The scene that makes you cry…

Good morning! It’s a soggy, cool morning here in Georgia. Sending prayers for all of those affected by the ice storm. Please stay safe!

Now, have you written a scene that makes you cry? I’ve written so many scenes that brought tears to my eyes. And I’ve had readers that said some scenes in my books made them cry. It’s always a compliment when a reader says I made them cry. There’s a difference in the writer crying and the reader doing the same thing. What? How?

This is my opinion on this matter. If I cry, it could be where I’ve been so dedicated to the WIP that I’m overwhelmed with emotion. Or If I’m killing off a character that I love, my heart is broken. But when a reader cries, that means that I did what I was supposed to do. I wrote with feeling and the reader understood it.

So, write that emotion with everything you have!

There’s a scene in Faith Through the Tears that makes me cry like a baby. I’m talking big, fat tears. One reader even mentions to have a tissue box ready.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Too much emotion in your writing?

Can you put too much emotion in your writing? I’ve heard some writers say they thought that they’d showed too much emotion from their main characters. But in my opinion, the emotion is what draws readers in. Recently I sent out an excerpt from one of my works in process, “Faith Through the Tears”. Several people came in and said the emotional pull was what drew the in.

The excerpt was a very powerful part of the book where the main characters wife dies of cancer. It’s detailing the emotions that both were going through in her last hours together. It’s an emotional time, how on earth do you pull back on that?

I thought about several classic books and if the writer had pulled back on the emotions. It would have screwed up the whole story.

Take Gone With The Wind for instance. When she does the pivotal scene where she falls face down in the garden and eats raw vegetables, then stands up and makes that famous speech about “Never being hungry again.” The emotion is strong, but if Margaret Mitchell had pulled back and Scarlett had just stood there without putting her fist in the air and speaking in a strong tone it wouldn’t have had the same affect.

Emotion is an integral part of our writing and passion includes emotion. So keep the emotion in and make it strong. Go for it, cry a little, laugh a lot and never slack up on the emotion.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Excitement and Tears…

I know I’ve already posted my normal daily post, but just had to do this one. It’s a separate post because this one is on my life.

Yesterday was an awesome day at Church. Well, any day at Church can be awesome, you just have to be open to it. But yesterday was above the normal bar. We had a Easter Cantata. For those of you who don’t know what that is, well it’s a music driven play. The Church Praise Band performed several songs and we had video’s to go with them and a speaker in the background. It went really well, and yes I cried. I know you’re not surprised. I’ve always been open to the fact that I cry easily. I’m emotional what can I say and especially when it comes to my Faith.

The second most important thing was two of my wonderful children from the Children’s Ministry were saved last week and they went down front yesterday to make their choice public. Yep, I cried again 🙂 It’s so awesome when children make that most important decision. It makes my job so rewarding. I’m always in awe of how the Lord works in such young lives.

Then since we had rain yesterday, the annual easter egg hunt was held inside in the sanctuary. I was worried about how it would go, but I shouldn’t have been. It went off without a hitch and the children had a blast.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Crying doesn’t show weakness, but strength…

I’ve talked several times about how I cry easily. It’s just a trait I have. A sweet love song, a romantic movie, a faith filled gospel song, or just a memory brought back to life.

In my opinion crying never shows weakness, but the strength to endure. When a song brings on a memory it’s the strength of heart to let your emotions open up. When a sweet romantic scene in a movie brings on emotions, it’s the strength of that emotion that brings on the tears.

Sometimes a sweet memory gets brought on by a smell, a song, a person, or just memories in general. This can bring on a silent tear that also comes from the strength of the memory.

Maybe you think differently, but I can tell you this, it’s the strength that we hide that brings on the tears. The strength of the memory that pours out as life’s sweet tears.

A good author can bring on tears in just a few words. I’ve cried reading before. A book that brings on tears usually get’s read several times and put to memory.

So let those tears flow and show your true strength.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Writing the right ending…

What do you do when you get down to the last chapters? At this point you need to building up for the end, but how?

As I work on the ending of my newest book, I ponder this question. Just as my last novel, “The Winner Is Love” I wonder, is this the end? Well with that one it wasn’t. I didn’t know it when I started writing it. I had plan a simple, sweet Christmas romance that would end at the words The End. But guess what, as with any writer I had to listen to my characters and my heart told me their story is not done.

My newest book is the 2nd book in a series and I don’t know whether I want it to continue. But if I don’t continue it, how do I end it? Do the lovers ride off in the sunset never to be heard from again? Do I kill them off in a lovers quarrel? What am I saying? I can’t kill them off, that would be murder.

