"Memories, Images, and Emotions"

Amazing what a picture can do.

It can evoke a memory, which can evoke an emotion, which can cause such impact.

Yesterday I brought out a box of photos. I have so many colored and black and white photos of the kids when they were infants as well as some when I was young that my aunt gave me when my father past away. I would look at the time when I was so little with my cousins and all the years that we had shared growing up and I thought of them living miles and miles away and how much I care for them.

And I looked at my babies' faces and how small and soft and cuddly they were. How adorable they looked when they smiled. How loving it felt when all they needed was to be held and softly rocked to sleep, and then I found pictures of my husband and me and I saw how much we changed. Reminded me that wow, we've been together for 10 years and look what we'd accomplished together.

Yes, it was a very sentimental day yesterday.

And this eventually led me to writing and evoking this type of emotion in my stories. A picture, a scene, can stir emotion. The images of the scene are up to you. The sentiment that follows after a smelling a familiar scent, or touching a sweater, or hugging someone can strengthen a scene from mediocre to powerful.

For instance, we could just write our character hugging a long lost friend on a nice warm day, but we can go deeper and have them remember the last time they embraced. The kind of day it had been...cold with wind that chilled through a heavy coat. How they had promised to keep in touch so long ago and rushed away to get to some place heated and how keeping in touch didn't happen. And when they let go, she could see the changes and the similarities because now in the warmth she could take the time to really look at her. How the one dimple was still there when she smiled, but her hair was now cut short when it used to be down past her shoulders. The soft lines around her blue eyes that used to be happy when they played together, but were now a little quieter as if the years had changed something about her, something inside her, and she wonders. Wonders what could have happened to dampen her spirit.

Memories and images are just two aspects that can be very effective with emotional response. So you might want take the time to ask yourself if you're using them in your writing. =)