In A League of Their Own, Tom Hank’s character is a manager for a women’s baseball team. One of his players gets upset and begins to cry. He sees this and replies, “There’s no crying in baseball!”
That may be true of baseball, but writing is a different beast. Whether or not the writer cries when they read or write a piece depends on their mood, their character’s mood, and what’s going on in the story. While I am one who rarely cries over something I read, I have hesitated more than once as I’ve penned my True Love books. Some scenes are rather intense. Others are very sad. Identifying the emotions of your character means putting yourself in their shoes. That also means that if your character breaks down and cries, you may need a moment to compose yourself.
After writing a difficult scene, I’m usually done for the day if a happy scene doesn’t follow it. Tough scenes are important to the story. Without the tough stuff, all you’re left with is your character skipping through flowering meadows who hasn’t learned a blessed thing.
Main characters have to grow. And in order to make them change, we writers have to apply some gentle pressure. Well, some use gentle pressure, and others like to toss the character into a pot of boiling water just to see what will happen. The end result is fun. Changed characters are wonderful creatures. But the journey on them is hard. And as writers, we are the first ones who take them on their path.
Writing is hard. If you tear up during an emotional scene, don’t be alarmed. It’s probably an indication you’re doing something right.
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