3 Lesson about writing emotions from ‘The Emotional Craft of Fiction’ by Donald Mass.
Or checkout the ‘Hollywood Heist’ backlot.
Bradley Cooper as Pat People in ‘Silver Lining’s Playbook’
Image: The Weinstein Company
from: https://www.timeout.com/movies/silver-linings-playbook
#1 You know how Bradley Cooper plays that crazy guy in the movie, Silver Linings Playbook (2008)? That was originally a novel by Matthew Quick.
It's told in first person from the perspective of Pat People (Cooper). So how does one write about crazy people (People)?
Luckily, I was reading another writing book this week:The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Mass. (I’ve usually got at least one craft book on my nightstand, in addition to a Cormoran Strike novel.)
Mass points out that Quick never attempts to convey what Pat is feeling. It's too crazy and painful to put into words. He lets Pat's delusion speak for itself. Like this:
(this is Pat coming home from the pysch ward and refusing to give up his dream of reuniting with his estranged wife, Nikki):
Image from Thriftbooks. Publisher: Picador
When I finally come out of the basement, I notice that all the pictures of Nikki and me have been removed from the walls and the mantel over the fireplace.
I ask my mother where these pictures went. She tells me our house was burglarized a few weeks before I came home and the pictures were stolen. I ask why a burglar would want pictures of Nikki and me, and my mother says she puts all of her pictures in very expensive frames. "Why didn't the burglar steal the rest of the family pictures?" I ask. Mom says the burglar stole al the expensive frames, but she had the negatives for the family portraits and had them replaced. "Why didn't you replace the pictures of Nikki and me?" I ask. Mom says she did not have the negatives for the pictures of Nikki and me...
The passage goes on a little longer but the point Mass makes is that the craziness and pain is better conveyed by simply reporting the actions.
His advice more generally is that if your character's emotional life is dark, tormented, suffering, insane, then objective showing can be the most effective technique to let readers process their own response. I think that's pretty clever.
#2 I've struggled a great deal trying to figure out how to do good descriptions of places. Upon learning that you're not supposed to describe everything in the scene I then struggled with deciding what details to include. If only I had seen this bit of guidance from Mass:
“We experience life as feelings…[great storytellers] make the emotional life of characters the focus rather than a sideshow…I advocate building the world of the story not by describing how it looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes, but rather by conveying characters’ experience of that world.” (p.29)
He gives another helpful writing prompt later on: "what does your protagonist feel about this place?" and later on asks, what is something only your character would notice? I've heard elsewhere the writer Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club) say something like (I'm paraphrasing) the description of the world should give insight into your character more than insight about the place.
I think I'm getting it now. These guys are smart.
#3 Lastly I'll share a cool tip he provided on what I like to call 'Narrative Drive':
“When characters celebrate themselves, make sure that the celebration is tinged with apprehension.”
I could see using this in a scene right before something bad is going to happen to your character. Tease the reader up by making your hero feel a little too confident.
The best takeaway from Mass is this: "For characters' hearts to be open to readers, characters must talk to us quite a bit about what's going on inside.
I'd say that the old 'fiction is truth' adage holds when the reader's emotions become real. I'm sure you can relate if a movie has ever made you want to learn karate.
Happy Friday, stay cool.
Charlie
Image: Karate Kid, Columbia Pictures
from: https://ew.com/tv/2018/04/25/cobra-kai-karate-kid-crane-kick/
From the writing trenches, happy Friday,
Charlie
--
Hollywood Heist Tracker (expected pub: Late 2021)
(you can checkout the Hollywood Heist backlot here)
Sorry folks for the two week hiatus. I made a promise to myself (and now you) that I would never fill your inbox unless I'd been able to put time and thought into something of substance to say. I have too much respect for you guys, my people.
It's been a little crazy with work and I was feeling the pinch so I just gave myself permission to miss a week. Then two. If you ever don't see an email from me on a Friday let it be our joint permission to take it easy on ourselves. I did miss you, you know, and its nice to be back here now.
I messaged my coach recently and told her I'd be sending her Act 1 by the end of August. For real. Let's consider that the end of Freshman Year of book writing college.
“Be not afraid of going slowly. Be afraid only of standing still.” – Chinese proverb
Have some thoughts? Feel free to drop a comment or hit me up: charlie@charleskunken.com
Other Posts In The Hollywood Heist Series
Please judge.