving me with a secret of my own to hide? With each question, I confronted an artistic choice around where and how to present highly charged, emotionally laden content.

Memoirists who’d inspired me, such as Maya Angelou, Mary Karr, and Joy Harjo, had created compelling literary art from childhood familial trauma without its darkness and weight straining or imploding the narrative. They paced their memoirs, narratively and emotionally, handling their injurious experiences artfully and intentionally, modulating the emotion embedded in their experiences as a composer would when writing an especially moving musical score.

I began thinking of this modulating as “emotional pacing.” Intuitively, I sensed that it differs from narrative pacing in this way: Narrative pacing addresses the overall speed of storytelling; emotional pacing addresses the impact of events and their associated emotions throughout the narrative. I returned to Angelou, Karr, and Harjo to explore my intuition.

Through close reading, I detected recognizable patterns of emotional pacing that turned on the way each writer manipulated narrative distance around and between emotional events. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou manipulates narrative distance as if she were adjusting the lens of a movie camera, toggling between exposition and narration and shifting perspective between the narrator’s child and adult selves. Her shifts often incorporate poetic devices, figures of speech, and imagery to amplify or compress emotion or convey its felt sense in the body. For example, when depicting her rape as an eight-year-old, the narrator stays almost solely in narration from her child perspective, slowing the pace significantly up to the assault then pausing the pace completely during the assault. In that pause, the narrator shifts into exposition and her adult perspective to deliver the following commentary:

The act of rape on an eight-year-old body is a matter of the needle giving because the camel can’t. The child gives, because the body can, and the mind of the violator cannot.

The shift increases the scene’s emotional potency, while the graphic, biblically-inspired metaphor further intensifies both the emotions of terror, betrayal, and helplessness and the felt experience of physical pain from the rape itself. From her adult perspective, the narrator gives voice to what her eight-year-old self in the midst of being brutally violated couldn’t possibly have articulated. The shift in perspective amplifies the emotional impact of the rape, the resonance of which lingers in the chapters that follow.

In The Liars’ Club , Karr, like Angelou, manipulates narrative distance by toggling between both the narrator’s adult and child perspectives, and between exposition and narration. She also uses shifts in verb tense from past to present and closely-coupled digressions to pace important, emotionally impactful events such as her mother’s breakdown.

For example, after comparing her mother to Anthony Perkins’ character in Psycho from her adult perspective and in past tense, the narrator shifts to present tense and her child’s perspective:

Then we’re in the lavender bedroom….[Mother] picks up toys one at a time off the closet floor and flings them into the box. We have left our room a mess, she says in a hoarse voice I don’t think of as hers. But that’s the only voice she has left, her drunk Yankee one.

The syntax changes here, too, from more complex, textured sentences to shorter, more staccato, subject-verb-object constructions. The impact of this complex moment relies on slowing the narrative in present tense and zooming in through the narrator’s child perspective. Copious sensory details delivered in rich, figurative language—the narrator’s scuffed oxblood loafers, her satchel thumping her right hip, the day’s heat making the air thick as gauze —further intensify the scene’s emotions.

In Crazy Brave, Harjo uses yet another technique to manipulate narrative distance: blending genres. Her narrator incorporates poems, fictionalized memories, and mystical stories from her Native American heritage, fusing them with a more traditional approach to nonfiction narrative.

For example, the narrator interrupts the traditional narrative to braid in an archetypal Native American story of the girl and the water monster, “a story no one told anymore.” This story stands in as a microcosm for her own heroine’s journey to reclaim her power against a monster who she sees “fighting with lightning,” whose force “broke trees, stirred up killer winds.” Harjo inserts this metaphorical story between scenes in which she depicts her stepfather’s abuses and the imminent threat he presented to her and her family. It places her personal story within a universal story from her culture, thereby resurrecting the archetypal story and signaling that she will find her way out. Nested poems and indigenous stories function as step-backs from the intensity of the narrative that precedes and follows them while foreshadowing what is to come, lending texture and depth to the portrait she’s creating of her emerging Poet self.

