John guests on Writing Excuses season 3 episode 19
Here’s the third episode I recorded with the Writing Excuses guys.
In the first podcast we talked about putting and not putting ourselves in our writing and making characters who don’t all sound like the author. In the second, we talked about how to not repeat yourself as an author. In this one, I shared some basics about generating emotion in readers and dealing with negative emotions writers face when they encounter rejection, compare their career with others, hit writer’s block, or hear someone didn’t like their story.
As usual, the guys had some great insights. Check it out: Emotion in Fiction.
I loved this episode of Writing Excuses. I pulled up Word while I was listening and took some notes, and I think I came away with some great stuff on emotions. It reminded me LTUE where you talked about zing. Getting those great ideas, those ones that really give us a jolt, and then using them to create an emotion in a reader, that’s the stuff good books are made of. I decided that even the most mundane plot could be seen as a good book if you just find the words that create the thoughts in the readers head that generate the emotions that you’re looking for. Way to use cognitive therapy as a writing tool! Also, I got my hands on a copy of the book you recommended, and it’s been…well…helpful…self-helpful. And that doesn’t really begin to cover just how good it’s been. Thanks!
Good to hear this!