Crying.
Yeah. I mean, really, what is fun about having your eyes get all wet when you're not even underwater, and then potentially ruining your non-waterproof mascara (because that stuff is hard to wash off), and then comes the sobbing where you lose your primal ability as a human being to form actual words and sentences. Puffy eyes. Red cheeks. I'm not even going to talk about the snot....let's just say, that despite the fact that I am incredidbly silly--I'm also a very sensitive person.
I blame it on my birthday--I have a pisces sun sign and a pisces ascending...baby, I'm as emotional as they come. But I don't like crying.
However...since I finished this revision, I've noticed that I'm getting way and way more emotional about my characters and things I'm planning to do to them. I had all these ideas that at the time I thought were totally awesome and would be fabulous additions to the story and now I'm like....OMG can I really do that to character X? And how's Y going to deal with this and I'll completely crush Z...sniff. sniff....waaaaaaah!I blame it on my birthday--I have a pisces sun sign and a pisces ascending...baby, I'm as emotional as they come. But I don't like crying.
It's really not my thing to admit this, but I was totally crying as I revised and wrote and rewrote the last two chapters of my book. I've gotten teary eyed before...but you know this was a whole other level, which I think might have to do with the fact that maybe...just maybe this time I got it right? I hope.
I guess in a way I have fallen in love with my characters, and I do care deeply about them. Very deeply, apparently. They are VERY real to me...but you know...I'm not expecting them to walk through my front door or anything...usually...
So anyway...what I'm wondering on this fine Monday morning...is what about you guys? Do your characters make you cry? Or scream? Or laugh? How emotional and how involved do you become with yours? And how has your emotional relationship with your characters changed over time.
More importantly...is it time to invest in waterproof mascara?
I wrote one scene in a previous MS that made me tear up...I love the scene though...
ReplyDeleteHmmm...MAYBE I should do a "Death Scene Blog Fest" so I can post it. Not sure how I would market that one though....
What do you think?
Yeah...there must be something to that, when a scene gets you so emotional--it must be special. And lol a death scene blogfest...that could very interesting.
ReplyDeleteMy characters are people I enjoy spending time with.
ReplyDeleteMy agent has me upping the tension in one of my manuscripts, and it started off very hard, mainly because I couldn't face putting my protagonist through difficulty. Good lesson for me.
hmm, i don't think so. at least, not that i can remember anyway.
ReplyDeleteI can be pretty sensitive too and often cry when i watch Intervention and other tearjerkers. But i don't think i've ever cried over something i've written. I think it's because i'm too close to it.
I've really only cried once and that was recently. It was over a graduation scene, of all things. I was way deep in my character's head, first person deep, and I cried the entire time I was writing it.
ReplyDeleteI've written death scenes before and never cried. So a Death Scene Blog Fest sounds great. Count me in if you go for it. :)
Aw, I love this post. I mean, I am a weeper, and my characters are WAY too real to me, so yeah, I'm totally guilty of crying--not just as I'm writing the scenes. But even when the plot realizations hit me. When I realize what I'm going to do to them. (Cause I am EVIL to my characters.) So I know your pain.
ReplyDeleteAnd dude, who puts on make-up to write? Sweats and bed hair FTW!!
Caroline, yeah...the more real they become the harder it is to torture them and that's pretty much our job as writers.
ReplyDeleteFalen, I used to feel the same way, like if you're sooo close to the work how it affect you, but now...well...its different I guess for everyone.
Sarahjayne, yeah writing in 1st person and being really close to the character does that!
Shannon, yep exactly how I am now...and dude...I mean't in general, not when I'm writing. Sheesh! Then I only make sure to put on my most expensive jewelry, duh!
Yes. I cried when I wrote the a scene for my MC. I posted part of it on my blog. I couldn't believe I cried. I do get happy, scared, mad any emotion I put my MC through I feel. I guess I take it to heart. Death scene blog fest--interesting.
ReplyDeleteYeah...I am just as bad. I can hear a song that makes a scene pop into my head and ball like a baby! I mean racking sobs that make your chest & stomach hurt. Then there are those moments of complete euphoria that I share with the character. Anger is one that I have to work on. Honest to goodness it is so hard for me to feel the same anger as my characters. I am not an angry person at all (drives my husband nuts sometimes). Neurotic - yes, Angry - no. Anyway, yeah it is a difficult ride to be on when the characters mean so much. there are some villains that I even have a hard time killing off while others I definitely find the passion... ;o)
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone. Cry, laugh, smile, hiccup - its all good.
