Laura Wright: Emotional Writing

            I have this fantasy every time I watch the movie Pride and Prejudice.  You know that scene in the rain where Darcy is railing on about Elizabeth’s family and she says, ‘It should have been kept to yourself’ or ‘Those are the words of a gentlemen?’ I always wonder what would’ve happened if Elizabeth had said instead, “You’re right. My family is a bunch of idiots who can’t control themselves in public, who embarrass me at every turn. But guess what buddy, they’re my family, they’re all I  have, my blood – so what would you have me do? I can’t control that, where I come from.  This is who I am, what I am – take it or leave it.” 

            And of course he takes it. – And maybe he’s even more into her, more intrigued by her because she laid herself bare, was utterly vulnerable to him – yet not in a wimpy way.

            I swear I’m not trying to re-write Austen here, I just really love emotional, honest writing. I love to see what happens when characters stop playing around an issue, admit the problem, and became vulnerable in a different way.

            Have you ever been reading a book and the characters are this close to getting real, but they run to deflect? Don’t get me wrong, I think that can be a great tool sometimes, but the real stuff – that’s the gold, that’s where readers fall in love with characters and want to fight along with them.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite scene in a movie or book where the characters are wonderfully, emotionally and brutally honest?

**I’ll be giving away a signed copy of ETERNAL KISS to one commenter :)

Laura

http://www.laurawright.com