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Create vivid imagery. Use a fresh approach to "showing" instead of "telling". Learn how to move your character through emotional steps to create compelling scenes that will keep your reader entranced.
Not only do our characters have an external journey but an internal one as well. Creating a complex character is easier said than done so here are a few excellent tips to get you started.
1. Avoid clichés. Find another way to use those tired clichés so they become original. Don't rely on the "pounding heart" to show fear. For instance, have you ever been so scared your heart felt like it was being sucked into quicksand? Draw from your own experiences to show emotions in a fresh way.
2. Use props or suggestions. Show your character's emotional state using concrete details within the scene. Details tell us how the character is feeling. Think about the last time you went to visit Aunt Mary and she insisted she was fine yet she kept rubbing her arthritic knee. Details make the difference.
3. Show emotion through dialogue and interior monologue. It's not always what the characters say; it's how they say it that makes for good scenes. Body language, too, is unspoken dialogue and can be a powerful tool to convey emotions and tension in a scene. Another good technique is using interior monologue to show how the character is reacting.
4. Avoid the predictable. Use opposites to create originality in your scenes. Is your character furious? Why not show him glib and charming, hiding the emotion he feels. Rethink your scene if you find yourself linking sadness with crying. Surprise your reader by showing your character reacting in an unpredictable way.
5. Move your character through steps of emotion. Your character should move through complex emotional steps. An excellent exercise to create vivid scenes is included below. Hopefully, you will be surprised by what you learn about "feelings".
Go back to an old scene you've written. Does your character move through at least 3 steps to the emotion? Consider rewriting the scene if they do not move through the emotional steps.
For instance, a character could move through 7 steps before reaching the final emotion of fear, starting with dismay, then moving to apprehension, anxiety, alarm, panic, and finally, terror
So, grab your thesaurus. Choose an emotion. Look up all the synonyms associated with the feeling. Move from the mildest to the strongest. Try this exercise with the worksheet at the end of this article.
For an in-depth understanding of how to use emotions, read Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood. I have drawn heavily from her book for my article. The how-to book, filled with writing exercises, is one of the best I have come across and is an indispensable guide. I paid $14.99 for the paperback and it was well worth the price. Use 5 synonyms from the thesaurus, moving from mildest to strongest in 5 degrees. Choose 1 emotion from the list: anger, hate, love, fear, shame, passion, despair, loneliness, contentment, other
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