So lately I’ve been living on a mixture of anxiety and nerves for reasons I won’t get into, it's just a reoccurring situation that appears to improve only to bounce back to square one again and again. Anyway it *seems* like someone has stepped in to rectify the situation. I only have a strong suspicion of this but honest to goodness it’s like a weight (temporarily at least) has been lifted off my shoulders. All day yesterday I kept breaking out in smiles at what the change means for my future. Then last night I was reading in bed and came across a scene where the protagonist, who had been living in the clutches of an overweening fear, came to believe, truly believe, that the situation had changed. They had hope for good things again. And I burst into tears at that point and had myself a good cry because I could relate that moment. I was living it. What had me grinning all day came out in this great slobbering rush of relief and pent up pain. This moment catharsis, I think, is something authors should aim for not only for their characters, but even perhaps that the veracity of emotion will hit home for even one reader out there. That it will be hit in the gut. Maybe to a small degree we all read for those moments, to (re)experience the pain and the joys and the confusion and the yearning and every other emotion in between. It makes the reading more memorable.
Tapping that Writerly Vein
Sunday, March 06, 2011
So lately I’ve been living on a mixture of anxiety and nerves for reasons I won’t get into, it's just a reoccurring situation that appears to improve only to bounce back to square one again and again. Anyway it *seems* like someone has stepped in to rectify the situation. I only have a strong suspicion of this but honest to goodness it’s like a weight (temporarily at least) has been lifted off my shoulders. All day yesterday I kept breaking out in smiles at what the change means for my future. Then last night I was reading in bed and came across a scene where the protagonist, who had been living in the clutches of an overweening fear, came to believe, truly believe, that the situation had changed. They had hope for good things again. And I burst into tears at that point and had myself a good cry because I could relate that moment. I was living it. What had me grinning all day came out in this great slobbering rush of relief and pent up pain. This moment catharsis, I think, is something authors should aim for not only for their characters, but even perhaps that the veracity of emotion will hit home for even one reader out there. That it will be hit in the gut. Maybe to a small degree we all read for those moments, to (re)experience the pain and the joys and the confusion and the yearning and every other emotion in between. It makes the reading more memorable.
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2 comments:
yes, exactly.
Agree.
That cathartic moment can make the difference between an ok read & a keeper.
Take care of yourself, hon.
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