For you writers out there: have you ever written a scene that made you cry? I have, but this time it was worse than ever. I couldn’t stop. Hell, I couldn’t see the damn screen! But I had to keep going because the sociopath/writer in me hissed, “this is good … this will make it better!”
You see, this scene involved a mother having to leave her child. Now that I have my Little Dude – who is a year old! – books, movies, TV shows, and even commercials that portray children are now filled with emotional landmines. My husband is just as bad. There is a commercial about a battery that looks similar to the ones provided by EarPros, which are small enough to fit a deaf child’s hearing aid. And then they show the face of the child light up when he hears rain for the first time. (See? I’m already choking up just thinking about it.) Last night when that commercial came on, my husband was choking back his tears.
A good writer must elicit an emotional reaction from their readers. If not, how would someone get through a 500-page book? People want to feel something when they read a write-up. In that way, they will identify themselves with the writing.
However, when my editor told me she teared up while reading one of my scenes, I puffed with pride. Making a reader cry – especially an editor who’s probably read it all – is even better than making her laugh.
Sick! And yet, satisfying to my ego.
So I have to ask, what scenes in books and/or movies have made you cry?