Into the Fire

Passionate thoughts about the world of writing and the Power of God

recent posts

about

Passionate: right or wrong. Writes love stories with a passion. Raw Romantic Redemptive

Which one are you?

             Emotion-fb1

 

Recognize yourself in any of these? How would you classify your emotional makeup? Author Brenda Anderson says she rarely cries, and her husband calls her "The Ice Queen". Other authors note their various emotional - or lack thereof – statuses and how those affect their writing.

I've declared multiple times here I'm a sap. And I've found my emotions tipping into serious sappiness in recent times. You'll find it in my stories, but I hope it's not as effusive as in my real life. 

My anger tends to be subdued, certainly less demonstrative than my tearful eruptions and rarely spontaneous.

I love to laugh but haven't been able to find a lot lately to express that wonderful emotion of unabated frivolity.

Silly? Oh yeah. I can be silly with the best of them if the mood strikes. In a good way, you know. 

So how about you? If you're emotional – or not – how does it affect your writing? And your reading? 

 

Father, I'm grateful for the deep emotions. It's difficult at times, but I'd rather feel deeply than very little. Thank you, Lord. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
                    

Posted in

6 responses to “Which one are you?”

  1. BK Jackson Avatar
    BK Jackson

    I was thinking about this during the last several days with regard to emotions and journaling. For most people, when they are down or deliriously happy, that’s when they journal. They just pour their guts out on paper (or computer). You can tell the emotional times in their life by the volume of their journal.
    I’m the opposite. I’m living in one of the worst times of my life and if you were to steal a look at my journal you’d see nothing but empty space.
    I have to take care when I write fiction because I can be emotionally reserved there too. On the other hand, because I am reserved what others perceive as perfect, emotional writing I find overly melodramatic.

    Like

    Reply
  2. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    “Emotionally reserved” – I find that term speaks volumes. I think creating characters and drawing scenes requires exactly what the author intends for the particular piece of work and genre.
    I write emotional character studies. The people I create have to play into their own concepts of what’s happening around them. If there’s a stoic character required, then I better nail him/her down or there’s no “emotional” variety, and that’s important for a well-balanced portrayal of life and people.
    I have several journals, a couple of them beautiful: gifts from thoughtful and caring friends. They’re all empty. I don’t journal. I blog. 😉

    Like

    Reply
  3. Brenda Anderson Avatar
    Brenda Anderson

    Yep. You nailed me. 🙂 One day I was watching Les Miz with my daughter & husband, sitting right between them. During a very sad scene, I suddenly heard sobbing in stereo. My reaction? Chuckling. I couldn’t help it. The same thing happened during Marley & Me when everyone in the theater was sniffling.
    What’s interesting is that I’ve been told I write very emotional stories. Perhaps because I have to dig very deep to find that emotional well within me. But maybe what’s emotional to me, is melodramatic to someone else.

    Like

    Reply
  4. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    Ha! Or perhaps what’s melodramatic to some is emotional to you? Maybe it has to be extreme before you react emotionally?
    I think you capture emotion well in your writing and your reasoning seems sound to me, Bren.

    Like

    Reply
  5. BK Jackson Avatar
    BK Jackson

    You can see by the diverse responses how easily misunderstandings could occur when people react differently from an emotional standpoint to the same stimulus.
    And of course the emotional reaction would be different under different circumstances. Brenda A. makes me think how differently I react when it’s dogs vs. people. If there’s something sad about a dog, I’ll get very emotional instantly. If its about some person, it’s like, eh, whatever. Although with advancing age I’m softening more toward people.

    Like

    Reply
  6. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    Brenda, I can hardly look at a picture of a dog without breaking down – even if they’re happy! I cry over my dog for no good reason. Something about animals that touches deep. How is Aztec doing? And, yeah, people are getting a deeper reaction as I age. I do care. Just animals touch a different place . . .

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Brenda Anderson Cancel reply