Forum: Author Hangout

I don't know if anyone else has ever done this - or will admit to doing so - but I did something today that I've never done before.

I've been reading stories that affected me so much that I've gotten emotional about them - especially many war stories. But I've never been WRITING a scene that made me emotional. Seriously had to take a time out, blow my nose and wipe my eyes. Twice.

Yes, it was the death scene of one of the sub-characters, but ... damn, so much for being a tough old fart. :)

Yep, it's happened to me a few time, most notably when I was writing the first book in the Great Death series (the one where everyone dies. I got misty several times, when favorite characters died. But the biggest was when, the main character recovers to find his daughter dead, and after an emotional scene, manages to resuscitates her. I was a mess.

It's strange, as I knew who was going to die, though not always how, but I sweated over the final ending, and had worked it out ahead of time, but it was such an emotional scene, it got to me anyway.

You'd think this would happen more often. After all, how is a story going to affect readers if it doesn't affect the author. But sadly, it doesn't happen nearly enough for what we trying to achieve.

Yes, I have one part in my YA novel that chokes me up every time I re-read it. Actually, it's one line in the dialogue.

I got emotional over killing off Cathy, her parents, and her unborn child in the first part of Ancient Abilities while writing about their deaths and about how Jim dealt with the death of his wife and unborn child.

But I've never been WRITING a scene that made me emotional. Seriously had to take a time out, blow my nose and wipe my eyes. Twice.

That happened to me when I wrote about several deaths in AWLL. Not something I ever expected to happen. Weirder still is the urge to cry when I reread one of them.