Author’s Note: This is my first guide of anything. I have taught individually, one-on-one over Instant Message, but that’s not the same. Writing emotions for me, is easy, so if anybody here gets frustrated, then please be patient with me. I might get frustrated. I’m used to writing with feeling, so I don’t know what kind of struggle you’re having with this.

What are emotions?

Emotions are feelings that flow through you in certain situations depending on the emotion. Describing an emotion is like trying to describe the taste of a food. You know what it is when you feel it, but you can’t truly describe what they are; you just know.

Why should I write emotions?

Emotions are the key ingredient in a good story. Surprisingly enough, it makes your characters three dimensional, it makes them human, and realistic. Life is what you want to give a character, and emotions is how you do it.

I am a Redwall fan fiction writer, so allow me to give you some examples. If you don’t know Redwall, then let me give you a brief summary of what rules it implies. Ferrets, stoats, crows, ravens, wildcats, foxes, adders and weasels are all purely evil. In Redwall they are never good. (Alright, there’s one or two exceptions.) Mice, hedgehogs, moles, hares, badgers, otters, sparrows, and the lone hamster are good creatures. The line is never blurred in the books, so the fanfic writers rarely blur those lines either; some of the more experienced writers broaden their horizons, though. However, a key to writing excellent fan fiction is to make a story out-of-the-ordinary. You don’t necessarily break all the rules; at least I don’t break them. I bend them.

All my characters, or at least most, have an evil quality as well as a good one. Rysch Trusk, the ferret Warlord in my ongoing fiction ‘Tears of War‘, has revenge controlling his intentions, but his personality toward his friends is kind and understanding. He takes advice very well from his captain and Commander and enjoys talking to them. Other Redwall Warlords are cruel to all subordinates, giving them regular beatings and trying to frighten their soldiers half to death into serving them. If they don’t do something just right, then they will be skewered on a sword, have their head cut off, and mounted on a spear.

Now, if we look at the real world, we see that in other armies, Generals, or any other leader, do not kill their disobedient or bumbling soldiers. They are punished, but encouraged to try harder. Or at least encouraged through their pay. I don’t know the ways of the military and that’s not what I’m trying to show you; I’m trying to open your mind.

There is no good or bad. That is black and white, and you obviously do not see that way (I apologize for offense if any of you are colorblind). When you write an evil character, you shouldn’t just make him pure evil without any reason. Black and white. And monotonous. Those villains are boring and old.

How does writing a character relevant to your guide?

I said earlier in the guide that good characters are the key to a great story, and so is emotion. If you’re writing the death of a main character, you might want your readers to cry, but you need a great main character to do that and you need to write the scene with sadness abounding. Your story will be great if the audience cares about the lives you’ve created.

Now, take this into consideration, open your mind, and read the next chapter for more in depth instructions about writing a certain emotion.

Emotion: Sadness

Author’s Note: I’m inspired to write this thing, so the next chapter shouldn’t take long to come at all.