: Re: How to show a crying/sad scene without using sentimentalism? Previously, I had no difficulty in showing a scene like that, and as for me, to show a crying scene I'd write something like "then

@Voss1744584

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It depends on whether it's the protagonist or non-protagonist is crying. I wouldn't think it's effective to have the protagonist crying.

I haven't done a lot of crying scene, but the ones I have done I have underplayed so much in order to emphasize the inner pain. Crying works best when the protagonist is observing someone else cry. In my opinion the sad or tragic dimension can be revealed by attitude, not by explicitly saying that a character is crying.

If you think about it, every story has its own dose of sadness. You don't need crying to call attention to that fact.

If the crying is interrupting a dialogue, I would make the dialogue really short, have the cry interrupt things, and then switch to third person limited omniscient to get reactions. The scene with the crying needs to be short and use as little dialogue as possible.

I did one particularly effective crying scene. Boyfriend and girlfriend have a serious fight; the girlfriend is incredibly angry, but then they step into a bar with a talented blues player singing. I describe the girl's feeling of isolation during the show and how the boyfriend can see the pain on her face and feels helpless about it. I never say that she is crying, but the reader must surely realize it.

By the way, a lot of the pitfalls for crying scenes apply to sex scenes. You don't need to show the outbursts. You just need to present the sequence of events and if you do it right, the readers will already be in the same emotional state and you won't need to say much about crying because the reader will already feel it.

Offtopic: I'm trying to think about crying scenes which are effective. I'm thinking of the scene in My Antonia where Antonia's father dies a terrible death, and young Antonia is certain to be heartbroken. Willa Cather devotes an entire chapter to telling how the news spread and how funeral arrangements needed to be made. In a way Willa Cather was preparing the reader emotionally for the encounter with Antonia and her distraught family. In the next chapter www.gutenberg.org/files/242/242-h/242-h.htm#link2H_4_0018 Chapter 16 (which just breaks my heart -- and I encourage you to read it because it's short), we have the protagonist meet Antonia for the first time since the father's death. Willa Cather mentions crying in just a single sentence!

When grandmother and I went into the Shimerdas' house, we found the womenfolk alone; Ambrosch and Marek were at the barn. Mrs. Shimerda sat crouching by the stove, Antonia was washing dishes. When she saw me, she ran out of her dark corner and threw her arms around me. 'Oh, Jimmy,' she sobbed, 'what you tink for my lovely papa!' It seemed to me that I could feel her heart breaking as she clung to me.

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