Thursday, February 11, 2010

Character emotion makes the plot

Martha Alderson (a.k.a. The Plot Whisperer) has a post on how a character's emotional transformation drives the plot. Here's the beginning:

Some writers excel at pithy banter. Others create dramatic action. The writers I most admire are the ones who in their own natural style convey a character's emotional personality in scene through active, non-verbal communication with just the right frequency and intensity.

I have written extensively about how moviegoers and readers identify with stories through the characters' emotions. When we connect with the characters on an emotional level, the interaction become deep and meaningful. Well-written scenes that include characters' emotions allow the audience to viscerally take part in the story and bond with the characters.

In my work as a plot consultant, I developed the Scene Tracker Kit to help writers track their scenes one-by-one. To reinforce the significance of emotion in creating compelling scenes, two of the seven essential elements on the Scene Tracker template revolve around emotion.


Check out the rest
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