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Emotion in Writing

Untitled typescript on Robert Cormier's writing process

This two-page typescript with minimal handwritten notes describes Cormier’s process. Rather than keeping his mind on the task of writing, he focuses on what would ring true to the characters’ experiences. He mentions the ideas that started The Chocolate War, I Am the Cheese, and Fade and the personal feelings that brought the ideas to life. Despite his tight writing, he praises emotion over craft as the force of writing.

RELATED LINKS:

Zanna Clay and Marco Iacoboni's chapter "Mirroring Fictional Others" from The Aesthetic Mind
www.emory.edu/LIVING_LINKS/publications/articles/Clay_Iacoboni_2011.pdf

Julianne Chiaet's article "Novel Finding: Reading Literary Fiction Improves Empathy" in Scientific American
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/novel-finding-reading-literary-fiction-improves-empathy/