The way each writer emotionally paced her story was driven by her story’s message. This was a direct response to questions that propelled her investigation into her past and that were reflected in the work’s themes. I saw how each story’s emotional pacing functioned separately but in tandem with its narrative pacing, each writer adjusting the narrative tempo as necessary to support the emotional story. Scene breaks and juxtapositions—almost any kind of change in technique—affected how emotions were carried or co-mingled, how long they were held, and the way they rose up and dissolved from one narrative moment to another.

Emotional pacing relies on shifts in narrative distance around and between the narrative’s emotional events. Techniques to accomplish this can be subtle, such as inserting a poetic device or creating a juxtaposition. They can be overt, such as changing point of view, verb tense, or genre, or inserting scene or chapter breaks. Typically, techniques are blended. How we select and combine them depends on our purpose in shaping the narrative to deliver a particular message. Try some of these techniques when writing about complex and layered experiences freighted with dark events and heavy emotions and see which ones bring the emotional story alive in the reader.

Aggie Stewart writes memoir and essays. She moderated a panel on emotional pacing in the trauma narrative at AWP22 in Philadelphia. She has an essay forthcoming in Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies in October 2022 . Ms. Stewart is writing a memoir about growing up in the shadow of her maternal aunt’s murder, which occurred when her mother was pregnant with her and which her mother kept a closely guarded family secret.

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Feelings and Emotions: The Essay, Part One

Part One: A plumber’s version

© Al Turtle 2000 Print this Paper in PDF

So many time I have found it useful to have learned about emotions.  I was not taught any of this when I was kid, and I went through so many experiences in life completely confused when it came to understanding, managing, and living with feelings.  I was also at a complete disadvantage when someone would flash their knowledge of feelings.  Like so  many, I learned to be respectful when someone shifted, saying, “I think you are being unfair. No, I feel you are being unfair.”

When I entered graduate school in counseling, my advisor asked my what a “feeling” was.   Whatever I said to him I do not recall, but he told me that I needed to get into the counseling program quick, to fix my woeful ignorance.

My Masters paper was written upon Anger: A Resource Paper for Teachers.  I had come a long way in a year. That paper, like my early training in Counseling, was a major turning point in my life.  It marked the path that lead to this set of Essays, which I think of as a plumber’s version of emotions – i.e. a description of emotions that even an uncomplicated guy could learn from.

And so, if you are confused about the role of emotions in your life, here we go with all the answers.

Thoughts vs Emotions

Before I launch into the guts of the matter, let me settle an important point.  Feelings are feelings and feelings are not thoughts.   People use the word “feeling” when they are speaking of thoughts often.  I think they learn this along the way, but also I think that many people are somewhat intimidated by the word “feeling” and thus people who use it are often treated as more believable.  Whatever, let me set the record straight right up front.

As I move along, you may get the impression that feelings are a bit more real than thought.  I believe that.  Feelings are very real.  They happen.  They exist even when people say they are not there.  People can misunderstand feeling, mis-label them, but the underlying feelings are still present. Feelings are very objective.  Researchers know what babies are feeling in the womb.  I can measure the contents of  your blood stream and thus measure and describe some of  your feelings.

I can not do that about your thoughts.  Thoughts or thought processes seem to be much more vague.  I can think one thing all morning and think the opposite all afternoon.  I can fully believe that which I fully disbelieve in 10 minutes.  I think of thoughts a little the way I think of data in a computer.  Words, words, words.

But feelings seem very solid.  I believe it is silly to trust thoughts and be hesitant about feelings.  Still that seems to be what our culture teaches.

Feel that.. vs Think that..

One thing I want to encourage you to do right now.  Stop saying. “I feel that….” or “I feel like….”   Those are some of the more misleading statements in the English language.  Use the word “feel” for a feeling and use the word “think” for a thought.

