Between the lines of a story do you (the reader) experience, happiness, fear, angst, or disgust?
Maybe a little sadness, perhaps some despair?
In the safe confines of a novel a reader can immerse themselves, become part of the characters lives and experience the rawness of the emotion and live to tell the tale? How can I as a budding novelist persuade you (my reader) to read my novel?
Do we all experience the same reactions and emotions to a given situation? (Probably not.)
Perhaps not at the same time or in the same way in our busy and complex lives. But if each of us has loved and lost, then we know how that pain of losing feels. However, the way you experienced your pain may not be the same as mine…
And this is where I get brave and share my emotional frailty: I used to keep voicemail messages. That was until my dad died and yet I think about my dad most days with a massive amount of fondness however I couldn’t bear to hear his voice, not now. It tears me in half, shreds me to ribbons because I know that I will never see him again.
One of my leading ladies, Lucy has to face her devastating loss. I hope that I can convey her pain, make her emotion raw and let the energy pass from the page to the reader. To write believable characters and discover that I can achieve this emotional fagility would be reassuring, because if my reader is convinced of her pain and can feel the anguish, then my job is done.
I lost my dad in 2006. I think if you've lost someone, the writing of grief is that much easier. If you look at JK Rowling's work, grief and loss are there on every page.
ReplyDeleteFor a long time after my dad died I kept every email sent to me by people I loved, scared I'd lose a part of them if something happened. I've realised now, writing this, that I must have healed to a degree because I've found myself able to delete them now. Interesting.