Tapping into past emotions
And how to write with feeling
As a writer, I spend a lot of my time looking back. I write about things that have now passed, and what I felt and saw and heard in those moments.
Recalling information isn’t necessarily easy, but it isn’t difficult either. It’s a trained skill every writer should keep up their sleeve, and it’s a skill only learned through practice.
I journal, too, so my notes can guide my work should I be recapping an event or trying to tell a story. I can tell you the sounds I heard and the smells I smelt on practically any day of the week during my teenage years, all I’d need would be my notes.
But feelings are different, and emotions are tough.
And as a writer, mindset is everything.
If I’m working on something disastrously sad that, let’s say, occurred more than a year ago, but at the time of writing I’m extremely happy and content, portraying the true sense of feeling is difficult. I’d go as far to say that it’s almost impossible.
Sure, it can be done. Heck, I’m trying to do exactly that now. I’m writing about a time in my life when I was a different person, recalling the experiences that came to change who I am. But as a different person, can I really expect to tap into those experiences with full effect? Can I really portray the way I felt during that time?
I find my work to be influenced by my present self more than my past self. I find myself grasping for any memorable sense of who I used to be so that I can accurately present this time in my work.
Right now, that’s music. That’s the albums I was listening to back then, the people I spoke with and the place I spent time in.
But my memories have been romanticised. I’m recapping with blurred vision in the hope that I’ll understand that time again.
In truth, it’s now gone. But I don’t let that stop me.
What do you think?
Thanks for reading. There’s more on the way, so be sure to hit the follow button and visit my website — Callum Sharp Writes.
Thanks again.
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