The ending of a book can be as important, or even more important than the beginning. I’ve read books before that the ending left me baffled. Some have left me angry and others ready for more. If you are planning a next book, you have to leave the reader wanting more. You have to give just enough information to keep them hooked for the next book. If you’re ending it there, you need to make the ending mean something. If you end the book wrong, will the reader want to read anything else from you.

I have to admit that I’ve read some books that the ending made me so upset that I didn’t have the heart to read the authors list of other books written. I just couldn’t do that to myself. You know how it is when you’re watching a movie and the main character that you’ve fell in love with dies in the last scene and bam, that’s it. Finished, the end, done! Makes you want to throw something at the TV. Books can make you want to throw your Kindle.

What do you like in an ending? Do you like the explosive ending, where you are just floored? Do you like the sweet, tender ending where you just melt and have to sit quietly for a moment and reflect? (Maybe that’s just me 😉 ) Or do you like the nail biter ending where you get left hanging on the edge of the cliff? Let me know your thoughts. I love to hear what everyone thinks.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you!

First romance, what happened?

Do you remember your first romance? Not the one you had in grammar school with the boy that sat beside you in homeroom. I’m talking about that first time your toes curled and your whole body tingled when they walked into the room. The one where the looks you gave one another could start a fire. Yeah, that one. You remember. Are you smiling or shedding a tear?

Let me tell you about a first romance story. It’s up to you whether you think it’s a true story or just a tale of two lovers… You be the judge.

As she stood watching him do what he did best, work in the stables. He looked up from under his Stetson and gave her a wink. She felt her heartbeat quicken. She began to hear a buzzing in her ears. What was happening? Why did just a look from him give her such a start? He was an old friend. That was it, or was it?

Something had changed since they’d become closer. She couldn’t put a name to it yet, but she new it was starting to take over her mind and heart. He seemed to notice something different. It was the way he looked at her. The deepness of his voice as he spoke to her.

With the love songs playing on the radio she smiled. That was it, the songs inspired love. Then as he walked toward her, she knew it wasn’t just the songs. He pulled her to him. They had never kissed, but that was about to change in an explosive way. He lowered his lips to hers and she was lost in the sensations that swirled around in her heart.

Her toes started to curl and she found it hard to breath. He pulled back and said, “I’ve wanted to do that all night.” He turned and went into a stall to finish putting out hay. She stood there in a daze, wondering if she was in a dream. Would she wake up soon and be sorry it was a dream?

When she left the barn, he followed her out and over the window of her car he kissed her again. This time the kiss lasted a long while until he finally pulled her around the door of the car, never losing contact with her lips. They kissed for twenty minutes without ceasing. They caressed each other and held on as thought it would be the last kiss. Neither realizing it would be. It would have to last forever. He held her to him for a long while, then he said the most devastating thing. “I’m moving away in a week. I’ve enjoyed our time together and I’ll never forget it. It will keep me warm at night.”

She just stood there speechless. What was happening? Please let her wake up now from this dream that started out with so much promise and turned out to be a nightmare.

She was brave and told him goodbye. Would it be forever? How would she move on after those passionate kisses and embraces?

She did move on, but it was hard. She married a great man and pushed those memories to the back. But guess what, with that first romance, memories come back at the mere thought. When she sees him now she smiles, he smiles, it’s there in both their memories. She sees it in his eyes. He remembers that night, that kiss, that moment when time stopped. She hides the tears and goes on with life. One day…

Well, maybe it’s about me, maybe a friend or maybe a tale spun in my mind. I’ll never tell. Romance can inspire so much in us. Let it happen, even if it is not forever, the memories will be, if it was real romance.

So I am soft hearted! What?

Well, last night my son and I were watching “Facing the Giants”. I started to shed a couple of tears (actually a flood). My son started to laugh at me. He said, “Mom, this is not sad, why are you crying?” I turned to him and tried to explain it. “Son, these are happy tears, not sad. I feel really good watching this film.” He just shook his head.

I have always been soft hearted. I shed tears while listening to music, watching TV, reading, and just in life. Nothing gets me more than a beautiful romance that unfolds and sees a happy ending. Weddings almost do me in. LOL!

So as I drink my 2nd cup of coffee this morning, I contemplate the issue of being soft hearted. Sometimes it can be embarrassing, but other times I look at people around me that are not reacting and I want to say, “Really. Don’t you feel anything?” So what’s wrong with a couple of tears while watching a good movie or reading a touching scene in a book. I consider it a compliment to the writer for evoking immense emotion. I could only hope to invoke that kind of emotion in my writing.

I recently was honored to have a fan write to me and tell me one of my books made her cry. She said it was in a good way. It made me feel like I had accomplished something. I had evoked emotion. So is it weird? I don’t think so, just maybe to some, but to the other softies out there, shed a tear and enjoy the moment!