It always amazes me where I find those little tidbits of knowledge that take me one step further on my writing journey. Yesterday my lesson came from Meatloaf, the singer, not the meal.
I was watching Private Sessions on the Biography channel yesterday and Meatloaf was the guest. He started talking about the different singers out there explaining that some of them, like Linda Ronstadt, hit every note perfectly for a wonderful song but he said, singers like Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra didn't just hit the notes, they sang the emotions. They brought the lyrics to life. He said that when he sings, he sees the song in his head, like a movie and tries to bring that vision alive with his voice by tapping into his emotions.
Writing is like that. Many writers can hit all the right notes and their stories are great, but there's no emotional connection and the story fades from our mind as soon as we’re done reading. But the truly great stories strike a cord inside of us, touching us on a deeper level and those are the stories that stay in our memories forever.
There’s an old saying that to write, just slit open a vein and bleed onto the page. Many writers believe that refers to the hard work involved in the writing process. But, for me, it means more than that. It means slitting open a vein and letting my heart pump its secrets and truths onto the page. Do I manage that with every story? Of course not, nobody does. But that’s what I strive for. The more I write, the deeper I dig into myself, into the memories that make me the writer I am, and the one I strive to be.
2 comments:
To bring emotion into writing I found I had to think about the times in my life that were very emotional, or I had experienced something profound which provided a lasting memory. In my current works I have tried to transpose those feelings into the words, with the hope that others can feel or sense the emotion written there.
I've always been one who keeps everything inside, so sometimes it's very difficult for me to let the emotions flow. When I do manage to dig deeper and let go, the stories are always the better for it.
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