Last Saturday I led a writing retreat, and we talked a lot about emotions.
Not our emotions, but the emotions of our characters. And our readers.
Readers want to feel what our character feels. They want to feel terrible when our character loses his job. They want to feel sad when our character's father dies. They want to feel happy when our character kicks the winning goal.
How to put those feelings into our stories? By showing our characters' emotions--honestly and truthfully--on the page.
Have you ever been in a situation where you've had cold feet? Where you really wanted or needed to do something, but you lost your nerve?
What kind of emotions did you feel? Fear, guilt, shame, relief?
Write a description of a character who gets cold feet. Maybe he can't make that leap with bungee-jumping. Maybe he backs out of a robbery. Maybe he panics in the game with three seconds left on the clock. Good or bad, we all have emotions when we lose our nerve.
Create a situation for your character that requires nerve. What are his emotions when he gets cold feet? Let your character feel those emotions, and your readers will, too.
