Monday, November 11, 2013

Eliciting Emotion

My husband finished Silent Symphony last week. He is usually a very detached person when it comes to book characters. He never forms an emotional attachment unless the character is an animal. For example, he cried and got very angry when Hopper, the wolf in the Wheel of Time series, died, but wouldn't give a toss when Dumbledor died. He just isn't that type of reader.

Nevertheless, while reading my book, he said "I know I am an emotional basket case because I keep wanting to cry whenever I read your book." I replied "Or I could be a good writer capable of eliciting emotions in my audience." He replied, "no, I'm just emotionally messed up at the moment." Aside from the fact he managed to revoke his own man-card and insult me at the same time, I have it on good authority that he is wrong. When I handed the first chapter to my mom to read, she cried hysterically before she finished the first paragraph. Three other readers have told me similar instances and I must confess, I am giddy with the prospect of affecting my audience so drastically.

One family member said, "usually when I read, I read the descriptions of a scene and never really get a visual, but with your book, I can actually see Ali sitting on the wall with the wind wiping her hair against her back like a banner. I have never had that happen to me before."  I know I am still a novice writer, but hearing stories like this about my book fill me with great pride and give me hope for my publishing future. If you have read any part of my story and experienced something similar, please let me know. Hope to hear from you! :D

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