“I feel that you are cheating me.” Is a nice sentence, but critically defective.  The feeling is left out of it.  The sentence should read “I feel angry when I think you are cheating me.”  Now the “feeling” has been put back in.  And notice that the feeling, that was left out, is pretty important.

Learn to use “thought words” and separate them from “feeling words”.  I have found this to significantly clear up a great amount of confusion.

Thought words: think, believe, recall, imagine, guess, have a hunch.  Most thought words are followed by “that”.  “I believe that you are….”

I think that if you hear the word “feel” followed by “that”, we are not into talking about “feelings.”

Words and Symbols

That counseling profession taught me that all psychology was based on this wheel.   So here it is.

The sentence was taught me as, “Words and Symbols evoke Feelings, which evoke Thought Processes, which are full of Words and Symbols.”

I think of words as symbols.  They have spelling and use letters and when spoken, have sounds.  Other symbols may not have letters, may have only sounds, or just gestures.  Objects can be a symbol.

Studying General Semantics years ago, I learned that “words” do not have meaning.  People have meaning and people use words to try to communicate the meaning they have.  A dictionary, I recall, was a history book of the meanings that people have used a word for.   I learned to never argue about the meaning of a word, but to ask the user what they meant by it.  Who knows if they have the same meaning I have for a certain word?

The same is true of all symbols.  They mean different things to different people.  There is no right meaning for a word or a symbol. I suggest you get used to this idea.

Still all these words or symbols evoke feelings.  Yes, the feelings come first, before the thoughts.  I guess this is pretty basic to the way our brains work – fast.  If I show you a symbol of danger, your body starts to respond to that danger before the good old cortex decides what to do.  (See my Chapter on Safety, The Lizard.)  Apparently you body does not wait to think.  It moves.

My favorite word for this “evoking” is the word TRIGGER.  I use it a lot.  For me it means a “little thing” that kicks off something that may be a lot bigger.   Also it suggests a connection but not a causal connection.  I like that.  A symbol may trigger an emotion one time and may not the next time.

Emotions, Feelings, Affect

While I will define these words more fully later, here is my short description.  A feeling is an event in a person’s body that can be strong or weak or in-between.

I use the word Feeling and Emotion in the same way.  I think we have enough trouble getting the idea without splitting hairs over the difference between them.

Affect is a word often used in the medical world to refer to signs of the feelings a person is experiencing.  A nurse might make a note that a patient’s affect was agitated, which seems be the same as “the patient displayed behavior that indicates he feels agitated.”  Most people won’t run into the word “affect.”

Now, these events in the body have an effect on the brain.  Often the event is chemical and the chemicals (hormones, etc.) cause all sorts of shifts in the brain.  Still the important idea is that the events, the feelings, trigger thought processes – chains of thoughts.

Differing events trigger differing thought processes.  When a person is angry, some parts of the cortex are shut down and others are awakened.  When a person is scared, other parts are affected.   I think it is fascinating to watch people when their emotions are strong and to witness how different are the memories available to them in one state of emotions from another.

Thought Processes

I think of thought processes as strings of symbols like sentences.  They start, have a middle and come to an end.  Paragraphs are to me a little like a single thought process.  If I am trying to make a point, I will start, say some more and then finally reach an end.

I don’t think of thought processes as having any sort of reality to them per se.  I can think of a green elephant, but that doesn’t make a green elephant appear.  I can think that you are a crook, but that doesn’t make you a crook.

However, thought processes are full of symbols and words.  That’s the way our cortexes work and store things.  And those wonderful words and symbols may trigger new emotions.

And round we go, day in day out, all through our lives.  Fascinating and simple.

My profession told me that all kinds of therapy work on one or more parts of this wheel.

Giving people medicine attempts to interfere with the emotions that are triggered by the words and symbols.

Psycho Education or teaching, and that is what I am doing here, tries to change the thought processes that are kicked off by the emotions.  It also attempts to change the words and symbols those thought processes contain.

Behavior Modification often seeks to change the link between a word or a symbol and the emotions that are evoked.

