I'd like to talk about something that I don't think comes up often enough in writing workshops, how-to books, and this site. The emotional heart of the story and how people go about finding them.
In my mind a story has an "emotional core" that ties together it's fundamental components (theme, genre, plot, characters). This two cores makes up the experience the author sets out to communicate and provide the reader with. It breathes life into the story, is essential to the story, and is more or less the heart and soul of the piece. Having an emotional center is essential both for relating to the characters, providing the reader with an experience rather than a story, and for achieving a deep understanding of your own material.
But how do people find the emotional core, or the experience for that matter?
One of my professors had a technique of clearing his mind and meditating, and the first (usually the first unpleasant) thought or feeling that popped into his head was a little bit of personal baggage. He'd unpack it, and write the story around it. Even if what he was writing about was seemingly unrelated to any event in his life, the emotional experience the characters were put through was more or less taken from his own experiences.
I've tried this once before, on a piece I'm actually writing right now, and I'm only about three chapters into it, but it's really shaping up. I'm not sure if I'd recommend the technique yet, but it seems to be working.
Anyway, I wanted to pass the technique along and see if anyone had any others that work well, or if anyone had any thoughts about any of this.
I heard that a lot of writers will also look through local newspapers for interesting, more personal and dramatic, articles and try to gleam a core from them.

903132 That's.....Actually a really awesome piece of advice!

Much like your professor, I try to find a situation or set of experiences I've gone through in my own life that I can easily tie into the story I have in my mind. Emotion rolls onto paper much easier when you've experienced it firsthand.

If anything, music helps a lot with bringing out the "emotional core", something along the lines of a song like this (heart points if you know the reference). Anything that you can truly connect to is something that will bring out the emotion that you need.

I listen to really atmospheric music. It can give me a lot of different feels, but generally I just love being surrounded and saturated by the tones and melodies. I play the guitar and dabble with the piano so that prob has something to do with it. Certain melodies and things can really move me, combine that with a walk through the park or forest and bam, inspiration.

This is one I listened to today to help write a sad portion of my new chapter.

My friend, just look at my username and get the hint. If you don't follow the modern stereotypes let me enlighten you.
1 shot of vodka to calm your nerves
2 shots of vodka to clear your mind
3 shots of vodka to think through another characters mind
4 shots of vodka to learn how to cry again
5 shots of vodka to become an emotional wreck
6+ shots of vodka is too much
I really am serious though, have a little drink, loosen up a bit, and make some notes so that when you wake up, you have something emotional to go off of. If you want to go for efficiency, don't drink more than 2 shots when writing the actual fic. ALSO, I don't know who you are physically so you may need different quantities. Reply with weight, and height, and I'll give you a more definitive list of how much liquor you need to find that tender heart that is hiding within.

Hmmmmmm.....I'm honestly not sure, I persoanlly just have a smoke, put in some music and get to writing, no idea how to do baggae though

903144

That's some good advice for the kiddies, isn't it?

I don't look for it, I just write the story, doing everything in my power to make it as high quality and realistic as possible

903144

That's pretty much the take-away advice from Lexx, too.

903149
I'm 16 buddy, watch how you throw that phrase around.

903152

Ey, you categorized yourself there, not me.

Honestly? I try to imagine the analogous situation for myself.

I wrote the death of a character's father recently. I tried to imagine knowing that my own father was dying, under the same circumstances (well, for humans, anyway). Then I try to remember what's different about me than the character: She's lost parents before, but she was too young to remember them much or mourn them properly, whereas I haven't lost a parent yet; she's a raging alcoholic cunt whereas I am more of an avoidant bitch, etc.

It's not perfect, but it usually gets the job done, seems like. I've had good feedback on the emotional stuff in my stories.

What I do is I choose a certain emotion, and I weave a story around it. it'a a lot easier to focus on one emotion or a set of related emotions and make something out of it than it is to write a story with no particular mood in mind.

For example: if you wanted to write a story based on a rivalry between two groups, your base emotion would be hate or the spirit of competition (but not both because the spirit of competition generally implies that they get along to a degree or they have a passion in common). You could weave a secondary emotion to emphasize the primary like anger towards the other group for something that they did. you can weave more and more emotions into there, but it is really hard to get more than three unless you want to go into book-ception. That is one of the hardest things I have ever tried. Don't try to publish it unless you're really good at it, though.

If I didn't at all answer your question, please tell me.

903148
From what I've come to understand about writing, baggage is what makes a piece. Not your own necessarily, but your characters'. People only really deal with their own business and troubles, but when they experience fiction, they get to experience somebody else's.

903166 Huh, I would have never thought of that, thank you....damn, that's some heavy shit

903161
:) All I'm saying is that in the eyes of the blind law, I am still a 'kid', which in my personal case is probably 'punk'. However, I have a passion for proper consumption of alcohol, and use my AP Chemistry knowledge to extend my casual hobby. But really, alcohol is one of the most wonderful things this planet has to offer.

I use whatever just sets me off. There are a lot of things in this world that I just can't stand, actually, it's more like the things that I hate. I focus on those and build up the emotions, then I write about whatever I feel. It's not just fanfics either. Whenever something posses me off, I just have to sit down and write about it.

So pretty much, I think about things that piss me off until I'm flowing with raw emotion and write whatever I feel like.

EDIT: Also, music always just makes me think. Simply listening to a good song can inspire me. I probably wouldn't have been able to write any of my fics without music.

903185 903143 903137
So do you write with music, or is there one song that kind of serves as the thesis for the piece?
I don't write a story without a "thesis" song. My fanfic, "Awakening," had two really big thesis songs, and I went out of my way to incorporate them and reference them in the piece itself.
Lietmotifs added so much depth to that story it's amazing to think how much that piece benefited from music... at least in my mind, but I'm the author, and therefore extremely biased.

