In answer to the many questions I’ve received on how to infuse more passion and emotion into your stories, here are a few thoughts on how to make it happen.
You set the tone of your story by injecting passion and emotion as you see it, as you feel it. We all have emotional memory, and it is best illuminated through the power of imagination, when we recall the emotions we felt at the time an incident occurred. We each see people and actions in a special light – a light stemming uniquely from the very core of each of us. As a collector of stories, I revel in this light; it is this reflection of ourselves that ignites the radiant glow of colors making up the spectrum of our collective souls.
The best way to write passion and emotion into your stories is to put yourself in your characters’ shoes. In each particular circumstance, take yourself to that place where the character you’re writing about is. With a little practice, you will learn to use your innate powers of imagination to feel what the other person is feeling, so that you will infuse your story with emotional intensity and enthusiastic passion. By envisioning the scenes, you will come up with ideas and feelings that may not have occurred to you before and, in so doing, create the mood of your story.
Through actively engaging your imagination, you are getting to the heart of your character, what makes her tick, not just what’s on the surface, but the inner workings of her character. Perhaps the most important aspect of writing a “Mother Memoir” is to remember that to convey on paper how you see your mother will bring her alive with all the passion and emotion you are feeling. People reading your story don’t know what’s in your mind and heart; they can only feel and realize what you bring to life about her through your written word – so the responsibility is yours alone.
I suggest you go to a quiet place, close your eyes, and let your mind drift to the particular scene in your mind that you want to write about. We create mood by recreating the memory through all of our senses – sight, touch, smell, hearing, taste. Yes, you will taste the frosting on your 7th birthday cake, or smell the freshly cut grass in your backyard, or listen, once again, to the melody she often hummed; you can even see her face change before your eyes when you bring to life through your imagination the time she became furious or saddened by something or someone she perceived did her wrong.
Now that you know how to get in touch with the emotion and passion of your character, to set the scene, write your heart out. Get that raw emotion down on paper – make us laugh or make us cry, and portray, in writing, the passion you’ve conjured up like never before.
Daughters & Sons Write Bio-vignettes as Mother Memoir
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