Again, pretty simple, but fascinating.

Simplest of all emotions: Attraction

This paper will lead you to some interesting places and so let me start with something fun.  The simplest of all emotions is the emotion of attraction.   There are lots of words for this emotion but what I want you to do is experience it, now.

Think of the foods in your refrigerator and think of whether they “attract” you or “repel” you.  Just observe yourself and this one dimension of attraction. Now think of attraction as a measurable scale.

Plus 10 to minus 10

Absolute, powerful attraction, is a plus 10.  “Who cares”, or a neutral feeling is a zero.   Absolute and powerful feelings of getting away from it are minus 10.

Try this on a menu in a restaurant.  I bet you can “score” everything.

Now look around and everything and everyone in your life.  See the scores!  We often gather a lot of high plus score objects to us and put a lot of high negative things in the garbage.

This is a feeling.   Ask yourself, “Do feelings stay the same?”  Nope.  Is there any “right” or “wrong” about these scores?  Nope.  Does anyone have the same scores you have?  Nope.

Welcome to the world of feelings!  They are part of you, unique to you, and cannot be wrong!  They just are.

And so here I go with the best definition for feelings or emotions that I can come up with.  After I give you this definition I will give three examples that illustrate all parts of the definition.  Then I will describe the four prime emotions.

Remember that these are my definitions, not the “official” definitions.

An emotion has five distinct qualities: facticity, amount, consciousness, label and value.

An event in the body

An emotion is an event in your body. It actually happens.  It is measurable.  A person does not even need to be conscious to have emotions.  An emotion is not a figment of the imagination.

Since it is an event, an emotion exists in time.  They start, and the end.

It is possible to identify what babies feel even before they are born.  (The primary emotion they feel is pleasure, by the way.)

Chemical in nature: Intensity

Most emotions are chemicals.  All emotions act as if they were chemical.  The point here is that emotions do not click on and off.  And emotion starts, grows bigger and bigger and then may decrease until finally it ends.

Emotions always have an “amount” or intensity to them.  The question is never are you angry or not angry – yes or no.  The question is how angry are you.  How angry are you now?  And now?

As I mentioned in the simple emotion of attraction, I find it useful to put a number on the level of an emotion.  Zero means none.  I think of five as maximum.  And so to accurately speak of emotions one can say, “I was scared at a 5 level for a bit, but it decreased a while ago to about 3.  Now I am just a bit nervous, perhaps a 1.”

A decrease in intensity is often called a release or is spoke of as relief.  Remember this for later.

There is a component of awareness that comes with emotions.  One can be completely unaware of an emotion ripping through the body.  Or one can be unaware until an emotion reaches a certain level of intensity.  Or some even can bring an emotion to your awareness.

Some people are almost completely unaware of their own emotions.  Some are exquisitely sensitive.

One confusion about emotions is the difference between the emotion as an event, and the emotion as an experience.  It is possible for an emotion to begin at one time and to start affecting your behavior while you are still not aware of it.  At some point you become aware of the emotion and at that point your subjective awareness begins.  That awareness may continue until the level of that emotion is quite a bit lower.  Then the event may continue for a bit after you are no longer aware. If I ask you about your experience and I measure your emotional experience, reports may be quite different.

Another very difficult problem is that I can be having an emotion, I can be displaying signs of that emotion, others can observe these signs, and I can be completely unaware. Others may be much more aware of my feelings than I am.  In many ways I am an open book about some of my emotions.  I can try to keep them hidden, but feelings can be hard to hide.

When we speak about emotions, really we are reporting on them.  We are labeling what we are feeling.  And we can mislabel feelings quite easily.  When my professor asked me to describe an emotion and when I could not, he handed me a large list of words people have used for emotions.  I found this quite useful and include this list at the end of this chapter.

Social Value

Finally, emotions have value in our culture.  Some emotions are desirable at certain times and undesirable at others.  Some emotions are considered “bad” emotions.

