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Monday, November 21, 2011

Make them weep...


I found this quote and it hit me hard. I needed to share it with you.

If your characters cry, your readers won’t have to;
if your characters have good reason to cry and don’t,
your readers will do the weeping.
—Orson Scott Card


I think this is brilliant. Happy NaNoWriMo!

-Angie

19 comments:

Donna K. Weaver said...

Hmmm . . . that confuses me. My critique group cried in my book, and I thought that was a good thing.

Ruth Josse said...

So true! I just read a book like that. Had every reason to cry but didn't. But I was bawling.

Kelley Lynn said...

Wow. Never thought about it this way...but I think I agree :)

Cassie Mae said...

I think I'm gonna put this on my wall of quotes to read while I'm writing :)

Meredith said...

This is definitely making me rethink my WiP--awesome quote!

Abby Fowers said...

I love that Angie! Love it! I think I needed that for my WIP right now. Brilliant sharing today. :)

Emily R. King said...

Aww, that's so true. I think of life it's true, too. But I cry at Hallmark commercials, so, ya know... : )

Sara Bulla said...

So great. This was a perfect reminder for me. Thanks!

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Wow! I never thought of it that way before. This is blowing my mind. I'm thinking back now to a book I read where I wept over some of the scenes but the characters, who had ever right to do so, didn't. And it turned out to be a powerful story with great characters. Very interesting....

i'm erin. said...

I need this quote tattooed to my head! I love it.

Tasha Seegmiller said...

I think these are two extremes but there are definitely moments in between when the characters and readers can both share an emotional experience.

Meradeth Houston said...

Great quote! I'm so putting that on my quote board :)

MaryAnn Pope said...

Hmmm, I don't know about this quote.

One hand I get that a character wallowing in self-pity is annoying, but on the other hand, I think society sees crying as a sign of weakness, and I don't think it necessarily is.

I guess I don't like the idea of big boys don't cry, and I'd like to try to show that strong characters can cry and still be strong.

I get what the quote is saying, and I do think we need to be careful about how much a character cries, but I personally have no problem with crying along side a character.

Thanks for sharing.

Jenny said...

I'm actually reading the book that comes from, it's his how to on character and viewpoint. The whole thing is fabulous and wonderful and super damn useful.

Jolene Perry said...

yeah, my friend brought this up.

I SO agree.

But I do have a melodramatic character that cries a lot, but I don't WANT the reader to cry with her, so it all works, lol

Sarah Tokeley said...

Works for me - but I cry at everything anyway :-)

Peggy Eddleman said...

I've never heard that quote exactly, just someone tell me close to the same thing. I totally believe it!!

Brinda said...

Love that.

Shallee said...

LOVE this quote. I hate it when characters get weepy in books; it tends to feel more melodramatic than it would otherwise. I agree that emotion comes out stronger for the reader when the character doesn't cry.

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