I had two characters that I adored but needed to kill, violently, to push forward an MC's story. When I brought my first teary version in to crit group, one person said I was going to have to show the detail more than I had. Man, that was hard to describe more fully what befell them. That I had to be the architect of their death devastated me.
ReplyDeleteIn another manuscript I kept replaying some of Jeff Buckley's saddest songs for one scene, and, yeah, I was wiping my eyes.
I think I wouldn't enter a death-scene blogfest with these, though. It would give away too much of the stories.
My characters have definitely made me cry, and I'm not afraid to admit it. If I'm writing an emotional scene and it doesn't make me cry or even want to cry, I'll go back and rework it.
ReplyDeleteI've recently been laughing with my one character- he has such an I don't care attitude anymore these days..he never used to be like that, and now all of a sudden in my rewrites- BAM. There he is. He isn't a main character, but one of my favorites. My MC, Caleb, I want to scream at because he is way to serious, but, that' him.
ReplyDeleteYes. I recommend waterproof mascara. It's been working for me for years. Um...
ReplyDeleteI actually think that if you can imagine something, write something that makes you stop, look away, and fight back the tears, then you're doing it right. I've had to do that several times, and each time I knew I was getting at something true, something meaningful. Fiction's a way to dig deeper than we normally do, both while reading, and while writing.
So go ahead: write till you cry. Make the reader cry too. Then you'll have done your job as a writer.
Oh yes, I get pretty attached to my characters. So I understand this post all too well. I think to some degree most writers are sensitive. But some of us, like you, my dear pisces, feel things at a deeper level when it comes to our characters. I would say waterproof mascara is likely a wise investment. But don't feel bad about your attachment. It's what makes you a better writer. When you are in tune with your characters, it shows in your writing.
ReplyDeleteChristine Danek, yeah it shows how involved you are...and I am intrigued by this kind of blogfest...
ReplyDeleteSouthern Princess awww you are sooooo sweet! I knew you would be like this and I cant imagine you being angry at all, hehehe!
Tricia J. O'Brien wow that IS hard to do, I can totally relate. I just moved an off page death to on page! WOw.
Mariah, that is such a good litmus test. I usually think like that about whether or not Im interested and engaged, but now Im going to think about how emotionally invested I feel.
Kelly Lyman, aww thats the best. Even when they annoy us bc at least they're real!
Simon C. Larter, you made a really good point--I like what you said. Also I somehow knew that you'd be first one to recommend the mascara!
Carolina Valdez Miller, yes what you said is SO riht and Im glad Im not the only one.
In my first novel, I wrote a rather graphic beating/rape/torture scene where a minor character that I'd grown to like also died, and it left my nerves really frayed. My husband chose right when I was writing it to come up behind me and hug me unexpectedly. I nearly hurt him...
ReplyDeleteJen...OMG! I probably would have! Wow. I have a pretty horrible scene in the realm of what your describing but I think not as bad bc no one dies and things do go that far...but afterwards I literally slumped over and felt sore like I'd been the one beaten up.
ReplyDeleteI also cried when I was finishing the last chapter of my novel. It was a mix of being upset about where I had left my MC (in a bit of a sad state) and this idea that I didn't know what would happen to her after the last sentence was written-- which is also very strange, I mean...I invented her! I wonder if POV has anything to do with it. I was writing in 1st person so I think I felt a lot of the emotions as if they were mine. Very interesting topic indeed...
ReplyDeleteMelissa, hmmmm you know I have noticed Ive gotten more emotional over my work since I switched to 1st person, but you know I think it doesnt really matter...we get so invested....Im starting to think this emotional thing is the key. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThere is one chapter in my WIP that hurt to write. It was sad and heart breaking and my typing got noticeably slower. I'm getting closer and closer to it in revisions and I'm dreading the part where I have to revise it. It's so sad and beautiful but I know it's the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI also have a scene that makes me squirm every time I read it. Maybe I'm being too detailed with something that's a little gory, but since it's in first person I like that it evokes a bit of a squirm factor.
Mostly, I think if your characters aren't moving your emotions, and you're close to the project, how are they ever going to move someone else's?
Great question! I rarely get emotional, especially in an emotional/difficult scene. But I *might* get emotional in a random scene that seems totally meaningless, but that I know might have deeper meaning later on.
ReplyDeleteI also get emotional when I think my characters hate me and are going to turn themselves over to John Green to be written *properly*.
Anyway....*hands Franke tissues* . I can't wait to meet your characters! :)
Heather, ooooh this makes your novel sound soo good and its those hard scenes to write and the ones we kind of dread that are sooo worth it. I have scenes that make me cry, scenes that kind of hurt or at least make me feel as if Ive been beaten up after and then one in particular that makes me squirm...eeek. And yeah this is like the new official litmus test, if your bored your readers will be bored, if you dont cry, your readers wont cry, if your not skeeved out, your readers wont be skeeved out. Im looking forward to reading yours someday.
