Sadness

Sadness is a very powerful emotion that can really work well in stories. We've all felt the emotion, can relate with it, and I think are keenly interested in why someone is sad. When characters in stories become sad it causes a flood of emotions through the reader, and, depending on how likeable the character is, the emotions will spill over to the reader themselves. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's cried through a book--or a movie for that matter.

Using that emotion to move a story ahead is another matter though. It's hard to prevent wallowing in self-pity, unless that's the goal, and it get's the story bogged down easily. My guess is that we writers enjoy expressing the wealth of emotions contained within sadness, and somewhat forget the overall picture. Whatever the case, I love to feel my heart pulled sideways as I experience a good story.

This is one of those areas where books and movies actually share a common connection. Whereas in books the emotion comes filtered through our own experiences, in movies a good actor can express those emotions vividly and powerfully. That's an incredible thing, and I believe one of the best reasons for stories to exist: to bring us all together through common feelings.

- M