Emotion 2: Representing character emotion

Labelling the cause of the emotion

Sometimes, instead of labelling the character we label the trigger.

For example, in this snippet Bod is being kidnapped by ghouls, who are carrying him to another world. How does he feel?

Now he was in utter darkness, feeling himself being pitched forward in a sequence of jerks and rushes, the wind rushing past him. It was frightening, but it was also exhilarating.

The Graveyard Book(2010)

It's kind of a trick question!

The trigger is being carried through darkness by ghouls.

The text says it (the trigger) was frightening and exhilarating—but we know this means Bod felt frightened and exhilarated.

Good question! Can you think of an answer?

It's about focus. 

  • If we were to say Bod felt frightened, we would be focusing on him and his emotions. 
  • If we were to say the experience was frightening, we would be focusing on the qualities of the experience.

They sound similar, so how might you choose between them?

Here's one way to think about it:

  • If the emotions were passing and the point of the description was to paint a vivid picture of the experience, then maybe we want to focus on the trigger and describe it in terms of its emotional effects, which is what Gaiman seems to be doing here.
  • But if the emotions caused the character to take action, then we might focus on the character's emotional experience instead.

Let's look at a couple of examples that add emotional labels to the trigger instead of the character:

Thaddeus opened up the bucket and suddenly seagulls were everywhere, flapping all around him. They were funny, but at the same time they were kind of menacing.

Now Carlo was calling her a coward, trying to stir up the crowd and goad her into a duel. He was infuriating and pathetic at the same time.

Write your own variation here. Describe a simple trigger and label its emotional qualities.
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