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Have you ever watched or read something that made you feel sad? Think back to that time. Perhaps it was a tragic scene in a movie or TV show. Even when you go back and rewatch that scene, you’re fighting back tears as your beloved character meets their untimely death or grieves the loss of a loved one.

Now ask yourself, why did you cry? What makes an already sad plot point all the more heartwrenching? Behind every amazing scene is a solid script that comes to life and touches your emotions. As writers, we can also create scenes with our words that can be just as impactful even without the visual theatrics. In this post, we’re going to narrow down the steps to pull at your reader’s heartstrings and exercises to put these steps into action.

Step 1: Make us care about your characters

It’s not just enough to throw adversities at your characters. None of it matters unless we care about your characters first. That may sound harsh but it’s the truth. Think back to a horror or disaster movie you saw. The one where an alien invades a bustling metropolis and kills people indiscriminately (e.g. A Quiet Place: Day One). Is it technically “tragic” when an innocent person gets vaporized/eaten? Yes. Is it going to tear you up inside? Probably not.

Now what about a character the viewer got to know? Someone you can relate to. You can see traits in them you admire. Even with their faults, they are still likable. You want them to succeed. And then the alien comes and kills them. Chances are that the character’s death is going to be much more impactful to the viewer because they are emotionally invested in the character and their journey.

So how do we create characters that readers care about?

Let us get to know them. If you are writing in 1st POV, you have the prime opportunity to give us a front-row view into the character’s mind by sharing their inner thoughts and perspective on events. Even in 3rd-person POV, you can still balance your prose with introspection to help readers get to know your characters. We want to know how they think, and why they act the way they do.

Write characters that feel like real people they can relate to. It’s easier to relate to characters where you have something in common with them. Don’t worry about creating perfect, invincible characters. Your readers will have a harder time relating to what we call in the literary world “Mary Sue” characters—characters that appear almost too perfect that they come off as boring. Even your strongest characters have weaknesses. Let readers see your character’s vulnerabilities. Personally speaking, I connect more emotionally with a character at their most vulnerable moments. The moments you get to see your character in those raw gritty moments others rarely see. That’s when you get to peel back the layers and see how the character reacts under pressure. Do they fight, run, or shut down? What are their biggest fears? What do they want most? Those are questions as a writer you want to answer especially about your main protagonist.

Exercise: Write a list of all your major characters including the antagonist (yes villains should have some motivations too) and write down your answers to the following questions: What do they want? What are their fears? Strengths? Once you have a clear idea, incorporate those strengths and weaknesses into how the character responds to challenges and even in their interactions with other characters.

If you're struggling to answer those questions I posed in this excercise for a specific character, ask yourself, how well do I know this character? Are they pivotal characters I want readers to root for? Or are they simply a background character? After analyzing the character you may realize the character may simply be a background or supporting character. Nothing wrong about them being a background character. Not everyone can be a "main character." Side characters have their place in fiction. Just don't expect readers to get too invested in them.

Tip. Another great way to create multi-dimensional characters that are still likable is to study characters from your favorite books/movies. To see how to make characters that jump off the page, check out this case study I did here on Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games series.

Here’s an example I came up with to create a relatable character:

Emma was late again. She slumped in her seat as her boss began to lecture her again for her tardiness for the second time. This time she had a good excuse. Some idiot rear-ended her at the light after rushing straight from the hospital. Not like they wanted to hear it. Nor like they care she had a sick father.

What did we learn from this snippet about Emma? We learned that Emma has a tardiness problem. We also learn why she was late. We also get a glimpse of the struggles in her personal life that have started to bleed into her work. Some of us reading this can relate to the struggle of caring for a sick loved one while trying to balance their professional life. That last sentence makes the reader a little more sympathetic to the character for being late.

Step 2: Raise the stakes

Now that readers know enough about your characters to care about them, it’s time to raise the stakes. The readers should not only be aware of what the character wants but also what’s at stake if the character fails to reach their goal. As characters struggle to reach their goal this builds tension in the plot. Now that we care about the character we want them to reach their goal. As the story progresses, raise the stakes higher. This creates further tension which creates more suspense. The fact that the characters could lose everything even their lives, only heightens those emotions we have towards them.

Exercise: To help raise the stakes, brainstorm what realistic obstacles could get in their way. Remind readers what could happen if the character fails to reach their goal. This could be done in several ways from a veiled threat, or a close brush with death sending your readers's pulses racing.

Let's pickup with our character, Emma from the earlier example. Let's say she has a dying father. On top of that stake she has the added stake to see him because she wants to make peace with her estranged father. What would be the consequence? Let's say if she doesn't make it to the hospital in time, she might not catch him before he dies. Now the stake holds even more weight because there's a consequence.Step 3: Show Vs. Tell

Now that we care about your character, and set the stakes at an all-time high, we need to show our character’s reactions when they’re faced with failure. We can tell readers, that this character is sad because she found out her father has just one week to live. But that would be taking the easy way out. It would be much more impactful if we could place our readers there in the scene as she receives the devastating news.

