How to Describe Emotion Without Being Melodramatic or Cliche
Vložit
- čas přidán 11. 06. 2024
- Conveying the emotions of characters is challenging. It's easy to fall back on cliches or melodrama, even when trying to avoid them. In this video I go over how to convey emotion without the need to overly rely on showing or telling (which helps prevent cliches and melodrama) by focusing on introspection instead.
FREE WORKSHOP: ellenbrockediting.com/2017/08...
TWITTER: / ellenmbrock - Jak na to + styl
Dang, every time I watch one of these videos I shred my manuscript in despair
reduce reuse recycle! better not to print out physical copies. but if you must, please recycle!
irrelevant HahahahahahaHahaHahahahahaha xD
Big Texgent if it's that much a problem then it means your idea isn't formed enough to even be a manuscript. Whenever I'm absolutely unsure of my manuscript, I go back to basic outlines and scenes lists.
Am I the only one who read the OP's comment as exaggeration for comedic effect? Say, humor and tone might be another element Ellen can cover in a future video.
😂😂😂😂
I took a college level creative writing class, for English majors, focused in writing. The teacher wrote the definition of plot on the board and went on to cover what a plot is, along with several other words that we've known since 7th grade. This is how she taught the entire course. Your video series is the college course I expected when was paying thousands for the course, the college course is what should have been free.
College professors are so unbelievably lazy and complacent. Waste of money and time.
@@Trazynn Not sure if lazy is the right word. I think a lot of creative writing instructors come from a technical language background, like English majors. Anyone who has done any significant creative writing knows that technical mastery of the language is ONLY PART of writing good literature. There is a lot of "feel", intuition, and psychology involved in developing interesting plots and characters. A technical language background doesn't teach that.
My university had a creative writing requirement, and it had a published local author as the professor. She made us read and analyze novels and begin writing a novel. It was incredible, and it motivated me to write despite having zero interest in it before the class. Maybe you just had a bad Professor :(
@@blackhawksfan2525 "Only" probably should not have been capitalized there, only "part." I thought you meant that mastery of the language is the *only* part of writing, and I had to do a double take before I realized you meant mastery of language is only *a small part* of writing.
I feel the exact way
The first thing I always do when I make new characters is run them through a list of scenarios, both intense and calm. From "How would they react to a gun being pulled on them?" all the way to "How do they usually greet their friends?" I like to plan out stuff like that from the get-go. If 2 characters have basically the same responses to everything then I know I need to work more on that. I just love trying to think through the minds of the people I create, it's a lot of fun.
that's a good idea! I'm gonna try that.
That's a great idea. I think I'll do that too! :)
I do that by accident. I can't help but think of the characters in different situations. In fact, I don't even want to write. I feel sort of like I need to, because I want my thoughts to be more consistent, and to get something productive out of it.
thats a great strategy @forevergreencs
That's a good idea woah
This isn't about emotion but it is about melodrama: I just finished re-reading Agatha Christie's A Murder Is Announced, towards the end of which Miss Marple says, "It was the conversation at the cafe that sealed her fate -- if you'll forgive me using such a melodramatic expression." So, the next time you read that in a book or feel tempted to use it, just remember that an elderly woman in a book from 1950 was already apologizing for using such a cliche :D
I am writing a novella, and your advice was timely. In order to show not tell, I used body language or body signals. However, these become redundant and cliché. After watching your video, I went straight to my novella and put your advice into practice. I added introspection and emotional observation. It made the scene come alive, and it gave me a bit of exhilaration. It feels good when you see your characters come to life.
This is fantastic advice. I've never thought about (or been told about) the power of introspection, as an alternative to telling vs showing emotion. I always have that problem of finding different ways to show the same thing. I think this could be an amazing way to improve my writing!
Thank you so much for helping us writers out. Your videos are always absolute gems!
Yeah, but can you use introspection when you are writing in third person narrative?
