Thread by @Joannechocolat

This one sounds interesting. Let's extend it to writing about EMOTIONS. Follow the hashtag to collect them all! #TenThingsAboutEmotions

https://twitter.com/aklee_writes/status/1042087001346826240

1. To write convincingly about emotions - whether that's love, grief, anger, joy - you have to be acutely aware of your *own* emotions, and how they come across to other people. #TenThingsAboutEmotions

2. It's probably the only instance where the "write what you know" rule really applies. #TenThingsAboutEmotions

3. It helps to keep a notebook of the things that trigger strong emotions in you, how you felt at the time, and how you expressed your feelings. #TenThingsAboutEmotions

4. You need to be emotionally open and honest with your readers. If you're afraid on some level of expressing, understanding or sharing your feelings, then chances are you'll not be great at writing believable characters. #TenThingsAboutEmotions

5. Writing can be a lot like method acting. When you're writing about grief (for instance) it can be helpful to go back to an equivalent time in your own life, and remember exactly what that was like. #TenThingsAboutEmotions

6. It isn't always easy. Using this method, writing about pain, trauma or grief can be upsetting to you, as the author. But genuine emotion makes a genuine connection, and that's what we're all aiming for. #TenThingsAboutEmotions

7. Remember that people react in different ways to different kinds of emotional stress. Not everyone who is angry shouts. Not everyone who is grief-stricken cries. Some people don't react at all. It doesn't mean they don't feel anything. #TenThingsAboutEmotions

8. Emotions can be expressed externally, through physical responses such as movements, vocalizations, physical changes (sweating, facial expressions, changes in colour) or can be completely internalized. #TenThingsAboutEmotions

9. Internalized emotions can be intensified by rich, even sensual imagery - the more senses you can engage as a writer, the closer you'll draw in the reader. #TenThingsAboutEmotions

10. Emotion is strongly linked with memory. One strong emotion often triggers memories of another - which is a good way to get into your characters' heads and understand how their past has shaped them. #TenThingsAboutEmotions