RedHotRomance

An author sent out a list of questions last week for an article she's writing, asking how we build emotion in our stories. I started listing the things I do to wring every drop of emotion I can find out of a scene, and realized I was describing the same process I use for writing sex scenes. You can't just "throw" emotion into the story. You have to lead up to it, build the tension much as you build sexual tension for a romance. The reader has to have a strong emotional investment in the character before they can feel any emotional link, which is the same way you write a sex scene that works. Lots of foreplay, right? I know when I write a hot scene, it works much better if I can get into my characters' heads...the same goes for writing something truly emotional. If I don't feel it, how can I expect my reader to feel it? And yes, I have been known to sit blubbering at my keyboard, ripping tissues out of the box to wipe my eyes and nose when I'm writing away at one of those tear-jerking scenes. (Think character Joan Wylder in Romancing the Stone) Anyway, it got me to thinking (Always a scary proposition) about the way other authors write their emotional scenes. What process works for you?