For instance, I was taught that all emotions just “get in the way.”  In contrast I have learned that life is greatly more enjoyable when I treasure the emotions that move in me and others.

Before I go to work sharing my thoughts about the “big” emotions, I would like to give you some examples that I hope will illustrate all the parts of the definition.

Many would not thing of hunger as an emotion, but I think it is an excellent starting place.  Hunger is an event in your body.  It comes and goes.  It gets stronger and weaker.  Its chemistry relates to blood sugar levels in your body.

Note how awareness is involved.  Aren’t there times when you have worked for a while and then suddenly become aware of how hungry you are?  Truly, you’ve been hungry for some time, but just haven’t noticed.  “Wow! Am I famished! I could eat a horse.”  This is the exclamation of a person who has been distracted from the slow growing feeling of hunger.

Heck, I can remain hungry for some time during dinner. And I may still be eating while my hunger goes away.

Most people do not have any trouble reporting on their hunger.

But look at the issue of social value.  Ask yourself, what is the value of being hungry one hour before dinner time?  I’ve found it is a good time to not snack even though my stomach is growling. Then “dinner is served” and hunger is suddenly of high value.  “Aren’t you hungry, dear?  What’s the matter?”

This is a similar emotion in that it happens, grows larger and grows smaller (chemical).  The question is not “Are you thirsty?” but “How thirsty are you?”  I think thirst has something to do with inter-cellular water levels (event).

Again, a person can get thirsty without noticing it.  Think of how taverns take advantage of awareness.  They show customers pictures of water running, of salty products and even put popcorn on the tables, all to bring you awareness of your levels of thirst.  If you were only slightly thirsty when you arrived, the scene will not raise the level of your thirst, but will raise your awareness of it.

Most people are clear about their reporting of thirst, and speak clearly.

And again the social value of being thirsty is pretty simple. In most situations I think being thirsty is socially acceptable.

But do take notice that a person may say they are “thirsty for a cold beer,” when that is not exactly the emotion of thirst, but a matter of a desire for a particular taste or temperature. The label “thirsty” is being used differently.

Now let’s get into some fun.  Alertness I think of as the feeling of being awake or sleepy.  The more alert you are, the wider your eyes are and the more you tend to want to move.  The less alert you are, the more you yawn, look sleepy and tend to move less.

Alertness has to do with the reticular activating system in our brain.  It happens.  (Event)

The feeling of alertness goes up and down during the day and all night.  It becomes more or less intense (chemical).  Most adults have about a 90 minute cycle: alert at some point and then much slower about 45 minutes later.  Dreams take place in the alert part of our sleep periods.

A person can be sleepy and yawning while they think they are wide awake.  Here is an emotion that is quite visible to others, and yet may be out of our awareness.

Here is a story I tell my clients.  Imagine an 8-year old boy.  It is about 7:30 in the evening.  He is yawning.  A parent says to him, “Are you sleepy?”  The boy jerks, widens his eyes and says, :”Nope, definitely not!”  Here is a report about an emotion that is obviously out of sync with the “actual” emotion.  He is sleepy, but says he is not.  People can lie about their emotions quite easily.  What is going on here?  Well, the boy is actually answering a different question that the one being asked.  He is answering the question, “Do you want to be sent to bed?”  His answer is now obviously valid, where before it was confusing.

My point is that reports of emotions can be and are normally widely different from the emotion being felt or being observed.

And what of the social value of alertness?  During a school class or at church yawning is frowned on.  On Christmas Eve being wide awake is a handicap.

Need to pee

Not often thought of as an emotion, still it has all the characteristics.  The need does happen in your body (event). It involves chemical changes in the tissues of and surrounding your bladder. It grows more and more intense over time.

One can need to pee for quite some time before one becomes aware of it.  As an older man, I am quite aware of this phenomenon in the early morning.  Sometimes awareness can seem to increase the intensity.

