Things That Make You Cry

I spent last night trying not to let a steady cascade of tears pour down my face while I blew my nose. Talk about getting into a story. I finished reviewing 262 pages and had to read about losing someone to the waves of the ocean for the 3rd round of editing. I had to laugh because this is a normal part of a writer’s life.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried while writing sad scenes, and then again when I had to edit them. I guess this is a good sign that your reader will feel emotion. The pages get me every time. I’m also a sap when it comes to movies. Maybe that’s why I like to sit in the dark. I don’t need to let the husband see the tears welling.

What can I say? I feel the words of other writers just as much as my own. There’s nothing like a good cry because of a good story. Emotion is how we know we’re alive. Having role played and gone through exercises to have an inkling of what it’s like to be trained like a professional – who has the emotion trained out of them – feeling can be a gift. Why else would we be given emotions? Not having them is like living life through a lens where all the colors are muted and dull. Never feeling a connection would be like living life as a constant blowing leaf – life on fast forward all the time.

There’s a reason humans were meant to feel and connect. Not being to do so, does mean you’re missing out even with the moments that don’t go as planned. Imagine only getting scatter pages of the best book you’ve ever read, and never being able to get the whole story no matter how hard you try. That is life without moments that make you cry.

So, you’re only homework for today is to write until you cry. Or, find a book that gives you a snot nose and smeared makeup. Let out the ugly because you’ve found one of those stories. Let yourself remember why we’re writers and why we’re here.

My posts are Monday through Friday.

Get closer to your writing goals with my Writer’s Journal filled with writing prompts and exercises. You can find a copy at https://www.amazon.com/Writers-Journal-Writing-Prompts-Notes/dp/B0931QRL7C.

~Yoon Ju

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