Emotional Stories

[only_more_so]

Believe it or not, this is an actual author's thread! In the Author's Hangout of all places...

I'm not the most emotional person in the world. The last story I read that made me cry was Bridge to Terabithia when I was around 10. So, I've been rather surprised that writing the last couple of chapters of my story have gotten to me. I haven't had to pull out a box of klennex or anything, but there was definitely something.

Do any other authors out there get affected by the things you write? I'm not talking break-up letters or the like, but fiction.

 

[Stella_Omega]

i wrote an epilogue-type scene a couple weeks back... where the woman finally finds the person who's been helping her via email all this time, to find a tiny ancient old lady in a hospital bed...

I did choke myself up a little. Not to mention wondering if i could write that kind of scene without too much sentimentality

 

[voluptuary_manque]

i wrote an epilogue-type scene a couple weeks back... where the woman finally finds the person who's been helping her via email all this time, to find a tiny ancient old lady in a hospital bed...

I did choke myself up a little. Not to mention wondering if i could write that kind of scene without too much sentimentality

I cried (and still do when I read it) through a good portion of the writing of "Lost and Redeemed". But then, I admit to being a complete mushball of a teddybear.

 

[sr71plt]

I have that problem with mainstream short stories. Many of mine have connections to issues/stories close to my family or among my friends--and much of what I write is for the "inspirational" crowd. I think the stories don't affect me, but I frequently find it difficult to make it through a reading of them at a book event. I've gotten to where I insist someone else read them and then I'll just do the question/discussion period.

With erotica? Not so much. But I do have some from my Flying High semi-memoir series, all of which are posted here in segments, that are emotionally charged enough for me that I couldn't do a reading of them, I don't think.

 

[epiphany65]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's choked back tears while writing. It's only happened a few times, but the first time it happened it caught be totally off guard and a little worried that I was becoming unraveled.

 

[Guest]

I still tear up reading the penultimate scene in Part 6 of "Original Sins." Which might seem kinda odd, given that it's a BDSM series, but the storyline is lightyears away from typical for that genre.

 

[rgraham666]

I've done a couple of times. But I'm a soft hearted romantic.

 

[Safe_Bet]

I cry right now when the wind blows, so I'll predate to a few months ago.

I never cry when writing stories. That applies to the erotic stories I have here and on SOL and the romance/"no blatant fucking" stories that I have on another site. That doesn't have so much to do with the stories, as it does with the actions I take when I start to get emotional. When I start feeling emotional, I write poetry. I work through my emotions better when pondering on the one perfect word to express whatever pain/happiness/sorrow that is causing the tears.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Yeah. Cry, get chills, get so excited I have to stand up and walk around.

That's no big deal. That just means you were feeling it when you were writing it. The important test is do you still get that reaction when you read it a month later? That means you captured the emotion and wrote it down.

 

[impressive]

Yeah. The Seven: Revisited, which was a Lit Holiday Contest entry in, um, 2005-ish & is now an Amazon Short. Gets me every damned time I read it -- and I even know what's coming.

 

[only_more_so]

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who gets choked up by his/her own writing. It just seemed so strange to me, because I know what was coming, and how it was coming.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

If I don't get emotional during the emotional scenes or hot during the hot scenes, then I'm doing something wrong. It's a good gauge for me to follow.

 

[off2bed]

I wrote a short story once that choked me up, which made me assume it was a good story. Other passages I've written in my perpetually unfinished novels have also done so. Hopefully what matters is whether the reader, or more importantly, the agent and publisher choke up when they read it.