Welcome to the 2013 A to Z Challenge!
This year, I’m
focusing on two themes: Emotions and
grammar,
depending on which
letter we’re on each day.
I’ll be sharing
mostly what I’ve learned about writing emotion into a novel, but I’ll also be
throwing in a few key grammar lessons, pet peeves I’ve picked up while working
as an editor.
Today’s an emotion
day!
__________
O is for Overwhelmed: to be excessively or completely overcome or
overpowered in mind, feeling, body, or spirit.
This is a widely used emotion in fiction. After all, if a character is overwhelmed by
his circumstances, he’s bound to experience tension and conflict, the key
ingredients in every work of fiction.
But people react to this emotion in various ways.
Some show no outward signs and keep their resulting emotions
hidden, and that’s the key, really.
Being overwhelmed is not so much the emotion itself, but rather that which
incites what overtakes us, like fear and anxiety or love and tranquility.
While there are many actions to show how a character
physically experiences being overwhelmed, many feel cliché and overused like
shaking all over or the character's arms curling his body. I think, since the impact of this emotion is so internal and
visceral, a more effective way to show it is to really get into the character’s
head as they pace around, mumbling and contemplating the repercussions or circumstances
that have overwhelmed them.
In my own novel, The
Mistaken, the main character deliberates the serious ramifications of his
violent actions. (Edited for length.)
I paced the floor around
me, unable—perhaps unwilling—to process the reality of what I had just
done...the
severity of the mistake I had made, and the dire consequences that now faced
me, my brother, and the wounded woman cowering in fear and humiliation in the
corner. The reality was that through the hazy cloud of alcohol and pills, I
believed delivering a degrading punishment would somehow empower me, fulfill my
need for revenge, and expunge the hate, grief, and rage that filled me. I
thought my mind might be rewarded with a sense of balance, my soul a thread of
justice, and my heart a measure of peace.
But I despised
myself for the act...I could not have sunk any lower had I taken a human life
with my bare hands...I was an abomination, a monster...
Whoever said
vengeance is sweet was wrong. It’s the thought of vengeance—filtered through
memories that haunt and torment—that is sweet. Not the act itself. The act is
vile and bitter, and I felt physically ill as it filled me, as I realized...the pain, fear, and humiliation I had caused.
How do you react when you are overwhelmed?
__________
COVER
REVEAL!
"First Born"
by Tricia Zoeller
Releases
May 10, 2013
Cover art by
Claudia at Phatpuppy &
Ashley at Bookish Brunette Designs
Mini Blurb:
"With the police and a killer hot
on her trail, can shapeshifter Lily Moore solve the mystery of being First
Born or will family secrets prove deadly?"
Find Tricia Zoeller here:
