I think there are too many aspects to good emotive writing to list (after all, the way to communicate ideas in a language is covered pretty nicely by its lexicon and grammar; emotion by everything else on top of that), but here are the ones that I think are most important:

1 - A single underlying emotive concept:

This is probably obvious, for the most part, and there are also probably some noteworthy exceptions, but I think as a general rule a piece of emotive writing should have some kind of specific underlying emotional thrust to it (i.e. more specific than simply "I want the reader to feel [emotion]").

For example, if the underlying emotive concept of a passage is that a character misses somebody who has died, make sure that every sentence in it serves that specific concept in some way.

I think this is usually best done somewhat indirectly. Since emotional states are usually associated with obsessive thought processes (of some form or other), capturing this in how you write can be an effective way to communicate emotion. Perhaps (to use the aforementioned example) you could list specific things about the person that the character misses, things they'll never be able to do with that person, etc..

If you help us to experience what thoughts the character is experiencing, we will be infected with their emotions, too.

You don't even need to mention emotions at all for this to work (and I think it's often better if you don't). Capture the thought patterns effectively enough and you shouldn't need to consciously think about evoking emotion. It should just come.

2 - Rhythm:

The content (i.e. the actual ideas you're communicating) can be brilliant, but the emotion might still fall flat if the rhythm of the writing undoes it.

How long the sentences are, how complex they are, how repetative the rhythm is, all of these things will influence how the reader processes their contents. It will change which words the emphasis falls on, it will change the amount of significance the reader places on things (e.g. something nested in a larger sentence will usually feel less significant than something given a sentence of its own), and it will help to create (or disrupt) the flow that the reader follows as they read.

As for how to find the right rhythm, this will depend on the specific writing, your writing style, the emotion you're trying to put across, etc., but if a piece isn't working and you don't think the ideas are the problem, maybe try messing around with the rhythm to see if this can increase its impact.

3 - Setup:

This is probably fairly self explanatory, so I'll keep it brief. Pretty much any piece of emotive writing (at least, in the context of fiction) is reliant on what comes before it. The above example of the character missing someone else would be far more powerful at the end (or in the middle) of a story, where the relationship between the two characters is already well established, than it would be at the start. Equally, if the character is set up as being very pragmatic and unsentimental, the mere fact that they're stopping to think about their missing friend at all might be a testament to the strength of their affection and emotion. Without this setup, that impact would be lost completely.

4 - Get involved:

If you're trying to evoke an emotion, try to feel it. Find a way (in your head, on paper, via interpretive dance - it doesn't matter) to sympathise with the character. Make yourself feel what they feel, and try to capture that. It will always come across more effectively than if you try to reason your way into how they're feeling. If you do that, you're essentially trying to reason the reader into feeling it. This rarely works.

I don't mean, of course, that to write about a grieving character you have to be currently experiencing grief, only that you should experience some kind of sympathy for them, and channel this into your writing.

posted about 7 years ago

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TheTermiteSociety‭

65 reputation 3 8 11 0

• Be sensual. Describe how thinks feel, look, smell. In a story, put the reader in a setting and make them feel like they're really there. Include small, realistic details to further the illusion.

• Be passionate. Use metaphors, hyperbole and similes to add color to your writing. If you're making an argument, go a little overboard in your word choice. Your opponent's position isn't just suboptimal or misguided; it's delusional and destructive. (Often, people overdo this, but you might benefit from doing it a little more.)

• Be weird. Use an unnecessarily ornate word. Use an idiom or regional slang. Use an unusual sentence structure. Use some alliteration. Do something to let your reader know that they're reading something written by Corey, not someone else. I can tell when I'm reading something by Hemingway or Twain, because they each have a distinct voice that comes across in their writing. Find your voice.

posted almost 14 years ago

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System‭

3226 reputation 147 215 553 0

Writing isn't emotional; stories are emotional. Paint isn't emotional; pictures are emotional. Notes aren't emotional; music is emotional.

While some words are certainly more emotionally changed than others, even the trigger power of certain words depends on their context in a story. Emotion in a story comes, essentially, from the gain or loss of things loved or hoped for, and from the trials encountered and courage displayed in the pursuit or defence of that which is loved or hoped for.

To make your writing emotional, you must tell a story and the substance of that story must be the gain or loss of things hoped for or things loved. There are obviously good and bad ways to tell this story, but they are secondary. The best telling my heighten the emotion; the worst telling may blunt it, but the core emotion will still come through from the story itself.

What good telling can do for a story is mostly to heighten the intensity of the hope, and the attachment of the reader to the person whose hope is portrayed. The more keenly we perceive the character (like them or not) the more engaged we are with their hope and the more keenly we feel their triumph or loss.

posted about 7 years ago

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Mark Baker‭

4371 reputation 12 1104 744 58

To elicit emotions, you have to have emotions. That is actually a problem for some people; they (by nature or upbringing or both) remain analytical or cynical about most things. They don't get very emotional about topics that are not extreme in nature, or to them seem to be par for the course (like political corruption, getting overcharged for car repairs, finding out their CEO has just been arrested for having a secret stash of child porn.)

So if you do have an emotions about what you are writing about, you need to analyze them. What makes you happy or sad or angry or disgusted by the story, or what somebody did, or what somebody failed to do?

Pick your emotion and the instance and in your writing, you want to highlight the emotional ramifications so you can elicit the same emotion in people like yourself. (I don't advise trying to know your audience except in the most general terms. Meaning there is a way to appeal to children, or young adults, or young adult women, or other relatively large demographics, but when it comes to emotion you don't know them that well. Presume your emotional reaction is within the typical boundaries and write to appeal to yourself.)

The goal is that if you put your writing aside, and read it tomorrow, you will retrigger the same emotions in yourself. If you don't, you aren't going to trigger them in anybody else. Find the adjectives and poetry such that, if you are appalled, the audience will be too. You still need to describe the facts, but add enough adjectives and description so you don't just guide the reader through what happened, but what you felt while it was happening. (Or if you weren't there, how you felt imagining it happening.)

posted about 7 years ago

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Amadeus‭

3156 reputation 2 1399 613 37

Simple. What makes writing emotional is when the author draws on their own emotional experiences. Trying to simulate emotion by reading other authors will not come off as genuine as using first hand experience. The depth at which one can feel emotions is the depth at which they can potentially communicate them.

posted almost 14 years ago

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classer‭

5 reputation 0 1 1 0