Hey Guys! I don't usually use examples to illustrate my points because it makes the videos run on a bit long. I hope you like the examples and find them useful! Sorry if the text isn't very clear. My current editing software doesn't give me many options so I did my best to make it readable. Thanks for watching!
Ellen Brock Actually, while your videos have been incredibly insightful, it's exactly the lack of examples that sometimes make it difficult to properly understand your advice, at least in my case. I'd always be more than willing to invest a few more minutes into the video for the sake of having examples to go with the advice.
Examples REALLY helped! I don't think this video would have helped me as much without them. Thank you!
Great video as usual, really great work expressing the lack of introspection.
Agreed wholeheartedly on the use of examples, they were so important! I would definitely say you should include examples in all of your videos!! Btw, this one is one of my favorite videos of yours to date. Really helpful.
I understand your points better when you use examples :)
"What is your characters unique flavor of scared?"
It was awesome to get actual examples from books rather than movies or TV shows. Thank you for the hard work, the longer video was definitely worth it.
I'm reminded of a line from Futurama: "You can't just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel ANGRY!"
Introspection, I think, is the major advantage of literature over visual media. You can express what is going on in the characters' mind so much easier and with way more detail, which becomes handy when trying to add depth to the characters.
All this time I've been describing clenched fists and quivering lips to no avail. I didn't even know about the word, introspection, before I watched this video. Thanks so much, Ellen!
I've read everything I could find about conveying emotion, but it felt like melodrama, especially after repeating same devices. This is what I was searching for. Thanks again. You rock.
This is hilarious and so true. Many editors would like to ban all "sighing" and "heart pounding" and "eye rolling" and "glaring." Even "nodding" and adverbs in dialog tags. If a reader can't tell what your characters are experiencing without adverbs and histrionics, then you need to rework the dialog and try other methods of grounding besides nodding and signing and heart pounding.
I think one of my problems as a writer is understanding how to convey my characters' emotions. This really helped me understand how to go about describing and expressing emotions. Thank you!
i wish there was a 'love' button because this has been the most helpful writing video i've ever encountered.
This is a gift from God, this is so clear about showing and telling. It's just like the missing piece of a puzzle for my work. The whole thing look like a cliche because I was inept at showing and was reluctant to simply tell. Now I learned something, and it's called introspection. Thank you so much.
It seems to me introspection works well in first person narrative, but how about third person? will it work?
@@cesarhernandez7108 I'm guessing you found out already, but for anyone wondering, yes, it'll work, but it'll sound slightly different than in first person.
Your insight is better than anything else I've watched/read on the topic of writing. Thank you for the great tips!
Thank you!!! Everytime i tried to write an emotional scene it was bad, but I didn't know what was wrong with it exactly, or how to fix it. And now I know how to make it better. Introspection is the key! :))))) A BIG THANK YOU!! I love your videos
I really appreciated the examples you used in this video, it helped put introspection in a clearer light.
all of your videos have been helpful to me. You have a way of breaking down writer problems, weaknesses into plain English!
But these videos you've done this August are better and better. The topic, issues and problems you presented have been important to me-I've heard plenty of youtubers on writing! and again, you've made the issue clear and the examples and solutions are real, accessible and practical.
Besides all that I like your new tech stuff much more: microphone and camera and background.
And your energy and love for the business of writing is contagious!
THANK YOU
Thank you so much! I worked hard to improve my videos in all areas this year. So glad you've enjoyed them!
I fall into this trap a lot. My character is in a very tense situation throughout the whole story, I think these tips might be very useful to avoid a lot of repetition.
Thank you. :)
This really helped a light bulb go off for me! Wonderful advice.
To use a meme on this that is true:
"You can't just say how your characters feel! That makes me angry!"
Thank you so much for this video! I have been struggling with conveying emotions in an effective way that readers enjoy, and this video has helped me so much. Keep up the great work!
Great distinction, Erin. The examples you gave (across various genres) helped understand how to write introspection vs. just showing more emotions.
