#14 Isolation: Writing Emotional Truth
Description
It’s hard to write about abstractions. It’s not like describing a bridge or a hat. Making the suffering real for readers is a key to writing success.
Whether your characters have to endure physical isolation, social isolation, or some combination of the two, you need to select incidents that demonstrate the impact of their condition. It is only through scenes that readers will experience the terror and futility that are isolation’s byproducts.
Once you have the incidents, find the words to make the emotion evident. Russian writer Anton Chekov explained, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” When you home in on emotional truth, your stories take on greater significance than if you skirt emotionally evocative issues. Write the truth and readers will snap it up because people are hungry for the truth.
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