Learn how to employ the craft of emotion that is essential to every story’s purpose.
Even when a story is skillfully written, it may not be enough to make the reader care. The key lies in the emotional impact your story has on readers — inviting them to not only invest in your characters, but to embark on an emotional journey of their own. We’ll discuss how to avoid cliché and heavy-handed moralizing; determine the most effective balance of internal thought, scene, and underlying tension; and discover how to let an object or image (your father’s watch, a specific place, work of art, etc.) carry the emotional weight of your story and create layered meaning. Reading examples and short exercises will give participants the opportunity to experiment with creating empathy on the page.
Live video conference: This workshop will be held via our online video conferencing platform, Zoom. You can view brief tutorials on using the platform here. On the start date or the day before, participants will receive an email with login info (please check your spam if you don’t see it).
In this workshop you’ll learn:
- The importance of Underlying Emotion
- Avoiding Cliché Emotion
- Using the Objective Correlative technique
- Resonant Endings
Time requirements
- No additional time required outside of class.
Materials
- All reading materials will be provided.
Who should take this workshop?
- This workshop will be helpful to any writer wishing to strengthen reader engagement.
If you need an accommodation for this workshop, please contact us at access@writer.org. We will attempt to fulfill all requests, but advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility services.