ReplyDeleteSarah,bahahahaha! Puh-lease I know you can write and I cant wait to hear your thoughts when you read mine!
Heather, ooooh this makes your novel sound soo good and its those hard scenes to write and the ones we kind of dread that are sooo worth it. I have scenes that make me cry, scenes that kind of hurt or at least make me feel as if Ive been beaten up after and then one in particular that makes me squirm...eeek. And yeah this is like the new official litmus test, if your bored your readers will be bored, if you dont cry, your readers wont cry, if your not skeeved out, your readers wont be skeeved out. Im looking forward to reading yours someday.
ReplyDeleteSarah,bahahahaha! Puh-lease I know you can write and I cant wait to hear your thoughts when you read mine!
I get pretty emotional, and pretty attached. I feel horribly bad for the things I've put Thor through on his journey-- but then I think about it and I realize that I didn't do it to him. Not really. I feel more like I'm uncovering the truth of what happened, like some archaeologist digging up artifacts in the desert.
ReplyDeleteI have definitely gotten teary eyed. And I have no doubt that crying is in my future.
Amalia, ooooh I love that, I feel that way too sometimes like I have to find out what happens and yeah its not my fault I'm torturing them, it's just...what I uncovered.
ReplyDeleteIf the goal is to emotionally attach your readers to your characters, then you must be even more attached. If the scene makes you cry, then you're really in that character's head and that's a good thing. I bawled buckets for a couple of my scenes. Even now, when I re-read them as I go through revision after revision, those scenes make me cry. And they're the same scenes my readers said made them cry (I was there when one had to take her contacts out).
ReplyDeleteAlso, while writing another scene, I laughed so hard, it brought me to tears. Because I was totally in her head and feeling it with her, but also seeing it from the outside and imagining the expressions.
It's a good thing!
Kristie, ooooh good, that's such a relief to hear and wow, good for you making all those people cry:-) hehe. Thanks so much for the thoughtful response!
ReplyDeleteI'll admit that I was reading my last 80 pages last night and I cried. Yeah, all right, I normally don't and the words probably aren't quite there yet, but in my head I know the characters and it was sad.
ReplyDeleteSo I feel ya on this.
My characters (usually comedic) usually make me laugh a lot! Sometimes I would be writing dialogue and I think of a comment that seems to be perfectly set in stone for that specific character to say. And when I put it down and reread it, it's perfect and always makes me laugh! It's like the characters are talking to me and saying..."hey, this is want I want to say here!" =)
ReplyDeleteAt times, but that is a good thing. At least we know we are being real with our characters.
ReplyDeleteElana, yeah even when the words arent right if the feelings there you've still hit it and the right words will come
ReplyDeleteThe Red Angel, ooooh laughing with your characters rocks!
Southpaw, yeah being real is sooo important!
i cry too :)
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteI've actually had to shelve things before because I get so into it, all I do is cry. It gets quite embarrassing, especially when working on it at the office. :)
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, we're total losers and our manuscripts make us cry all of the time. Usually we're crying because we're trying to figure out how on earth to make them readable, but every once in a while we cry for the right reasons.
ReplyDeleteEEK! Does this mean it's query time??? Come on! It's got to be close...
not necessarily waterproof mascara, but regular bar soap and a wet tissue will get it off completely.
ReplyDeletelove, julie
;)
happy bday soon!!!
I'm definitely a weeper. Especially when the section I'm writing is sad or if I reach a well-deserved happy part. A satisfying ending also brings a tear to my eye. Maybe I love my characters a little too much...
ReplyDeleteI'm more of a cryer for other people's work, than my own.
ReplyDeleteI have more humor in my MS. Not to say it's not sad. The MC loses her sister in the beginning then her best friend... dang, why aren't I crying. I must be made of steel or somethin' ;o)
Can't wait to hear about the next step in your journey ;o)
Julie, oh no, that's serious, but I hope you're able to still work on those projects when you're alone.
ReplyDeleteLisa and Laura LOL, I know your projects are VERY readable and very very soon....
Julie, hahahaha, yes and also if I use Eva's Mary Kay eye make up remover;)
roxy I dont know if you can love your characters too much, unless you love them so much you stop torturing them...then that's bad.
February 15, 2010 7:59 PM
Erica, that makes sense though if you're writing humor, then you want to be laughing--probably its still the same amount of emotion and energy, but its just different.