I like to do a mixture of both when I write. I have two important pieces of music that are my inspiration in my latest work "Of the Same Breed". Those pieces are "The Journey Home" from the Ace Combat 5 Soundtrack (the ending theme one mind you) and "Memories of Home" from The Pacific Soundtrack. One piece brings about happy thoughts of going home, to a place that you understand and are connected to, while the other serves as a thought of longing and depression. In terms of listening to music while I write, anything with instrumentals is good for me to write to. "River Flows in You" is one great example of an instrumental to write to.

903132 I just do something incredibly mundane or repetitive like stare at a wall or sleep or bounce a ball off a wall and ideas happen. I sometimes listen to music but not always.

903459
His name is "Russian Brony," so I'm guessing he's originally from Russia, in Russia, or has Russian parents / family and was raised with Russian values. Europeans have, in general, different cultural values and expectations when it comes to alcohol. Italians, for instance, start drinking sometime around noon, but they don't ever drink all that much. Binge drinking is primarily an American thing.
I don't pretend to even know enough about the context of this person's life to even make a comment about his opinions of alcohol or drinking, even if I think they're not for me (that said, I think a lot of people here would disagree with my writing habits on a moral level (it's 4:20 somewhere, woo!)).
I also don't pass judgment on anyone (or at least I try), including you, but allow me to offer the suggestion that it might -- key word 'might' -- be worth it to view this interaction with as wide and open minded perspective as possible.

903132
To borrow a good line about this from a game reviewer (Noah Antwiler from the Spoony Experiment) of all things. When asked why he chose the games he did and not any of a huge number of far worse ones, he answered that he knew there were worse ones out there, but: (very loosely paraphrased since I haven't heard it in years) "The games I review aren't always the worst ones out there, but they're the ones I knew from my childhood. They're the ones I've got the most to say about."

Metal detector.

903474
That very much hits the nail on the head there, at least in my opinion.

Hi! I hope you're doing quite well today.

Since I like to be wise, and philosophical, I love these kind of threads. Thank you for making so.

I'll try to be bit serious on this one, as it deals with certain feelings, and thoughts. One might never know how it is to be in a situation except the person experiencing it. Here are some tips that I can think of:

* Think how the character would feel. Situations concerning moral are not easily dealt with today. If someone dies unexpectedly, heroically, or after achieving something big, then indeed their feelings consists of the thoughts of that they have not lived their life with regret, or any kind of sorrow. Such as what if Shining Armor was to die unexpectedly after suffering from old age, or from an invasion? Of-course, the whole of Equestria would be in no doubt of crying pools of tears. A hero that lived as the royal guard for the safety of his nation, defending it with all that he had.

* Be open, and clear minded. It helps you keep your focus on your story. Keep writing it. Think of something wise to add along the way. Ask yourself, why shouldn't someone cry? Am I adding a bit to much detail? What did the character do in their lifetime to receive some attention? Did someone hurt their feelings, or, how will they encounter a problem like that? Such as, how would Trixie have felt after being humiliated, or felt inside? Yes, she's a show performer, and does it because she actually wants to be famous, but don't you think Trixie would feel, or even grow worse? She didn't really seem to have a friend, and she didn't know better than revenge. Maybe if Twilight had told her about friendship, or how to better, she wouldn't have used the amulet?

* Think about your day! What did part did people take in your life today? Did you have a nice walk in the park, clearing your thoughts, and looking at the beauty of nature? Or, what about the world? It usually hurts to do. How could it had been better? Why did you feel peace and apart from the rest of the world? Every character has some kind of problems. Such as, Twilight hates being tardy. Rarity hates being cheap in her designs. When a character goes out of these certain activities, they start to wonder about their tomorrow. Or, did they spend an un-regretful evening drinking some tea, while looking at the colorful birds? What does the character want to think about, or, more importantly, why do they think about it? Deep down, they don't know who they really want to be, or experience some situations. Try to think of situations which might actually take a turn in the story, and make it more interesting, and as close to the story itself. Take inspiration, too!

* And finally, show; don't tell.

I hope I didn't extend it a BIT too long for you to read. I apologize if I did. Oh, and, be sure to to take inspiration, or to be positive. That's really important. Last, but not least, I would like to share this quote

You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
- Ruth Smeltzer

Tata. Take care, and be safe. Sayonara! ^_^x

Meh, I wouldn't really know.
Being a mostly emotional deaden individual usually does that to you.
But what else can be said for such an INTP such as myself? (If you don't know what an INTP is, perhaps you might be curious enough to search up the Myers Brigg Indicator? That is, if you wish to know more about your own personality than you ever wanted to know about.)

That said, I do see some merit in this technique.
Though whether I can incorporate this into my routine remains to be seen.

That's some good advice. I usually just write what comes to mind although I do plan out a little bit.

903214 I don't write with music, the only way I could do that is if its an instrumental piece with no lyrics. I would get distracted if I did that.

I just need to get into a state where I have the necessary feels and am in a certain state of mind. Its hard to write a tragic back story when you are happy. I'm sure others could do it, but I've found that if I'm in the right state of mind for whatever I'm writing it comes out better.

I remember watching an interview Ray Bradbury where he said something to the effect of 'Any story that is worth anything will, inevitably, be based on some sort of personal metaphor.' That's paraphrased, but the core idea is there. It's something that's stuck with me for all the good stories I've written.

That's actually some great advice and technique! My suggestion to add to that would be to just pour your heart into it. If you really want to find the 'emotional core' of the story you writing, you gotta be in tune with it. Trust me, if you really love what you're doing, you'll find the emotional core naturally.

Hope that helped someone out there