But now I want to introduce another point about reporting.  Let’s say a friend is picking me up for a drive.  He asks if I need to use the bathroom.  I say, “No.”  He says that there will be not place to stop for about 2 hours, and now I change my report.  I say, “Yes.”  The report of an emotion can change based on a change in the situation while there is no change in the subjective feeling.

The social value of this “emotion” is also fascinating.  I think of how one person saying, “I need to visit the facilities,” can trigger many people getting up and going there together.  And, I recall once in military boot camp a sailor who was not allowed to go to the “head” as a kind of training incident – he was shamed.

Summary of Emotions: Part 1

Let us see where we have gotten so far.

• Emotions are not thoughts, beliefs or ideas
• Emotions are triggered within a person, never caused by the external world.
• Different emotions lead to different thoughts
• Emotions actually happen and have intensity that varies.
• Emotions and the reports of them can be quite different.
• Emotions occur whether we are aware of them or not.
• Other people can sometimes see our emotions, which we unaware of.
• Society has all sorts of rules around emotions.
• My boundary rules: All emotions are valid. and No one can make you feel anything.

Next Part on Feelings and Emotions

Feelings and Emotions: The Essay, Part One — 9 Comments

Curious in reference to emotions vs thoughts in the context that all emotions are not only reflective of past experiences (memories) but also the present state of mind also encompassing any current environmental factors.These must be considered relevant in relation to an action occurring. As we react to a situation, symbols – verbal and visual – are we not relying on the core basic thought pattern that is most paramount for all species – Survival ? Therefore I wonder if the topic regarding the chicken and the egg need to be discussed. I wish to say this is the first article of yours I have read and intend to follow up with additional research of your past articles. Thank you for the insight.. Enjoy the Day – with PMA Benny

Dear Al Turtle,

I refer to your essay about Emotion vs Thoughts.

I love your writing style! You make it so easy for a new comer to grasp the concept in the most simple way. I would like to read more of your essays…where can i look them up?

Thanks for the compliments. Most of my writings are in two places. This website http://www.alturtle.com has a couple of hundred articles. I have written quite alot more on http://www.marriageadvoceates.com in a section called Turtle’s Whiteboard . Enjoy.

i love the article

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‘So much mental load’: Mothers speak about school lunches

Associate Professor of Food, Nutrition and Health, University of British Columbia

Disclosure statement

Jennifer Black's research has recently been supported by SSHRC, CIHR and UBC's Health After 2020 and Social Exposome Cluster funding.

University of British Columbia provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation CA.

University of British Columbia provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA-FR.

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Parents of school-aged children have plenty on their plates as they transition back to school routines. For most Canadian families, beyond concerns about school supplies or new experiences, it also means another year of packing lunches — an essential daily task that can feel overwhelming.

Children need reliable access to healthy food at school to fuel learning, growth and nutrition needs . Despite the widely recognized importance of feeding children well on school days, many — including mothers we interviewed for a research study — underestimate the complexity, time, effort and significance of this seemingly mundane daily work .

In Canada , where fewer than 10 per cent of kids regularly eat school-provided meals, parents, especially mothers , are left to juggle school lunches, often under major pressure.

Read more: 4 school food program considerations based on insights from Newfoundland and Labrador

Social factors affecting health

My work with The Public Health and Urban Nutrition research group at University of British Columbia is concerned with understanding the complex social and contextual factors that shape the health of individuals, communities and the environment.

Our team works with community partners, including public health staff and school districts , to understand and improve school food programs.

In a recent study I collaborated on with the late sociologist Sinikka Elliott , master’s student Seri Niimi-Burch interviewed 14 mothers from a suburban British Columbia school district where a new lunch program was available for purchase, although most students still brought a packed lunch.

Ten participants were employed outside the home full- or part-time. Two were looking for work and four reported raising children or keeping house full-time. Twelve participants self-identified as white, one self-identified as Middle Eastern and another as Punjabi. Most described themselves as middle-class, while three self-identified as poor, low-income or working class.

