WRITING EMOTIONAL MOMENTS

Writing Practice and Meeting up with your MUSE

Writing Leap #62

Hi Writers,

Did you ever re-read your writing and cry because you were moved? Are you ever caught in a moment when a line of a play, the resonance of a melody coming through a bell-like voice or the reach of a new skyscraper makes you suck in your breath and blink back tears?

I’ve become increasingly emotional when I encounter something beautiful, something conceived by a person. I feel the deep creative energy, the inspiration and long hours  poured into the work.

I got teary-eyed when the curtain went up on the new Broadway production of “An American in Paris.” Dazzling colors and atmospheric lighting and genius design sprung up in one moment.

I saw this photograph online and my eyes misted over.

What if we took some of our own emotional moments and put them into our characters? Altered to suit our character’s personality? It could be a good way to add another layer to his or her persona. Especially if it’s a surprise.

My character, Samuel H. Mellow, has kept his emotional responses pretty muted. Not by design. He just seemed to be programmed that way. His wife, Sunny, didn’t seem to mind. He was very easy to live with, she said.

Samuel H. Mellow sat down on a bench in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and sighed. His wife had dragged him here and he’d had enough of walking around rooms filled with paintings that all looked alike. His bench was facing Rembrandt’s, “Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer.”

“That man looks like my Grandpa. Kind,” said a small boy sitting next to him. Samuel looked up at the painting. His eyes went to the elderly man’s face and stayed there. He felt himself expand inside. “That’s strange,” he thought. And to his surprise his eyes misted over.

“What’s the matter, Mister?” the boy said. “Don’t you like him?”

“Yes, yes. Of course I like him. I love him. Thank you son, thank you,” Samuel whispered and hurried off to find his wife.

Happy Writing all you talented writers out there! Let’s savor our emotional moments.