As a romance author, one of the most important things I must imbue in my characters is their emotions. All the joy, hate, sadness, love, despair, jealousy, surprise, anticipation, trust and distrust, fear, amusement, bravery, disgust… The list of emotions and the feeling they evoke is pretty much endless. Creating characters turns into a virtual smorgasbord. But unless the author figures out a way to show those emotions, drawing in the reader while doing so, that list doesn’t mean a whole lot. Give me the “angry young man” who spends the book fighting himself and everyone else without ever mentioning the word “angry.” SHOW me his inner turmoil in his outward actions. Show me the tenacious heroine who hangs on by her fingernails and scrabbles for everything she wants without telling me she is stubborn or strong. Words are easy. Emotions and feelings are not.
My readers should expect the same from me and my characters. A writer has to dig deep–into both the chaqracter and into their own pysche because if the author doesn’t feel the emotion, how will they ever convey it in words so that their readers feel it? Whenever I “finish” a WIP and deem it complete, I plan to reread it with an eye to the Universe’s message. I’m going to give myself permission to release the feelings inside my characters and make sure they are display for all to see. Easy question today. What’s the last book that made you laugh out loud? I started to say “made you cry” but things are gloomy enough. I’m looking on the happy side. For me, it was Molly Harper’s ALWAYS BE MY BANSHEE (Mystic Bayou #4).Those feelings you most want, Silver, aren’t going to come from somewhere new, someone special, or something wonderful.
They’re going to come from within, where they now wait for your permission to be released – often in terms of somewhere new, someone special, or something wonderful.
Permission granted,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®Silver, whatever you hope to feel in the future, you can decide to feel right now.
Silver James 
Yep, there’s the crux of it all – showing the emotions – because you can’t make readers feel the emotions by simply telling them a character is having emotions. And it isn’t just a particular scene we have to nail. Any writer has to make the characters so real that when they get into situations, the reader knows what they’re feeling. It’s a constant struggle that I’m never sure I’m winning. :shrug: We do the best we can and send the story out into the world with our fingers crossed that our best was good enough.
By the way, you’re winning the struggle. You give the feels with every story. Keep up the good words. =o)
Awww. Thank you! There are times that I really wonder if I might be “phoning it in.” Good to know I haven’t hit that level yet! And trust me, you have the ability to make me laugh–which is a whole lot harder than making me cry! Though you’ve made me do that, too! ❤ I vote we BOTH keep up the good work. 🙂