Complex work to provide good lunch

These mothers taught us about the complex physical, mental and emotional work needed to provide a “good” school lunch. This included trying to live up to high expectations related to sending healthy and balanced meals that were also tasty and enjoyed by children.

These mothers spoke about the heavy responsibility for ensuring children are well-fed at school. One mother, aware her parenting may be judged based on her lunch-packing quality, told her son’s teachers, “don’t judge us for the foods we send to school.”

Another mom, a teacher herself, reflected on how she judged other parents, saying, “I think like oh, if I glanced as a teacher and looked in at this lunch kit, would I be thinking like oh, that looks like a healthy lunch or would I be thinking oh my God, what the heck is in there?”

The study revealed that mothers often felt scrutinized not only by teachers and other parents, but also by their own children.

Emotional weight of meeting needs

On one hand, mothers described enormous care and effort required to make lunches. Yet mothers also commonly downplayed their lunch-packing efforts, not wanting to look like they’d gone overboard, cared too much or were overly controlling.

While mothers developed routines to reduce the mental load of lunch planning, and described some tasks as repetitive and mundane, many detailed the complex planning and math involved in budgeting and buying the right amount and types of food, and the emotional weight of meeting their children’s needs and preferences.

Mothers’ responses reflected societal pressures about how women are expected to live up to ideals about good mothering, which often matched up with longstanding gender norms about middle-class mothering , including wanting their kids to “eat right” and being responsible for protecting children from future health risks and obesity.

Meaning in daily acts

Despite the strain, mothers also expressed pride and meaning cultivated through these daily caring acts. One mother said, “being able to know that he’s going to have something hot in his system at lunch time to keep him warm makes me feel good as a parent.”

Another shared: “I know if I’m feeding her good things in the day, it makes me feel good.” Others said packing lunch made them feel connected to their children.

Even when the same parents described how school lunch work is exhausting and stressful, they recognized food work as an important place for connecting with children and expressing their love and care .

The emotional, physical and cognitive work described in this research deserves more recognition. Food work, including lunch packing, is often ignored in health and nutrition research .

It’s time to actively recognize the value of school lunch work, and better support those who do it — whether it’s parents, other family members, caregivers or school lunch workers.

Directions for new school food approaches

In light of Canada’s new national school food policy , these findings could have implications as provinces seek to develop school food programs. The policy builds on a $1 billion commitment to create a new National School Food Program.

Read more: What needs to happen next for Canada to have a successful school food program

For parents who are already stretched thin, school-provided meals can reduce the time, money and mental load draining many Canadian families.

Canada ranks poorly compared to other wealthy countries in investments supporting children’s food and nutrition needs. In 2022, one in four children lived in a household experiencing food insecurity.

Our previous research found that more than one in 20 Canadian students reported eating no lunch at school on a nationwide survey, and students were twice as likely to miss school lunch altogether if they experienced food insecurity.

Much work involved in feeding children well

But school food initiatives will need continued support, evaluation and investment to reach their full potential.

Part of this will depend on developing programs that acknowledge the labour of connecting kids to food and how it matters as part of caring for them.

Read more: Care is the secret ingredient in school lunch programs

As Canadian policymakers work towards improving school food programs and better supporting families’ basic needs, we must acknowledge the vital roles of parents and lunch workers — and the complex realities of what it takes to navigate the physical, emotional and cognitive work needed to feed children well.

Recognizing the labour of lunch

Our research finds the daily act of packing lunches is more than a mundane chore. Mothers’ experiences of caring for children’s food needs were complex and wrapped up in notions of what it means to be a “good” mom.

Being responsible for providing a “balanced” lunch required not only a nutritious meal, but balancing emotional, physical and cognitive work.

Feeding children is a complex and meaningful form of care that fosters connections between caregivers and children and contributes to nutritional and social well-being, and children’s sense of being cared for .

Seri Niimi-Burch, a graduate of the master’s program in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems at UBC, co-authored this story.

• Food security
• Education policy
• School policy
• Back to school
• School lunches
• Emotional labour
• women's work
• school food programs

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