Hello everyone,
I joined this place to improve my writing, but it's hard to improve when there is no feedback, so does anyone have any tips to share? I would greatly appreciate any suggestions, but I would love some tips to get the character's emotions across. I'm having trouble with that, and it's no story when the characters themselves are emotionless or don't have complicated enough feelings. Thank you, and I hope guys have a fabulous day!
Writing Tips?
Midnight_Alpha changed the title to Writing Tips?.
Midnight_Alpha
Here are some tips I've learned through my experience.
Melodrama
This is something you want to avoid. It is the over-exaggeration of how a character feels or reacts to certain situations. Melodrama makes novels seem unrealistic: thus your readers won't feel connected with what your protagonist is feeling.Show not tell
We've heard this so many times before, haven't we? It's good to use this IF it's not overdone. Certainly, your characters will be feeling scared, afraid, sad, happy, more than once in your novel. Showing and showing and showing would make you end up having cliches.
Example:
Her heart pounded.
Her heart raced.
Her heart tried to escape her ribcage.
It's the same thing and readers will get bored of seeing it all over again with a few alterations. Only SHOW when the feelings of the character is relevant to the plot, but if not, then it's fine using she's scared, she's sad.
example: if your character is sad just because she lost her ring which is, let's say, has no relation to the plot, then you can just put "She's sad because she lost her ring" or a more fancy term for sad.
If your character is heartbroken because she broke up with a male supporting character or protag 2, and their relationship is important and relevant to the plot, then using show is a great option.
Dialogues
Sometimes, you can use dialogues rather than narratives.
"D-d-don't leave me, John."
Sometimes, it's great to use dialogues to express emotions. The stutter could indicate she's sad, shocked, which is further supported by "don't leave me, John".Figure of speech
" It was the year 1891. Storm clouds brewed over Europe--the result of a series of bombing. Some said it was the nationalists, other the anarchists. But as usual, my friend, Sherlock Holmes, had a different theory entirely."
Storm clouds brewed over Europe doesn't really mean there is a storm happening in Europe, or the continent is experiencing bad weather. It could indicate anger or gloom depending on the supporting details.
- How would you feel?
Think of the situation your character is feeling. How would you feel, react, if you are your character in the same situation? I love using this method. Side it with some music depending on the emotion. It'll help you imagine.
This is all I can think of. I hope these tips help!
Dont know if you are into fantasy/historic genre, but if you are then here it goes.
Have a cohesive setting, in terms of location, culture, period, language (incl. naming and spelling convetions). Below are the two most prevalent mistakes I've seen.
Please don't liberally slap "von Blahberg" on an English noble unless you have a proper explanation ready in hand.
Viscount (dunno why it's so popular among writers) was non-hereditary until later period, so if the story has a dude inheriting the title, then other stuff such as technology, fashion, customs, cuisine, forms of address, etc should be in line with the period.