How to develop character emotions

879 words
DEVELOPING CHARACTER EMOTIONS
By Richelle Putnam

Even the most remarkable plot pales and fades away without character emotions. Plot goads characters, but it’s emotions that drive them.

What makes a man rush into a burning building to save a child?

What makes a woman murder her lover, or abandon her children?

What drives a secret agent to betrayal?

Emotion, pure and simple, and without it your story is as dull as your characters.

So how do writers create vivid emotions? They observe and analyze, realizing that people, whether in real life or fiction, act and react according to who they are, where they've been, and how they arrived to where they are now.

Anger can enrage to the point of murder, but it can also provide strength to say no to a destructive relationship. Creators must reveal the difference.

Here is an excerpt from Jane Hamilton's, A MAP OF THE WORLD, Anchor Books, Copyright 1994, ISBN 0-385-72010-6:

========
It was eight-o'clock in the morning and Emma and Claire were in the living room in front of the television, within its electromagnetic field, watching cartoons beat each other over the head with bananas. I'm going to march in there, I thought, and smash the set. Why had we ever allowed our children to watch cartoons?
========

And from Brett Lott's, JEWEL, Pocket Books, copyright 1991, ISBN 0-671-04257-2.

========
Cathedral hadn't tended properly to my child, hadn't kept her out of reach of the lighter fluid. Hadn't called me away from ladling out dumplings and gravy to children at Bailey Grammar School while my own retarded child burned at my home. Blame was hers, hard and pure and cold.
=========

The difference in Jewel and Alice is that they arrived at anger from different personalities, circumstances, settings, and lives.

Here are seven steps that I use in developing character emotions:

(1) Reminisce. I try to remember how it felt to be jilted, cursed, rejected, complimented, encouraged, and loved? Did my stomach lurch? Did my skin turn clammy? Did I stutter? Reliving powerful emotions through words will transform lifeless characters into lifelike characters.

(2) Analyze. Can you recognize someone who is insecure? Fearful? Prideful? Actions and reactions speak loudly. An independent woman tackles a job with little hesitation, while a dependant woman shies away, happy to disappear into the background. An indigent man reacts to a stale piece of bread much differently than a wealthy man.

(3) Watch movies and plays. Award winning movies and plays all have one thing in common—-inspiring characters. In STEEL MAGNOLIAS, when Sally Field grieved the loss of her daughter, she cried, "I just want to hit something." My chest ached from crying. But when Olivia Dukakis yanked Shirley MacLaine into the forefront, and said, "Here hit this. Go on. Hit her hard," I laughed so much I didn't know if my tears were from laughing or crying. Through actions and reactions, these actors revealed who and what they are.

(4) Create histories. Your characters must have a past, but please not all on one page. Spread it into different scenes so it’ll blend in and not sit on top like curdled milk. Lifestyle, environment, education (or lack of it), and upbringing will form views, dislikes, fears, aspirations, etc., and these long-term feelings won’t change in a day. Introverts may gain confidence, but don’t miraculously become extroverts because they overcame an obstacle. Keep emotions true to a character’s nature.

(5) Forget generic words.

"She was so mad. How could he have done that to her?"

Madness can be silent, loud, violent, or vengeful. So which is it?

"She clenched her fists, holding back from slapping his face. How could he have done that to her?"
OR
"She clamped her jaw shut and turned away, determined not to look back."

See the difference? Showing, not telling, allow readers to experience with characters.

(6) Become an analyst. When your character says, "I'm angry," know them well enough to answer, "You are angry because your old-fashioned husband doesn't appreciate your preparing three meals a day, washing load after load of dirty clothes, and caring for two toddlers. You long to run away to a world without expectations. Your insides churn like a blender crushing ice, while, on the outside, you force smiles and placid words." Only you have the power to reveal your characters to others.

(7) Learn from, but don’t copy the greats. Discover your own greatness. Don’t try to recreate William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, Ernest Hemingway, and other prize-winning authors. Research them. What makes their characters stand out? Use a highlighter and mark emotions and descriptions that stirred you. Practice rewriting a scene, using different names, setting, circumstances, and emotions. Here’s a rewrite of the above Jane Hamilton scene:

It was midnight. John and Angelina were in her house. Blaring music shook the windows and disturbed the peace around them. Were they dancing? Making mad, passionate love? Or toasting a new life? I'm going to storm in there, I thought, and blow them away. I shook my head. How had I gotten to this point, parked outside my husband’s lover’s house, clutching a gun?

(8) Trust yourself and your characters. It takes time to build any relationship, even a fictitious one, so be patient. Then, you'll have no problem developing characters that readers are not likely to forget.

Copyright 2001 Richelle Putnam (richput.netdoor.com)
--



Developing Character Emotions is a step-by-step instruction article on how to develop character emotions.