Emotional writing is different from intellectual writing. As I’ve moved forward in life, I’ve come to acknowledge a fundamental flaw in my writing ability. It’s been there, masked in the imperceptible shadow of my psyche, for at least a decade. This hidden part of myself reared its head as if born from a button I felt compelled to press as the critical clock of my life spun toward midnight. The only regret I have is that I wish I could have done it sooner. I continue to feel tortured by the unbidden consequences of this action, but I would do it over and over again if it could mean that I would feel complete someday. What it has given me is the realization that emotional writing is only effective if the reader emphasizes with a character’s feelings or situation.

Intellectual vs. Emotional Writing

Intellectual writing focuses on facts. It’s a very rational process that outlines a sequences of logical steps or events. If you want to “wow” someone intellectually, then the most effective way is to overwhelm their senses with quantity. For example, a fireworks display that gradually increases in intensity or the viewing of an elaborate piece of art. Intellectual stimulation via our ability to “wonder” is still an emotion, and when used properly and in combination with others, it can be very powerful. Emotions, on the other hand, are all about people, not facts or processes. It’s why I have so much trouble writing humorous or witty dialog. While it can be an intellectual exercise to create happiness through the use of humor, it’s ultimately meant to connect with the audience on an emotional level. My mind has always been too structured around rational thought.

Where intellectual writing depends on a logical sequence of interrelated items, emotional writing can often be a “cluttered” collection of unrelated items. Each individual piece evokes its own emotion independently. If the reader cannot immediately understand what you intend with your prose, then they come to their own conclusion and their minds work for you. It’s the ultimate form of parallel programming. If you reveal a sequence of events that the audience can emphasize with, then it will create an unresolved “seed” in their minds that they feel compelled to grow. It’s why the psychological genre is so popular. Any piece of these films taken alone is confusing and disjoint, but when combined tactically it can lead to an overall sense of understanding between the moviegoer and the presented theme.

The comedian is the ultimate emotional manipulator. Each individual joke or story forms an unrelated clutter forgotten but a few seconds later, and what remains is an emotional buildup. A joke might come off as boring or unfunny if given alone, but if presented in the shadow of the emotional ball of energy formed over the course of a session, it might seem extremely hilarious to a primed crowd. When combined with other jokes, the ball expands to an eruptive climax that forms the basis for a more powerful emotion. If you want to “wow” someone emotionally, then you have to make them feel emotions. You have to use examples or scenarios that they can emphasize with. Just like the skilled comedian, the real art comes from your ability to effectively compose the emotions to craft the desired response. If someone from a third world country breaks a vase and a raucous laughter ensues, any westerners in the room might stare around in a confused stupor. Emotions are evoked by getting the audience to emphasize with a character, either instinctively, culturally, or situationally. Creating an emotional connection with a character or the storyteller himself makes this process much easier.

Creating a Connection

How do you create a connection with someone? How do you get to truly know them? Of course, this is up for debate. Have you ever read a story where you miss the characters after the story ends? What exactly is it about these stories that can attach you to them so powerfully? We experience dozens, perhaps hundreds of people every day, making it impossible to remember thousands of unique personalities. How is it that we can generally form connections with other people so quickly? Are our minds pre-programmed with archetypes of people that speed the process along? Maybe there’s more to stereotypes than meets the eye.

Perhaps getting to know someone is about knowing how they will act in certain situations. This comes from spending time with them and seeing how they react to both positive and negative events. Someone can tell you who they are and what they’re about all day, but until you see how they react to certain things, you won’t know who they truly are. Does this mean that getting to know someone is being able to predict what they’re going to do next? This doesn’t work so well with certain people in our society, especially business people and stockbrokers. You make characters more interesting if you put into doubt our preconceptions regarding a character with whom we have come to form a deep connection. Unpredictable people evoke the most powerful emotions, especially when you care for them.

Connecting to someone also comes from stories. Shared experiences make people emphasize with each other more keenly as they often see reflections of themselves. We also have an insatiable desire to know what’s going to happen next. If you don’t immediately close the door on a certain scene by providing a rational explanation or sequence of events, then it will be left open in the reader’s mind. As long as you don’t overwhelm with several trails of thought, they will be compelled to wonder about how future events might affect the connections they’ve formed with certain characters. If we know what’s going to happen at all times, then it’s boring and people become numb to the words of the writer.

Being Unpredictable

It’s unfortunate for the rational lot of us, but unpredictable people are more interesting and attractive. Even the couch potato gets excited by an unexpected gift or compliment. It adds a certain spice to life that quells the monotony we all fight on a daily basis. In business (and politics), the value of being unpredictable cannot be overstated. It’s an extremely important part of negotiation and bargaining. If people don’t know what you’re going to do, then they have to play more conservatively and see how you react to situations. If, however, you operate under public moral codes or you state explicitly that you’re going to take a certain action, then it’s easier for adversaries to make moves and put pressure on your choices to extract concessions. This lesson becomes even more relevant in the office worker’s daily life as he competes for scarce promotion opportunities. It’s important that those competing with you only know just enough for the office as a whole to be successful. Poker is perhaps the rawest form of being unpredictable. If you never bet until you have a decent set of cards, then people can use this information to drain your chips no matter how lucky you are.

There is a tendency for folks in leadership positions to start to seem like they’re spooning out the kool-aid themselves. In the grand scheme of things, no one is 100% certain about the moves they make, but it starts to be important that you seem to be operating under an unseen grand plan. To those sitting around the water cooler, it might start to appear as though those in management are losing their lucidity. What it does is make people question whether they really know the manager, and that can create a very effective form of tension. If you’ve formed a strong connection with a character but don’t know what’s going on in their head, then you’re much more likely to experience an emotional result after an unexpected twist of events. Steve Carell in “The Office” is a perfect example as his actions are unpredictable and often make you question his lucidity.

Conclusion

I’ve come face to face with various personality types in my lifetime. Some I’ve clashed quite strongly with, and others I’ve connected with very easily. Generally, if someone could stand me for more than five minutes, they tended to be part of the latter group. The ones I connect with the most are those who don’t take things too seriously, are predictable, and easy to get to know. I think that my first intense connection to another person, and my attempt to connect more closely with the pace of the world through exploration of the Time Dilation Vortex has changed me. There is more to writing than simply placing words on paper and saying something meaningful. I used to think that creativity is just a combination of unoriginal pieces that when formed together bring about something new into the world. For too long I’ve lived under that intellectual definition, and I find it necessary to redefine my writing. I’m not sure if I’ve actually learned anything, but just as learning to write with my other hand would be an arduous experience, so shall be my attempt at expanding my ability to harness the power of emotions.