Writing With Emotion, Tension, and Conflict: Techniques for Crafting an Expressive and Compelling Novel

by Cheryl St. John

Overview

Craft an Emotionally Charged Story That Will Resonate with Readers

Emotional impact shouldn't be dropped into your novel as an afterthought or forced upon your story with a pair of pliers and an iron grip. It should be carefully sewn into the fabric of the story to create tension-filled moments that will keep readers turning pages. In Writing with Emotion, Tension, & Conflict, you'll learn how to layer emotional moments and deep connections to create a tapestry filled with conflict, pathos, and genuine feeling.

 • Create emotional depth, conflict, and tension in your novel by carefully crafting your plot, characters, setting, word choice, and more.
 • Learn what makes readers "tick"—and what will elicit the strongest emotional responses.
 • Write believable, emotional scenes and dialogue—and trim away the sappiness.


When writing a novel, your ultimate goal is to make readers smile, weep, rage, and laugh right along with your characters. Writing with Emotion, Tension, & Conflict will show you how to evoke a multitude of feelings in your readers—and keep them coming back for more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781599637587
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/28/2013
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	424,232
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Cheryl is the author of more than fifty historical and contemporary romances. Her stories have earned numerous RITA nominations, Romantic Times awards and are published in over a dozen languages. In describing her stories of second chances and redemption, readers and reviewers use words like, "emotional punch, hometown feel, core values, believable characters and real-life situations." With a 4.9 star rating on Amazon, her bestselling non-fiction book, Writing With Emotion, Tension & Conflict by Writer's Digest Books is available in print and digital.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 Conflict Makes the Story 8

1 Defining Conflict 9

2 Motivation and Realism 21

3 An Explicit Mission and Opposition 32

4 Plot and Internal/External Conflict 40

5 Character Goals and Organization 46

6 Conflict Checklist 54

Part 2 Once More With Feeling 57

7 Learning Emotional Triggers 58

8 Characters and Emotion 64

9 Internal Narrative and Deep Point of View 70

10 Word Pictures and Digging More Deeply 81

11 Feeling the Story: An Examination of Pay It Forward 87

12 Sacrifice and Evocative vs. Emotional Writing 94

Part 3 Setting is More than a Backdrop 100

13 Defining Setting and Observation 101

14 What Can Setting Do for Your Story? 108

15 Using Indirect Description 118

16 Creating Realism with Setting Details: Details Affect Character 125

17 Researching Your Location 132

[18] Weaving Your Tapestry 141

Part 4 Tension ad Pressure 151

19 Creating Tension in a Scene 152

20 Sustaining Tension 162

21 Physical Responses 168

Part 5 Dialogue 174

22 Revealing Character Through Speech 175

23 Expressing Emotion by Omission 196

Part 6 Drawing Emotions From Characters 203

24 Character as a Compass for Emotions 204

25 What's in a Name? 211

26 Where Do Great Characters Come From? 216

27 The Reader Must Care 225

28 Techniques to Make the Reader Care 236

Wrapping It Up 244