Overly Emotional Novel

[WannabeWriter]

Another thing about the novel I'm writing. As I'm nearing it's end, I'm finding that I do feel real sad about my character and the story that has taken place. I imagine others may feel the same, but it's also possible, based on the content of the story, that they may experience anger and fear, depending on where they're coming from.

Is there such a thing as a novel that is just too emotional to bear? Is it a good thing or a bad thing for book sales?

[Wolvel]

Personally i'd want a story to affect me one way or the other, that is the sign of a good read.

If a book doesn't draw me in or mess with my emotions i get bored with it.

I don't get to the point of crying or wanting to throw the book out the window mad, but if the story has emotion then the characters seem more believable and the story takes on a solid feel to me.

[blacbird]

On one level, an "overly emotional" novel (or play, or movie, or whatever) is, I suppose, one definition of melodrama.

More pertinently, however, is how you portray and convey the emotion, rather than just the level of it. It's pretty easy to get into "telling" emotion, rather than dramatizing it appropriately. Write your story and let the readers engage emotionally; don't tell them what emotions they should feel. There are plenty of great richly emotional novels around, including things like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath and Ethan Frome. You might want to read some of those, if you haven't already, and see how the master fiction writers handle it.

caw

[David I]

On one level, an "overly emotional" novel (or play, or movie, or whatever) is, I suppose, one definition of melodrama.


True enough.

On the other hand, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with melodrama. (Most of the great operas couldn't exist without it.) It doesn't belong in most sorts of novels, but it belongs in some...

[blacbird]

True enough.

On the other hand, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with melodrama.

I agree entirely. Sorry if I conveyed a nuance I didn't mean. One of my favorite novelists is Victor Hugo, who was a master of melodrama (Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Man Who Laughs, classics by any standard).

caw

[storygirl]

Sometimes I just want to read and be entertained without probing the depths of my misery.

But sometimes, I NEED that "overly emotional" book to drag out the emotions I try to keep out of my own life, so I must experience through the character's. It's almost like a soul cleansing. Even if I don't cry or get overly angry, the character does, and it helps release what I keep locked up all too often. My most favorite books, the ones permanently engraved in my heart and mind, could probably be labeled "overly emotional."

[blacbird]

Sometimes I just want to read and be entertained without probing the depths of my misery.

Oh, come on. Probing the depths of personal misery is such fun.

caw

[Jonny Ryan Mac]

Too emotianal? The Fake Memoirs do it for me. Way to much bad, bad, bad fake stuff for one reader to take.

[Willowmound]

I imagine others may feel the same, but it's also possible, based on the content of the story, that they may experience anger and fear, depending on where they're coming from.

If you write well enough to elicit those kinds of responses in readers, I don't think you'd need to worry much about anything.

Boredom in readers is what you want to avoid.

Of course, what wrings the writer's heart, may not provoke such emotional heights in others...

[triceretops]

You might try reading Pat Wood's Lottery. She maintains that balancing act between excess and too little, masterfully. Quite a heartfelt read. It's all in the technique.

tri

[WannabeWriter]

If boredom is the unwanted outcome, then I shall not worry then. :)

[IceCreamEmpress]

I don't like the "Next week, East Lynne" kind of thing, where the machinery behind the melodrama is too obvious.

Unexpected deaths of children, for instance, almost always fill me with rage. OH NOW I'M SUPPOSED TO CRY, IS THAT IT? Also, people dying in car accidents just moments after they've finally resolved some deep emotional crisis. CHEATING!

[Feathers]

I don't mind overly emotional books unless the overdone emotion is something like depression, or an Incredible Hulk kind of rage. I get so caught up with the book that by the end I'm so depressed or so angry that I feel lost in those emotions. No matter how the book ends, I'm left with that bad taste.

Emotion is good. Strong emotion is better. But, you have to give some break, somewhere for the reader to breathe; otherwise they feel trapped.

-Feathers

[Constantine K]

I find that the deeper the emotions, the more skill is needed by the writer to make it believable. There's nothing I hate more than melodrama (well, I'm sure there is)--it makes me question whether I'm reading satire.

Just my two cents.

[David I]

I agree entirely. Sorry if I conveyed a nuance I didn't mean. One of my favorite novelists is Victor Hugo, who was a master of melodrama (Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Man Who Laughs, classics by any standard). caw

We're on the same page, mi amigo.

[David I]

Want some brilliant melodrama? Try Scott Spencer's Endless Love.

It's always easier if your characters are teenagers. Puberty through about 25 is almost continuous melodrama.

[KTC]

I enjoy having my emotions fucked with, as long as it's done ultra well. I hate contrived crap you can see through.

[JeanneTGC]

Shakespeare thrived on melodrama, he just did it well. Do anything well and it'll work.

[doeraymee]

Opera is WAY too emotional... and I love it!

[angeliz2k]

A lot of emotion doesn't have to be melodrama. It's melodrama (with a frowny face beside it because it's bad) if it isn't warranted. I think you can get away with a lot of emotion in your novel if the situation warrants it. Your characters also have to have shown the capacity to feel the really strong emotions; the deeper the emotion, the better you have to know the characters or you'll be running into melodrama.

[maestrowork]

It's melodrama (with a frowny face beside it because it's bad) if it isn't warranted.

How so? Melodrama isn't "soap opera." Shakespeare, Hugo, Dickens, and many others specialized in melodrama. Hitchcock's movies are usually melodrama. Operas are mostly melodrama (thus the name -- music and drama). How is melodrama bad?

[Willowmound]

I'm looking everything up today. From Dictionary.com (http://www.dictionary.com):

mel·o·dra·ma/ˈmɛləˌdrɑmə, -ˌdræmə/ Pronunciation [mel-uh-drah-muh, -dram-uh]

–noun

1. a dramatic form that does not observe the laws of cause and effect and that exaggerates emotion and emphasizes plot or action at the expense of characterization.
2. melodramatic behavior or events.
3. (in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries) a romantic dramatic composition with music interspersed.

[angeliz2k]

How so? Melodrama isn't "soap opera." Shakespeare, Hugo, Dickens, and many others specialized in melodrama. Hitchcock's movies are usually melodrama. Operas are mostly melodrama (thus the name -- music and drama). How is melodrama bad?

Well, that's kind of what I meant--I mean the bad kind of melodrama: over the top, poorly-done, unearned drama. Sorry I wasn't clear!

[Axelle]

It's great when you feel strongly about a novel, that means you really identified to the characters. Then again, it's also true that I have a tendency to steer clear of books that moved me too deeply (at least when there's a really, really sad ending). That's probably why I gave up reading Steinbeck altogether...

[steveg144]

Yep, that's why I eventually put my first novel in the drawer and buried it with socks and t-shirts and frilly undergarments: every time I read it through, I couldn't restrain the impulse to blub like some estrogenic schoolgirl. I figured there was no way in heck I could possibly be objective about it with so much emotional energy tied up in it. So I got it done, got it out of the way, and put it in the back of the drawer. Hopefully my next novel will be a bit more, shall we say, "even-tempered." ;)