Showing Emotion

Continuing on with the Emotion Theme:

We’ve all been there: reading a book, looking forward to the exciting bit where the hero(ine) really gets to show their chops. We know it’s coming, and we’ve been looking forward to it since we figured out that they’ve got to stand strong and do whatever it is that needs to be done. And then it happens — the big fight, the luscious kiss, whatever it is — and then… it’s nothing. There’s no emotion. Or if there is it’s told to us in the blandest way possible.

You just want to slam the book closed and throw it against the nearest wall, only you’re reading on your e-reader and you actually like the device and don’t want to damage it. Sigh.

The difference between showing emotion and telling it can make or break a book. It can make a character come alive or keep them flat and two-dimensional.

First let’s start with a quick definition of showing and telling.

Telling is when the author (or a character, depending on the point of view) tells the reader how the character is feeling.

Jane felt scared.

I was sad.

Showing, on the other hand, is where the author shows how the character is feeling by describing their reaction to the emotion.