LoRee Peery: Write with Emotional Abandon

LoRee Peery

As an author I want to continue loving what I write. That involves constantly learning to show my characters on a deeper level. As I get into the heads of my hero and heroine to weave their story, I need to present an internal war regarding their emotional and spiritual struggles. Without getting close to how the characters feel, there is no story.

Inner conflict fights the power of attraction. People have feelings. That’s how we relate to one another. Our heavenly Father reaches us by touching our hearts and our minds. God created us as emotional beings.

Angst comes from backstory, how and where and what environment grew this person. Characters are people. When I’m involved in a project I sometimes look at life from my character’s viewpoint (usually the heroine’s), while I go about my day.

One of the funniest things I heard at the end of the year was an author who came home from shopping and told her daughter how much so-and-so would love a certain purchase. That so-and-so was the author’s heroine. What an example of being emotionally involved.

Something interesting has happened as I’ve written hundreds of thousands of words over the years. I not only write closer to the heart of a character, but as I live with these story “people,” I grow as well.

In this example from a story currently with my editor, I could have just written, “Simon missed his wife.” I believe a reader will identify with how he felt:

   Deena made him relive the loss of his wife. He wanted to be done with memories of Angelina. During their short six-month marriage, he’d taken their time together for granted.

   But another glance at Deena as she took a step back ended the resemblance. How could he not be drawn to this woman’s vibrant red lips, mysterious dark eyes, and caring personality?

   Then again, it was disconcerting to look close. Her eyes shocked him into remembering his wife. Their aborted time together. The way she had left him.

Can you experience the way he’s conflicted as he compares the two women?

Characteristics need to be dimensional and emotional. When we interact, we experience all kinds of sensual thoughts and reactions. If I don’t smile, shed a tear, grit my teeth in anger, or even jump up from my chair and dance a jig, my readers will skim in boredom.

Write Right makes me smile. I plain get an emotional kick out of the title of this blog. On the job for 20 years I was a proofreader/editorial assistant. I learned cut and dried RULES that I adhere to. My first draft at getting down a story is still often passive. Sometimes I’ve written a scene over and over, always finding places where I could do more showing than telling.

One thing authors, editors, and readers agree on is their desire for real, emotion through point of view character.

About LoRee:

A Nebraska country girl, LoRee Peery attempts to see God’s presence every day. Often that gift comes from nature, and she is most relaxed in the outdoors. The call of a cardinal draws her to look for the distinctive flash of crimson. A meadowlark’s melody always transports her to the farm where she grew up. A rainbow holds special significance, since one appeared the day of her father’s funeral and means the promise of the Lord’s presence in her life. She clings to I John 5:4 and prays her family sees that faith. You can find her at www.loreepeery.com or the Pelican Book Group site http://tinyurl.com/kwz9enk.

About LoRee's Upcoming Release:

Needing to finish her thesis in order to keep her job working with youth in a residential treatment center, Shana Arnold sequesters herself on Creighton Rice’s Nebraska ranch. She expects the secluded hideaway to provide a peaceful environment. What she doesn't expect is to become the victim of identity theft and a crazed home invader.

Creighton Rice has been content to live alone with his God - until he meets Shana. He's drawn to her, but must fight the attraction. Getting close makes him face a lifetime's accumulation of scars. Plus, Shana doesn’t share his faith. But when Shana's life is threatened, Creighton must protect her - even if it means letting her in.

Will Shana discover that even when a woman loses everything, she can regain courage and strength through faith in God, and can Creighton allow God to heal scars and open the door to a lifetime with Shana?

Watch LoRee's website and Pelican Book Group for release date.