I am so very glad it’s Friday. And that I have a long weekend. I’m weary. So tired my eyelids droop shut if I’m not actively occupying my mind or body. I’m on my second can of diet cola this morning. My fingers feel like lead and I have to resist the urge to drop my head on my desk and pass out.
The music bleeding through my headphones doesn’t really keep me awake – I don’t listen to it loud enough for that. But it does filter out the background noise. People talking and laughing about their weekends. The fax machine humming away. I haven’t figured out how to make it drown out the phone yet, but people might protest if I stopped answering my phone.
My point is…not that I’m tired ^_^ I mean, that’s the tip of the point, but that’s not the ultimate message. I’ve been talking to my Sweetie this week about emotion in writing. About how not feeling it can destroy a character’s voice.
Have you ever been told to smile when you’re on the phone, because it will show in your voice? This is a similiar concept. Or, if you prefer, method writing. The theory is, if you can get inside your characters’ heads and feel what they feel and think what they think, you can convey voice better. Or I can. Since this was all about me.
But stories are emotional things. Whether it’s the adrenaline of a fight, or the pain of a break-up, or the agony of losing a loved-one. There’s a lot to feel in stories. And the suggestion is I apply that to myself?
It’s not a foreign concept to me. I used to be able to do it all the time. The thing is, it’s not an easy thing for me to pull out of. Once I flip the switch and feel the emotion, I can’t just shut it off for a moment to take care of real life responsibilities and then turn it back on when it’s time to get back to writing.
Or can I? Are you a method writer? Do you feel everything your characters do, and if so, how do you make the transition back to real life without losing your mind? If not. If you can pour the emotion onto page without feeling it as you writer, I’d love some tips on how.
This is so me. I have a terrible time transitioning back to reality, especially in the first draft stage. When I come out of it, I’m loopy and tired. But I think it’s necessary for me to method write. I see everything vividly, and I become immersed, much to my family’s chagrin! : )
GREAT post!
When I’m first writing the novel, the first one or two drafts, I pretty much become that character–all my characters. In later drafts I am more objective and more distanced from my characters, trying to see the forest, not just the trees. It’s awful to have to pull out of playing the characters in the early drafts. It’s as if I become another person, which is one of the things I like about writing. But, my wife brings me back to reality very quickly. It’s a struggle staying in the fantasy world.
I get right in there with my characters too. My family are always asking why I’m talking to myself in front of the computer…