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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30232
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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.

Original score: 1