How to Evoke Emotion and Move Your Readers to Tears
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 มิ.ย. 2020
- If you can figure out how to make people cry with your writing, chances are, they'll feel very connected to your book.
It's an incredible skill to have and a tough one to master. I'm not even sure it can be mastered. What will make some people cry, won't even make a dent on others.
However, I have got some practical tips and some...abstract tips that will help you make people cry with your writing.
If you're looking to improve your writing like I am, or you're just starting out with creative writing, I post two new videos every week.
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#authortube #writing #writingcommunity #makepeoplecry
For me, those tear-jerker moments have to come organically. If I try to 'make them happen', they come off as flat and forced. But if you focus on making your characters 'real', those emotional moments can happen spontaneously, and draw the reader into a heartbreaking moment.
As for the smile while crying being more gut-wrenching, I think it's because the person is struggling to put on a show of happiness (or trying to hide their sadness), but they are clearly losing the battle. That feeling of trying to manage loss, but failing, is something I think we can all relate to... :)
Doomsday Book and Never Let Me are two books I studied to learn how the authors made me water like a fountain. They built up to the sad or bittersweet ending in a very sneaky way. Little scenes early on earned call backs at the end that suddenly had new depth. That example with the dog collar is a great one; using a physical totem of the emotion/situation rather than name the emotion.
This explains why one of the scenes in my first draft hits me in the feels everytime I read it 😅
Just discovered you today. Thank you for your down-to-earth teaching. It's so helpful.
Welcome and thanks so much for watching. I'm glad you found me!
Your humility is endearing, and your manners when asking for subscribers I are rare and compelling. Better still, the tips and your presentation are clear and valuable. Thanks.
Thank you so much! These days I don't really ask viewers to subscribe at all, I figure everyone knows about subscriptions and if they do, they do.
I'm really glad the video was useful too. Much appreciated.
@@KierenWestwoodWriting I rewrote a scene. In the Philippines teachers once made the students kneel on dry beans as punishment. After studying your video, I wrote the scene to show the teacher giving the remaining dry beans to a child to take home to his hungry family(This follows a scene where she harshly disciplined the child).
I definitely relate - I tend to get emotional from fiction 😂
One thing that is sooo true that so many people get wrong, is what you said about showing and not telling. Actually describing a character's anguish is so much more effective than simply saying "they cried".
That final point (about the inversion) is actually something I hadn't really considered myself. This is very true though!
My biggest goal with my writing is to invoke emotion in the readers - I think this is one of the most important thing about writing and what gets people really invested in a story.
Great video Kieren, keep it up :)
Yeah, you’ve got to get past the plain, literal reading and into the reader’s emotional mind if you’re hoping to leave an impression. Totally agree, I think that should always be the goal when writing ☺️ thanks so much!
Please watch 3 idiots by Raju Hirani. It will be the best movie you have seen in a while.
GREAT SUGGESTIONS!! THANK YOU.
I am one of the last people to cry from movies or TV shows (it's not that great actually), and I have just watched the third episode of Arcane for the third time, and it was the first time in my life I have ever cried like that from something I watched on the screen.
It was a so unfamiliar sensation. Of course, I have cried many times throughout my life (I am 15 years old, for that matter), but simply sobbing because of a TV episode never happened to me until today, and I am so thankful for that.
I think being moved to tears by something is one of the best compliments you can give an artist on their work! It's like finding a tangible piece of the human condition for a moment, I love it 🙂 I'm glad you had that moment.
@@KierenWestwoodWriting Thanks man! absolutely agree
I love this video! I've been writing for a few years now, and this commentary offers some richer food for thought than what I needed at the beginning of my journey. I've been doing a lot of this subconsciously now, but it's good to have it put into concrete tips that I can refer to later on!
This video was really hard to make and overall not my clearest, but hopeful it has some value if you're looking to make your readers shed a few! 🙃😢
'emotional shed' 😂😂 you're pretty funny. Thanks so much for this, Kieren!
I try! Too hard probably 😂 Not my best video, or my most concise, but thanks for watching anyway!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting are you open to more video ideas at all?
opollitico absolutely, fire away!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting I know this author online, he's written hundreds (I think) books. He calls the process of writing the middle part of the book the 'Marathon of The Middle'. Any thoughts, tips? In terms of the practical aspect of writing, how do you keep that inspiration going, particularly as a writer yourself?
That was great! Thanks for that. 👍
I'll give this a try now ...
I'm reading HP for the first time with my 8yo at the moment and I'll be looking out for clues about Snape now! ;)
Just discovered your videos, which are little gems. Thx for making them!
Welcome! Thanks for being here ☺️
i love this video a lot. i think i will be really happy if i would find out that people cried bc of what i write- it is one of my goals idk, anyway this vid helped a lot.