This is amazing advice, thank you! In my current writing I felt something was definitely missing and this I feel was right on the nose.
Best writing (and life) advice I just about have ever received is "show, don't tell". Showing emotion througj build up, actions and effects is so much more effective than DESCRIBING some emotion in abstract ways. You need to get into the guts if the character, how their experience has directing impacted them, not just fall back on easy cliches about general emotions.
Your point about character introspection as a means to convey emotion in a non-trivial way, genius, with superb example, of course
I believe introspection works best in slower moving scenes. If your antagonistic runs into the room with a chainsaw, please don't use introspection.
Thank you so much for this video. I can't tell you how much this helped me. I have always felt trying to show emotional responses to be one of my weakest areas as a writer. I have never considered using introspection. I've been enjoying all the videos in August as well.
Love that you used a passage from Walk Two Moons. That was a favorite of mine too!!
Same. I recommend it to my students as well.
Great advice, thanks. When I write I struggle to show, rather than tell, so a deeper way of looking at emotion is a very welcome piece of advice.
My favourite channel about writing. Never failed me once
I feel like this cracked something open for me that I've been missing up to now. I went back over the emotional scenes in my novel with this tip in mind and it has made all the difference. I was relying too heavily on 'showing', using bodily descriptions for fear and grief but omitting the introspection that has made the scene so much better. ThankYou!!
"One reason emotions can come across as melodramatic is if the author is trying to rely on showing the characters' emotions."
Huh. Never thought I'd hear someone say "tell, don't show".
"Another reason is the author relying on telling the emotions."
...Never mind, then!
Here’s my advice don’t bother writing emotion whether telling or showing apparently it’ll always end up being melodramatic🙄
@@zakai-kaz Don't be a bitter ass
By far the best writing advice I've encountered as of yet
Geezuz! This is one of thee best guides on writing expressions I've ever seen. Nice job, Ellen!
Wow, this was great. I've been writing for 10 years, listened to hundreds of hours of podcasts on writing, read dozens of books on writing, and never before have I come across this concept, which is pretty genius. I am 100% guilty of doing the whole "how to I find another way to say 'his heart was pounding'?" thing and am psyched to have this tool as a better option.
This video, especially the examples you read, have been so incredibly helpful! Can't wait for your next set of Novel Bootcamp Videos!
Great summary of a concept rarely put into words concisely or clearly
This is so helpful! Thanks for using the examples. They make the content that much easier to absorb. Keep it up!
One of my favorite videos from you. Thanks, Ellen. Your videos have been some of the best writing tools I’ve encountered online.
This is the second time i have watched this video. It's been about 6 months. I think I will watch it again in another six months. If I had to point out a single video that could elevate your writing from that of hack to professional, I would choose this one. Thank you!
I’m so glad to have found your channel. This video is explains something I appreciate in others’ writing but didn’t understand what they were technically doing to create that effect. Now I have more of a chance of doing similar! Thank you for your generosity in sharing such high quality content with us here!
Best description I’ve seen about improving emotion in writing! 🙌🏽👏🏽🙏🏽
This has completely changed my way of thinking when writing. I'm so glad I found your videos because man, did I need them. Thanks! :)
Since I've discovered your channel I can't believe the amount of things you've taught me. Thank you for posting all these great videos !
This was more helpful than almost all the information I've devoured about writing. I love your perspective and no-nonsense, authentic way of sharing it. Subscribed.
Ellen, just dropping by to say this was absolutely fantastic and SO helpful. I consume a lot of writing advice but you floor me every time by how practical your solutions are and your insights - I've been struggling with variations of 'her heart pounded' for quite a while now and your explanation of why introspection is so important blew me away. Thank you, thank you!
Aha! Thank you so much, Ellen, for making this video. I've been trying to put my finger on this for such a long time, and now it makes perfect sense to me. The examples really made it crystal clear. I can't wait to put this concept to use in my novel!!
I can’t tell you how much this has helped me! Especially with emotions and having to describe the same ones all the time. This is the first time I’ve heard of it and I cannot wait to use it more!
