Writing Heartbreak (and other emotions of the heart) by Laurie Faria Stolarz

The topic for this month is heartbreak. How do we as writers produce, with authenticity, emotions of the heart, be that sadness, angst, regret, grief, or otherwise? (Some argue that all of these emotions are actually derived from fear.)

        As a writer, I feel that one of my most important jobs is to produce stories that make readers feel something. To do that, I often start with a question, something to which I don’t have the answer - because I don’t feel, as a writer, it’s my job to provide answers. 

        Through writing, I explore questions. I pull them apart, show both sides, and make things muddy and gray. I write about things - questions - that resonate very deeply with me, on a very personal level, in some way. I disguise these things of course. One would likely never guess, for example, that my novel Welcome to the Dark House, was not so much about a menacing amusement park in which people have to relive their worst nightmares in order to get out, but more about my own fascination regarding the notion of facing one’s biggest demons - the parts of oneself one would rather keep locked up in a safe of sorts. In that novel, I explored the question: what is worse: keeping the “demon” locked up and having it eat away, quietly, consistently, at oneself; or facing the demon regardless of the consequences? 

        Similarly, in my novel Jane Anonymous, I explored the question: what happens when one simply can’t push forward and “move on,” post-trauma? What happens when the person has been given all the tools and resources, when they have a loving and supportive system in place, and yet they remain stuck in place, unable to push forward? I framed that question around my character’s abduction and survival story. She survives, in theory, and yet a part of her has died, only to be reborn into this new version of herself: someone she doesn’t yet recognize and has to learn to love and accept.

        To write heartbreak and its many related emotions in a real, meaningful, and impactful way, I think, requires tapping into one’s own experiences in some way. My stories aren’t works of nonfiction by any means, complete with evil clowns, haunted dolls, stalkers, missing persons, magic, ghosts, and more... And yet in some ways, way beneath the surface, hidden and undectable, the stories are very truly personal. 

        I know this isn't the same for all work. And, some wildly successful authors have very differing methods and opinions. That's one of the best things about art - there's isn't just one way. We can all bring something new to the table, so to speak. And there are plenty of readers looking to connect in the variety of ways we bring our words to the page.