It’s a really big compliment to the writer I think, I hat someone felt so strongly about their story. Hard to do, but we’ll worth going for, go for it! 🙂 Thanks so much for watching
I'm so grateful for your videos. It's as if I'm back in school not understanding formulas in Chemistry, then at home, my brother demonstrates them in the kitchen and I suddenly feel enlightened and absolutely don't mind cleaning up the mess (in present case an entire manuscript) 🎉🙏🏻✨💥 Thank you so much
That's so nice to hear, thank you. I'm really glad you find them useful :)
Great tips. I'm a picture book writer and this works for picture books too. I hate it when the illustrations show characters crying. Did I say I hate it? I just hate it. I like emotional picture books when they are done right but the character crying in the picture put me off. The writing should convey the emotion, not the picture. It's just cheap to use your illustrator to do YOUR job. Make your character ALMOST CRY on the picture, on the verge is more powerful, just like your example with a faint smile while crying during a goodbye scene. Don't smack your readers with over-the-top emotions, I think that's the key. You said it right, readers are not stupid and we normally hide the fact that we're crying. Let them work for the story, let them add 2 and 2 themselves. We all love to be sofa detectives, so we like to use our skills to work things out ourselves and try to understand the story/crime based on info and clues. Make them work ( your readers ) and they will love your books more.
That's a really good point. It can definitely feel cheap.
It makes so much more sense to me that a real emotional reaction in a reader would come from subtlety, rather than being slapped in the face with sadness.
I think readers need to be able to read things in their own way in order to relate and make that connection, rather than be told 'you will be saddened by this'.
Very much agree with your thoughts, thanks for watching!
Why would you *want* to make your readers cry?
I once "succeeded" in doing that (with a brief abstract sketch; a sort of illustration to a movement in a musical piece Schubert). That was some 25 years ago. I haven't quite forgiven myself for that "feat".
You're a genius, Kieren. 💙
Well, I'm not sure about that! But thank you!
I'm watching several videos of different writers. To be honest you are impressively good at explaining things and moreover, you are the only one that explains really well how to show emotions in writing. Great work! really happy that I found you on TH-cam as you are solving a ton of problems with my writing. I'm really starting to understand between a good and a bad way to show feelings.
Thank you, I'm so glad I've been able to help. I love hearing that other writers have found something useful it's why I do this! :)
@@KierenWestwoodWriting I'm still pushing on improving several aspects of my thriller/fantasy novel and every day I'm basically fixing different issues that I'm encountering in. I'm starting really to enjoy writing especially in English. It's a real challenge for me but also a great opportunity for learning.
@@KierenWestwoodWriting I have answered at your questions. I hope it can be useful for you. The only thing that I might humbling suggesting is to create an Intro for the videos (hook) that catch the attention of people.
Hey Kieren, maaan! I really love your channel!
I think the advice here is solid, love the flow of your narrative, love the reality you convey.
Haven't watched the latest one (I'm saving it for when I'm participating in a competition), but watched a couple and really loved them. Insta sub =)
Hey Joriam! Thank you so much that’s a massive compliment. It’s been great connecting with so many authortubers and I so badly need to sit down and catch up on everyone’s videos! ☺️
Wonderful explanation. Thanks. You're a good teacher and I've subscribed
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.
About relating to characters, i can't relate to Tommas in the Maze Runner James Dashner
There are rare sad scenes that moves me. I feel like sad scenes are added to make us weep for no reason. So, I prefer not to feel anything.
Ironically, for some reason, I know how write sad thing.
Very insightful video. I think your channel is one of the best channels about writing I've ever come across. Btw your name is a lil hard to remember, do you think you could change the channel's name so it could reach more people? Feel free to correct me if I'm missing something.
Yeah It is always a tricky one to make someone cry.
It only seems to be my contemporary fiction work that causes tears.
Clint Eastwood in El Camino seems a good example one of those characters that switch on you.
Absolutely, yeah!
I only cry when I’m stressed or when I’m anxious :/
Me too, but a book can definitely add to those feelings for me. Hopefully you don’t feel like that too often! Thanks so much for watching ☺️
If you wanna laugh, cry, laugh while crying make a review on 3 ediots. All the Indians will watch and comment for sure. 😂😂😂
Your video is really good. Thank you. But I struggled so hard to hear what you were saying. You were rushing your words so fast. Please remember that you're not talking to only Americans and British.
You're also talking to Non English people like Asians, Africans etc. So please talk in a way that everyone can hear what you are saying. Don't rush your words.
Thank you
Apologies if it's hard to follow, it's been a couple of years since I made this video though. I'm a little more comfortable and intentional on camera these days.