A Range Of Emotions

We’ve been talking about emotions in our Friday Flash Fiction Challenges. It’s worth noting that, on occasion, someone will be going through something emotional and they’ll blog about it. On days like that, you should read the blog, understand the emotions, and think about capturing the joy, pain, misery, confusion – whatever the blogger is sharing.

You should also be respectful. Unlike a grave robber, we want to study these emotions so we can learn how to write them into our characters. Don’t be a ghoul.

So when friend of the blog Amanda Lyle (Inside The Life Of Moi) posted about her decision to consider a divorce, it was painful to read. It made me sad. I was filled with empathy. The post was filled with fear and anger and love and hate – and Trust and Honesty. She is telling us about the rough spot she’s in right now.

So read it and understand what your characters might experience in your story if something like this were to happen to them, and save it as a reference, but don’t be afraid to let your eyes tear up – and if you do, remember that and put it into your writing like Amanda just did.

I asked Amanda for permission to reblog her post here, so you could learn from it, and she graciously accepted. Here’s her post.

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Life works in mysterious ways. Just when we think the cards are on our side.

Bam!

Reality is flung upon the table and smacks the cards right out of our grasp. One by one they fly into the oblivion; the future that was there for us to see, no longer.

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“All I want for Christmas… is a divorce!”

A week before Christmas, I experienced what I can only describe as a breakdown. No. Not the type of breakdown that leaves you waving your arms despairingly on the roadside. I’m talking about the type of breakdown that has you weeping behind the wheel as a Christmas song blasts cheerfully through your stereo. And when I say weeping, I mean blubbering like a baby; mouth wide open and bubbling from the nose. That’s right, as Mariah continued to belt out my once Christmas favourite, there was no stopping the floodgates that had become my eyes. Meanwhile, onlookers gazed at me, wondering who had stolen my Christmas cheer, or more likely, questioning who this crazy lady was sobbing inconsolably to the blaring Christmas classic.

Was this what rock bottom felt like?

As the bells continued to jiggle resonant of better times, a pang of realisation stabbed me straight through the heart.

I froze.

The truth was; I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so lost. So unhappy. So empty inside.

I had reached a crossroads. The signposts were clear to see; one was labelled “STAY” and the other labelled “GO”. Simple, huh? Surely you’d put your foot to the pedal and go? But why was this decision so heart-wrenching? Why could I not bring myself to move forwards? Why was I so determined to stay “stuck”?

I am, of course, talking about my marriage.

My husband and I hadn’t been getting on for some time. We had grown apart. We had tried just about everything to salvage the remnants of our fraying relationship but to no avail. We became strangers who glided in and out of each other’s lives. Strangers who couldn’t connect with one another; who, at times, really disliked each other; who, at other times, couldn’t bear to be in the same room as one another. And, dare I say it, sometimes even fantasised about strangling the life out of each other. And yet, we both pondered – with aching hearts – how this came to be? How do two people, who once loved the bones of each other, reach such a point of desperation?

To continue reading, please click HERE and follow over to Amanda’s blog. 

I’ve enjoyed Amanda’s blog for a long time and it has been one of the most successful ones I’ve seen. Check it out. – Dan

“I’m just a small-town girl trying to make her mark on the world… tap by tap, article by article. Grab yourself a cup of tea, pull up a pew and come read all about it! (There will be biscuits!)” – Amanda.

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Dan Alatorre is the author of several bestsellers and the hilarious upcoming novel “Poggibonsi: an italian misadventure.” Click HERE to check out his other works.