(Another campus photo I took! I like how you can see the moon in it. :3 But just because the moon doesn’t belong to either of us doesn’t mean you can take my photo. Because it actually does belong to me. So please don’t. Are we on the same page? Gooood.)
Feelings can be a great way to get things written. If you’re in a good mood, then you’re more than happy to write about puppies that shed rainbows instead of fur. If you’re in a crappy mood, then it’s all death and darkness.
When are feelings a hindrance?
When they don’t match what you’re writing.
When they are too over-the-top to be even somewhat reasonable.
If you’re feeling pessimistic, then why would your hero find the thing that will help him most? Let him suffer a little. Everybody’s gotta deal with pain. Maybe kill off any remaining family members or friends or mentors (depending on who you’re running low on). Let him know agony.
If you’re feeling optimistic, then why would anything bad happen to the sweet princess who’s baking cookies? Everybody loves her, and her best friend holds a party in her honor just because she’s so gosh-darn sweet! And maybe she’ll get her first kiss, which will lead to happy-happy marriage and the cutest children ever!
See where I’m going? It can be hard to write when you’re feeling too much of any emotion. It’s great if you need that angsty monologue you’ve been looking for or the exact perk-up for your main characters who have been down on their luck lately.
But if you just need to get a conversation moving toward a specific goal, then you need your mind to be clear enough to get the right information out there for your readers and characters.
Well, I’ve got a headache that I’ve had most of the day, so I’ll continue talking about this another time. Let’s get on with what I want you to do today!
Your assignment: Write a scene in which something happens that goes completely against your mood. Spend at least 10 minutes on it.
If you’re in a(n) __(A)__ mood, then end your scene with your main character(s) in a(n) __(B)__ mood.
A. happy B. angry
A. depressed B. happy
A. lustful B. heartless
A. hateful B. loving
A. neutral B. passionate (Take this as you will.)
A. angsty B. family-oriented
A. unstable B. coping
A. silly B. sober
A. serious B. giggly
A. motivated B. lazy
A. angry B. exhausted
A. lazy B. responsible
A. reclusive B. excessively social
A. responsible B. reckless
A. cuddly B. detached
A. optimistic B. shell-shocked
A. pessimistic B. giddy
A. “so over all this”/“ugh, seriously?” B. listening
A. frustrated B. on to better things
A. lovestruck B. career-oriented
Your characters can start at any emotion as long as they end on the one given. I know I didn’t cover every emotion, so if I didn’t include yours, then just try to do something very different from it. It doesn’t have to be a polar opposite–just make sure it’s drastically different from your own mood. Get going!