Bruce Lee: 'Don't think, feel.'
Bruce Lee was a mindfulness guru long before it became a big 'new' thing in the 1990s. "We need emotional content,' he instructed his young martial arts trainee in the 1973 film "Enter the Dragon." "Like a finger pointing a way to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger, or you'll miss all that heavenly glory." In this clip, you will see Bruce using a harsh but effective method of making his students remember his lessons:
Bruce describes the essential edge to be a successful martial artist as "to feel' by which he means to bring our heart and soul into everything. To have conviction, passion and a full commitment. It is the opposite of going through the motions.
So it is with writing our stories.. We have to dig deep into our own psyche and our own life experiences to write emotional content that is full of meaning for readers. They want to feel the character's pain and happiness and will relate it to their own lives.
Why is writing emotions important? When our writing deeply affects our reader's emotions, it becomes part of them. It is not forgotten. It becomes memory and ia recalled from time to time.
I've recently finished reading Hilary Mantel's 3rd novel in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, 'The Mirror and the Light.' On the cover, a quotation from the 'Guardian' reviewer describes it simply as "A Masterpiece." It is not hyperbole. Mantel is masterful at evoking the emotions of her characters and conveying them to readers. On occasion, it is not what the character says or does, but what they don't say or do. It is an absence, such as the scene on page 801 when Lord Cromwell is with the King (Henry XIII) - the last sentence is:
"The king turns away and stares at the wall. As if he has been entranced by the panelling, absorbed into the linenfold."
The reader's heart plummets, and dread replaces our blood. The power of the King's gaze and the absence of it. Thomas Cromwell is out of the King's favour. He is already dead.
The final scene where Cromwell is led to the block and executed and we 'hear' his thoughts up until and even after his death is extraordinary writing.
"All the bloodied waters have run under bridges."
How can we bring our readers to tears or to laughter? By learning and implementing some proven techniques, such as the following:
Do not name the emotion, show the emotion. When revising, look for instances where you have named the motion. Nine times out of ten, it indicates that the emotion has not sufficiently been shown through thought, sensations and body language.
In a major scene, identify the emotion you wish to convey and think in terms of three. What three ways have you reinforced the character's feelings through your choices of verbal and non-verbal communication?
Less 'smiling' and 'frowning.' Our emotional spectrum is vast, yet often we only write the more prominent 'core' feelings. Go off the map! Incorporate a wider variety of emotional actions and reactions in your writing. Make a list of your 'go to' expressions, locate them in your manuscript and substitute an alternative one.
n.b. The above three techniques are adapted from 'The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression, 2nd edition, by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. I have recommended this terrific writing resource book to many of my author clients and I use it frequently. (Available via amazon.com.au)
If you have any concerns about the emotional content in your novel, short story or memoir, we can help. Contact Lynne today, I will provide a mini assessment of your writing. In January and February 2025, it's free.
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Lynne Lloyd
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