Emotional Outburst

We have all at some time in our lives been at the mercy of our emotions. Love, anger, joy, fear, grief and jealousy and everything in-between. Some people find it easy to express their emotions and some do not. Gender and upbringing of course plays a part in whether we are abe to show our feelings or not. Men who will not cry in public or even in private because it is considered 'girly' or 'soft' or it is a sign of weakness. Girls who have been taught since childhood that to express too much anger and rage is 'unladylike' and men will find it unattractive. We all know what it feels like to experience these emotions, but expressing them on paper presents the writer with a unique challenge. The writer must consider the gender, class, upbringing and indeed even the period in which his character is living. In the 21st century we perhaps find it easier to show our emotions than those in times past. The stiff upper lip is gradually slackening. For the writer, he must look into his own emotional experiences so that he can have his character 'feel' the emotion and to 'show' his readers how the character is experiencing that emotion at any given time and in any given situation. He must invest in his characters a little of himself, and indeed, many authors do so. They are after all a part of us, we are giving them life. Because of their situation, my own characters run the gauntlet of many different emotions, love, anger, joy, rage and jealousy. And I too have to try to feel it with them. I try to remember how it felt to be angry, (not too difficult) jealous or grieving and make my characters feel it too. For example, I have always been moved by the songs of thrushes and robins, and many a time have felt my eyes filling with tears on hearing a thrush singing at the close of day. consider this extract from my own work in progress. To set the scene, Ned and Will have decided it would be better for them to part for a while but they do not know for how long. After a last days riding together they return to Ned's home. After stabling their horses they go to a quiet corner of the stable yard; "Once there, Edward gathered Will into his arms, kissing him so gently that it felt like the caress of a butterflies wing against his lips, kisses so achingly tender and filled with such quiet solace that Will's eyes filled with tears. They stayed like that for some time, holding each other close, lips brushing in the softest of kisses as the moon rose higher it's ethereal light reaching the corner where the lovers stood. Then, from out of the darkness there came a sound which held the two young men spellbound. From the trees across the garden there came the soft liquid notes of a nightingale. On and on he sang, filling the still of the summer night with a poignancy and beauty which was almost unbearable. And it's song was Will's undoing. The stable and the memories of past times there, the ache in his heart and the birds song all proved too much for him and he broke down and wept like a child" So I was able to draw on my experiences here and 'give' them to poor Will. And as my boys progress through the book, I have them experiencing many more rather poignant moments. But it is not all doom and gloom in my house, I promise you. But because of their situation Will and Ned are finding things terribly difficult poor things. But such is the nature of same sex love especially in the 16th century. Now, I must get back to Tudor England and see what is happening with the boys. I'd like to say they live happily ever after, but................. We must wait and see. Till next time G.

Whether the weather.....

I always try to use the weather effectively in my writing. To me it acts as a metaphor to whatever scene I am writing at the time. For example, in my short story entitled 'Ned & Will, A love story' Ned is in the Tower of London awaiting execution for heresy. His valet, Will is on the brink of telling Ned of his love for him and is grief stricken that they have so little time left together. As Will stands looking out of the window crying silently, Ned joins him there; "Getting up I join him by the window, and though dusk has not yet yielded fully to the night, black clouds are gathering in the west and, even as I notice, a flicker of blue flame lights them from within followed by a distant roll of thunder". So as the dramatic moment begins to unfold, the storm clouds begin to gather and the thunder is as yet distant, and the storm has not yet reached it's height. Later , when Will dramatically tells his beloved Ned that he loves him and has done for a vey long time, and that he wants to lie with him, Ned says, "Barely have the words left his mouth when above us there is a deafening crack of thunder, and as it rolls across the sky the heavens open in a furious torrent, and beyond the open casement rain lashes the Tower and the city beyond as lightning rents the sky with a fierce blue intensity". And later when the two have made love, the storm begins to abate, as the passion and drama inside Ned's prison also calms down as the lovers sleep contentedly in each others arms. So, As you can see the weather can reflect what is happening in your story. And the writers block which has plagued me for the last few days has been effectively blown away by the very windy and stormy weather most of us have experienced lately. I had reached a point which I was finding hard to go beyond, but thanks to Mother Nature I found inspiration in the stormy weather. My heroes too have reached a dramatic point in their tragic story and as the weather outside rages, so too do my boys. It has to be said that I love rough and extreme weather, and I am known for my love of thunder storms. This is reflected in my writing and I get such a kick out of that aspect of writing. But I have to restrain myself from having it thundering in every chapter. Well, it's still a bit windy so I had better get back to the laptop before we descend back into calm and peaceful again. Until next time.

Hi everyone and welcome to The Write Way. This is my first ever attempt at blogging so please bear with me.
I am a writer, and even though I am as yet unpublished,I love to write and I have been penning short stories, poems and all sorts of bits and pieces for family and friends for many years so I think that I can reasonably call myself a writer.
At the moment I am working on the first draft of a novel, set in 16th century Essex it is a love story with a difference as my genre of choice is Gay historical romance. Not a widely known genre I know but it is becoming more popular and rightly so as there is much to be said for two men falling in love when the cards are so stacked against them and society was so much more intolerant than we are today. Indeed it could mean loss of life to many same sex lovers, especially men.
However, I am about half way through my book and I have reached that stage which many authors new and experienced get to, running out of steam. At the start of my book ideas were coming thick and fast and the characters were taking on a life of their own. Indeed, many characters were popping up which I had not planned for. But how interesting it was to see how they developed. But...into chapter ten and my 'boys' are facing a terrible dilemma. Someone knows their secret but I am stuck on taking the story forward from here. Is this a major case of writers block or should I review some of the plot line?
Any comments would be welcome from any new writers in a similar situation.
Meanwhile, back to the lap top, copious amounts of coffee and roll ups....
Till next time. G.