Exercise: Think about how you would react if you received devastating news. Do you begin to shake? Do your lips quiver? Does your voice break before you give up trying to form the words? Do you burst into tears and sob? Those are natural human responses in a heightened emotional state. Now we have a frame of reference to describe how those emotions are acted out. Now from that list of visceral reactions, which ones fit how your character would respond. How your character responds to bad things might vary from how you would react. That's OK. Just remember: The reaction needs to feel authentic and palpable.

But isn’t it true a person can feel a mix of emotions sometimes in rapid succession! A person can be angry, sad, hopeless, and more especially if what’s happening to the character is unfair or cruel. When you feel someone is unjustly treated, especially someone you care about, you’re going to take it personally. And if the writer can evoke an array of emotions in the reader that scene is going to be that much more impactful.

Let’s demonstrate how to capture emotion in our case study, Emma.

Emma clicked off the phone from the doctor. All she could hear was “There’s nothing we can do.” She didn’t want to hear that. Not when she was supposed to be giving a work presentation in ten minutes. Hot tears stung her eyes, blurring her vision. She wiped her eyes, smudging the black mascara over her eyelid. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t.

Here in this example, we show how upset our character is to receive the news of her father’s grim prognosis by the visceral displays of grief. Her exasperated thoughts at the end further show how our character is breaking under the pressure to perform while wrestling with the information she just received.

Step 4: Don’t overdo the drama

When writing a sad scene or any emotional scene you do want to show the character’s emotional state either through dialogue, body language, or introspection. Just be careful not to overdo the drama or draw out the scene otherwise the scene can come off as sappy or overdramatic. Keep in mind your prose doesn’t have to feel like one big waterworks. Sometimes writers may kill off characters for shock value. But if not careful this can backfire especially if the death feels random or meaningless.

Sometimes a simple but profound statement can be just as evocative depending on the context. Here are some impactful quotes from the novel, Catching Fire.

“No one really needs me,” he says, and there’s no selfpity in his voice. It’s true his family doesn’t need him. They will mourn him, as will a handfull of friends. But they will get on…. I realise only one person will be damaged beyond repair if Peeta dies. Me. – Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire,

He can’t hurt me. There’s no one left that I love. – Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

The quotes from Catching Fire I chose are very sobering even though the author doesn’t use too many emotion descriptors here. For the 1st quote, the character Peeta starts off by saying, “No one really needs me.” Although there is no physical description of sorrow by the character, the honest observations from the protagonist, Katniss, of how he wouldn’t be missed if he was gone, adds an added sting to Peeta’s plight making the reader feel for Peeta.

The 2nd example above is blurted out by another character Johanna Mason out of spite. But the fact that she has no one left to love, reminds the reader that anybody Johanna loved has been taken from her. When you stop and consider the context of the cruelty dished out by the Capital against its citizens including the victors, the statement is even sadder!

Let’s see one final example with our recurring character, Emma.

She never heard him say 'I love you.' Not like she expected it. Her father was too drunk most of the time to feel anything. Sometimes living was harder than dying.

Here we get a glimpse into the troubled relationship between Emma and her father. Even without any emotional descriptors, there’s a heaviness in the line ‘Her father was too drunk most of the time to feel anything’ after we learn the father never said ‘I love you to his daughter.’ The final line: ‘Sometimes living was harder than dying,’ makes this scene even sadder.

Summary

Granted the made-up example of Emma would be more impactful if we fleshed her character more and developed the plot further but even in the few lines we were able to see how to create a character that readers could care for and demonstrate how to write lines that make readers say, “I felt that.”

In this post, we focused mainly on writing “sad scenes.” This is not to say I want you to write the most depressing novel. But the steps and exercises I outlined can be applied to any strong emotion you want readers to feel. Intense feelings of joy and ecstasy can be just as powerful and moving for your readers as heartbreak and despair! A mother holding her firstborn after labor, or a parent reuniting with a missing child, are joyous moments that stir the heart. While tears are often associated with pain, you can shed tears of joy too. And if you paced the book well and added the stakes for added suspense, when something good does happen, those feel-good moments are going to feel that much more rewarding!

So, let your readers experience the highs and lows of your character’s journey. Take them on a ride they’ll never forget! They may not remember everything about your book but they’ll remember how it made them feel: the good, the bad, and everything in between!

If you want readers to become a fan, they need to care. And if they are going to care, they need to feel something when they read your book. If you succeed in getting them to care, your readers will thank you and may even become your biggest fans!