I love that you actually just jump straight in to what you're talking about. It works so well!
I have been binging your vids this weekend. So happy you showed up in my feed. Clear, concise...i have listened to so many other writers share thier knowledge here on yt and was left confused or sidetracked by thier 'methods'. Thank you for just teaching what writers need to just write!
I've been watching your videos for a while now, but never really thought to subscribe, until I watched this. I'd felt that while your videos are very informative, there was something missing in a lot of them. Now I realized, it's the examples. I love how you used them here. Keep it up!
This video may be the most helpful writing advice I have ever heard. My heart pounds when I think about how many hours I've wasted, wandering through bogs of frustration, how many times I'd given up on the hope of being a writer, because of the delusion that I needed to show, not tell, and this showing needed to be conveyed though variations of "emotion tags" like "my heart pounds." My brow furrows regretfully, because I didn't see this five years ago when you created this video. You are the best, thanks!
I can't get enough of your videos! You're supercharging my writing skills. Thanks for being so awesome!
This is exactly where I'm at in my editing process right now and the timing, for me, is perfect. I'm so glad I've discovered this, even if it is in mid-2019. All things in due time. Thank you.
Really enjoyed the examples. They really put in perspective what you were saying and gave me more ideas of what I could do to convey an emotional scene.
Wow. Amazing video. Your advice re: relaying a character's emotions via introspection here is so simple people often miss it, but it's also vitally important. Indeed, it gets to the heart of an issue I often have when critiquing other writers' works. I sense the emotions aren't working. I know the characters read either flat over over-blown,. And yet, I struggled to explain WHY.
Now I can. You gave me the key to open that door. Thanks.
PS. You are the most insightful CZcamsr I've found for writers... by far. Keep up the great work.
You're amazing Ellen. Thank you for your no nonsense, straight to the point and clear videos. Each and every videos enables me to learn more.
Hi Ellen, I've been watching your videos for a couple years, learning much and enjoying the experience. I use what I've learned when I teach my sixth graders creative writing. Your clarity comes through in my teaching! Thank you so much.
In your August 2017 series of videos I have discovered your voice sounds almost identical to Hobo Ahle's; I was watching your video, got distracted and looked away for a time, and said, "Is that Hobo Ahle?" She is a young van-dweller with a CZcams channel. I had been impressed with how well spoken she is, and now I know why--she sounds like you.
This is an amazing video! Really straightforward and helpful. Thank you for posting this! I've always sort of felt this way but never found any writing advice that conveyed it.
Introspection is better because it is how we actually communicate our emotions to ourselves. Not that we stop and think in a textual or conversational way, but that we think these kinds of things in a visual sort of way (for most people anyway... I have run across at least one person who said he never sees things in his head, just hears words or some such -- which is, to me, a sad thing). This is why we easily relate to introspection and why it works to convey emotion -- we are experienced at interpreting our own emotions in this very way.
This was such a helpful video, and one I already know I’m going to have to watch a few times. Thank you for giving examples, I wasn’t exactly sure what you meant by introspection until the examples. This seems like it really separates the great novels and characters.
A phenomenal insight, Ellen. You've solved the problem paramount on my mind. Thank you.
Your advice is so good! You're the best writing guru I've seen, on YT and otherwise.
GREAT! Once again, you pinpoint a weakness in my writing that can become a strength. You always do a good job, Ellen. Thanks.
I needed this so badly, this is the best piece of specified writing advice I’ve ever heard in my life.
I'm not sure if you still see these comments or if you still make videos as I can see that they're dated a couple years back or so. But I get so much from them. I came across one one day in connection to another video I was watching when I looked up something or other about writing. There is something about the way you convey what you know, it's very well explained and down to earth. Also, your demeanor makes me enjoy taking the advice from you. And you're easy to watch :). Thank you for sharing your expertise.
This is exactly what I was searching for. Extremely helpful. Thanks a lot!
