“Emotion means ‘disturbance’ from the Latin ‘to disturb or agitate.’ You’re literally trying to disturb the usual life of the reader; you’re trying to move them, disturb their hearts and minds, in a sense.
Karl Iglesias
Writing for Emotional Impact
As a follow-up to the post Emotional Story Roller Coasters, here’s a brief overview of four types of emotional needs found in Dona Cooper’s book Writing Great Screenplays for Film & TV:
1. The Need for New Information
Satisfying the audience’s hunger for new information is often a function fulfilled by the basic concept or control of the story, but every component of a roller coaster can contain such appeal. Unique characters, unusual momentum devices, and original use of style all have the ability to satisfy the audience’s hunger for new stimuli.
2. The Need to Bond
Characters are usually the component of the roller coaster that allows viewers to bond with a story. By exploring characters’ thoughts, actions, motives, and dreams, the audience has a chance to recognize deeper personal truths, even if they’ve never lived through that specific situation.
3. The Need for Conflict Resolution
Another emotional hunger drawing people to stories is the need to learn more about how to resolve problems, how to deal with conflict and change, and how to take appropriate actions…Audiences like stories that help them understand how to face and triumph over conflict, whether it’s physical, as in Cliffhanger, or emotional as in Ordinary People. The plot of the story is the element that deals with this.
4. The Need for Completion
Viewers are willing to undergo extended periods of suspense and mystery as long as the questions are answered at the end…The sense of completion can also be conveyed in plots that are logically coherent, character arcs that seem convincing, and stylistic choices that intensify the key moments of discovery as viewers put together the pieces of the story puzzle.
Related Posts:
Sorkin’s Emotional Drive
Hope & Fear
Making Emotional Connections
Emotional Cues
“Emotional Catharsis”—Diablo Cody
