Emotions

Conveying Anger

Posted on November 18, 2021 by L. M. Montes

I talked about emotions in previous posts in months past, but today I’m going to focus on one of them. Anger. I’ve said it before, you don’t merely want to tell the reader that your character is angry. You want the reader to FEEL the anger…right off the page.

Bad Example:
Dan was angry at the sight of his girlfriend in the arms of another guy.

Good Example:
Dan stopped short and did a double take, as he passed through the student union on his way back to his dorm. It couldn’t be her. No, no. His eyes betrayed him. After all, he saw the back of her head. It could be any girl. His brain wanted to leave but his feet stood glued in place, and his eyes were pealed on that one girl. Was it her? Was it Ann? Then, as if in slow motion, the girl turned her head, her eyes stopping on his. She smiled, then leaned in toward the strange guy and kissed him full on. A heat swelled within his chest. Why was she doing this? If she wanted to break up with him, she could have said something instead of this show. The heat within continued to swell and his nostrils pulsed. Before he knew it he was upon the both of them. His fists clenched to his sides.

Poetry

Sorrow by L. M. Montes

Posted on November 10, 2021March 31, 2022 by L. M. Montes

The deepest sorrow ever felt,
was when true love had
come and knelt,
then kissed my hand and blew away,
and clutched my heart but would not stay.

Writing

Words to Write By

Posted on October 18, 2021October 18, 2021 by L. M. Montes

When it comes to writing tag lines, such as ‘said John,’ sometimes we need other words to say instead of the word ‘said’. Why? Because said gets too monotonous. And in this writer’s opinion, it can ruin the flow. It kind of takes the realism out of the dialogue. So…..what are some alternatives? See the list below.

responded
replied
answered
stated
asked
stormed
ranted
joked
gushed
noted
observed
agreed
cried
added
gasped
explained
grumbled
boasted

There are much more than these, but you get the idea. Notice these words dig deeper into the mood/emotions of the speaker. That’s what you want because, what this does, is touch the readers’ emotions. That’s what you want.

Social

That Silver Lining

Posted on September 13, 2021 by L. M. Montes

That Silver Lining

Poetry

Freedom: An American Poem by L. M. Montes

Posted on July 31, 2021April 28, 2022 by L. M. Montes

Turn your eyes up to the sky,
the sun shoots you a glint,
a light, a warmth, a tender smile,
from beams of perfect mint.

A gray that creeps and grows,
now reaches with its clutches,
its evil now it plants and sows,
and grabs all that it touches.

Its messages now blacken,
the lightening strikes the soul,
a crack, a thunder, morals slacken,
the attitudes are coal.

But the eagle now takes flight,
its wings woosh guiding light,
to We The People in the night,
who now will stand and fight!

By L. M. Montes

Social

Thank You

Posted on June 19, 2021 by L. M. Montes

I want to thank all of my followers and guests for stopping by my blog. I enjoy creating posts for the world to read. It’s also been fun “meeting” people from all over the world as they/you stop by. It’s a sincere pleasure. Please continue coming on by and making yourselves home😀😊.

Social

Truth

Posted on June 18, 2021 by L. M. Montes

Truth

Poetry

Once by L. M. Montes

Posted on June 15, 2021April 1, 2022 by L. M. Montes

You liked me once
so long ago,
An eye you gave
to me you know.
But now I tend to disappoint
the one whose heart I did anoint.
I wish days of old be back
so joy to you will never lack.
And thus it goes into the sky
the air of beauty that made you sigh.

Social

Memories

Posted on May 20, 2021 by L. M. Montes

God didn’t give us good memories so we could look back and regret that we can’t go back and relive them. He gave us good memories as a gift so we can look back repeatedly and smile and be glad we had them.

Fiction, Writing

Posted on April 28, 2021November 16, 2021 by L. M. Montes

You’re creating a scenes within your novel. You want your audience to not only know what is going on but to feel what is going on as well. Is it enough to just describe the action, setting, and characters? No. Emotion must play a large role if your readers are going to keep reading. You want your readers to feel your character’s vulnerability, excitement, or sadness (and more). So, how do you do this?

When you’re watching a TV show or movie, you are able to SEE the characters’ emotions, but in a book readers aren’t readily able to SEE that, so they need to be SHOWN. Words aren’t enough, so we will need to insert some body language.

My previous post talked about emotions as it related to atmosphere/setting. Let’s go a little further with this; specifically, the scene itself. A scene occurs within a setting, so your descriptions of the actions and body language in conjunction with the surroundings will bring forth that emotion. The result? When done well, these emotions will ‘touch’ the reader and further draw them into your story.

Below are some short examples of visuals depicting emotion.

Sadness = downcast, a tear escaping down one’s cheek, sagging shoulders, shuffling feet with hands in pockets….
Excitement = smiling eyes, hurrying and bustling around trying to get ready to meet a particular someone they’d been wanting to meet for a long time, jumping up and down, a victory dance…
Relaxed = warm breeze, deep breath, a soft sound such as waves strolling onto shore, the rustling of leaves as the breeze whispers through them…
Anger = a blank stare, pursed lips, contorted face with squinted eyes, talking through one’s teeth, redness in the face…
Embarrassment = blushing cheeks, shy smile, glancing around the room as everyone stares at them, running out of the room…
Danger/Foreboding = a twisting in one’s gut, something is too neat, an unexplained noise, the lighting, shadows…

There is so much more that can be added to these examples, but you get the idea. It isn’t easy to incorporate emotions into a scene. You might have to experiment and play around with words before you FEEL that you have the right wording that will effectively convey just the right emotions to your readers.