I'm just discovering your channel, and I'm loving every bit of it.
You're fantastic. I literally discovered your videos this morning and already watched three. So helpful :)
this is probably the best advice i’ve ever heard, thank you so much!
This is one of Ellen’s best videos because she gives examples from books supporting her points.
Well done Ellen!
These videos are super inspiring. I don't actually know if I have these issues myself, but it's been hard to please myself as a writer and I feel that's relatively important. I'm gonna practice using the methods you've described in your videos. They're really insightful and helpful for anyone looking to improve.
Apparently I'm pretty late to the party on this video, but I just watched it yesterday and tonight I had a chance to go back through the beginning of my novel with this in mind. I have to say the advice about introspection is hands down the best writing advice I have EVER gotten. Just in my editing from a few hours tonight it has turned some cringe moments that I just couldn't seem to correct into something I might actually find in a published novel (this is my first attempt at writing a novel so obviously I've never been published). Many thanks Ellen! This would have taken eons for me to learn on my own and for some reason this topic has not been mentioned in any other videos on writing I've seen on CZcams so far.
Hi Ellen. Great job. This is the best explanation i have ever seen on writing web emotions. Thank you.
Ellen, the examples are so helpful!! Thank You!!
What the characters think, how they perceive experiences, yes! This is what grabs me.
Super insightful. Thank you so much for this video. Over-showing emotions, ugh. Introspection and a subtle touch, YES.
This must be the most useful writing advice, I ever had. Thank you so much :)
Great advice and couldn't have come at a better time as I was just having this exact problem! You are a great teacher, by the way :)
I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you ,your channel, this content exists .....thank you so so much 🙏🏻💕💕💕
Excellent, as always. Great choice of passages.
Wow this is such a helpful video thank you so much! I had no idea how to write emotions and always fell back on body language and just telling the reader how the character was feeling but your video has helped so much. Also thank you so much for all the examples of it because I feel like when people talk about introspection I never really understood what they meant besides just the character's thoughts but you provided so many great examples that it cleared up all my questions!
Hi Ellen. I know I'm a year late getting to watch this program, but it was definitely worth the wait. I don't understand how someone as young-looking as you can be so brilliant, but I am so glad that you are. Thank you so much, this was excellent.
After watching you, I'm seeing my story owning his life! I feel it's getting engaging and unique. Getting that feeling after 2 years of writing without feeling it, made me believe on my own potential!
I am learning so much- I will be watching eagerly every video you are kind enough to share!!! Thank you for your thorough way of explaining!!❤
I needed just this advice. I'm going to write emotional scenes almost exclusivity for a while as that's what is left in my second draft. Thank you.
SO helpful! Thank you! I've been struggling with how to determine when to show and when to tell and this is a great perspective on that.
I watched many videos about how to avoid or lessen melodrama but this, by far, gave me the most information about what melodrama is, thus allowing for a deeper understanding on how I could control my prose. So, thank you v much!
Well done. You helped immensely, and the examples you shared were very helpful as well. More please.
this might be the most important video i’ve watched for where i’m at in my practice. thank you! so helpful :)
Just had my WIP professionally reviewed and got exceptionally high marks (yay!) but it got tagged with being too melodramatic in the final scenes. This video really gave me some tools to rework what should have been the MOST impactful scenes of the story. Thank you very much!
I've been struggling with this exact issue and you just fixed it clearly and concisely. Thank you for the incredible advice!!!
Recently discovered your channel, I've watched at least 20 of your video's in the last week. It has become part of my morning routine, very good information, thanks!
This is the single most helpful video on writing that i have ever seen!
"Im feeling this emotion!" loudly screamed the very emotional Steve with chainsaws for vocal chords.
"I'm feeling this other emotion", softly whimpered a very emotional Bob with a voice like a used sock falling on the floor.
- There. Perfect.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You explained it so well and the examples were so vivid! It’s 12 am, but I can’t wait to try it out tomorrow morning!