: Re: How do I write an emotional scene? The scene is about one of the protagonist who was until now, more a cold than a warm person. However she's not a sociopath, she just mostly hides her emotions

@Dunderdale623

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The key to a believable emotional expression is the character's vulnerability, which requires sincerity and risk. An insincere statement may move the story through manipulation of other characters, but it won't be seen as emotional. A statement without risk isn't pivotal in any interesting way. Risk creates tension, allows another character to temporarily take control, and for the story to move forward.

How you can achieve vulnerability depends on in whose voice the story is told, and what access the narrator (if any) has to the internal life of the characters.

If you have an omniscient narrator, or the story is told from the first-person, you can show a conflict between the character's internal state and their external behavior. When the external behavior matches the internal behavior, we have sincerity. When that is accompanied by risk we have vulnerability. and a credible emotional expression.

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