How do you write emotional scenes? I have seen this question on social media a few times, and it has me thinking about how I feel working through my books.
My emotions tend to bleed over in both directions. The bleed is less often from my life to my stories, but if I am feeling a high level of stress, my writing becomes more scattered. A common way it presents is by me missing my word goals by becoming unfocused and easily distracted as I’m pulled in a million directions at once or simply want to be done with all things computer for a while. High stress or distraction can also hinder the “good bleed” from the story to me, making it more difficult to relate to and feel my characters’ emotions.
There are scenes in each of my books that have strongly resonated with me as I wrote them. I chuckled in giddy delight at some clever quip a character made. I cried with them over a devastating loss. Feeling those emotions with them helps me articulate the moment, to put into words everything they are going through to help the reader experience it with them.
Finale
I’m close to the end of the last book (first draft) in the Hidden Series, and I’m feeling a little emotionally numb. So are my characters. There has been so much effort and coordination, so many reunions tempered by loss. One way or another, the end is near. They need and want this so much, but the event itself is difficult to speak about because even a victory is unlikely to end well.
How do you keep going when you’re exhausted and drained? How do you move forward when every step spells the death of another friend? How do you overcome your terror when failure means destruction?
You go a little numb. You chip away at your sanity and hope what remains at the end is still a person. You pack it away and do what needs to be done, hoping your ability to make rational decisions has not become compromised.
Drama Queen
So, that’s how I write emotional scenes. I get into the same frame of mind and feel at least a fraction of what I imagine my characters are going through. I laugh with them and cry with them. Then, when I’m polishing that first draft, I look for where the emotional bleed pulled me far off track, and I buff out the rough edges. In the end, I hope you also relate to my characters enough to laugh and cry with them too, because I put them through the wringer.
I previously shared some general information about the elves and their society. You can find that post here. In it, I highlight how crucial the royal line is regarding the elves’ connection to their Woodlands. For today, I will be sharing more about the various woodlands.
As the elves slowly explored Elaria, they made additional connections to the land. While each Woodland was by no means homogenous, the elves drawn to each place often had similar physical characteristics. This frequently helped elves who did not feel the same depth of connection to their birthplace find their home Woodland from among the others.
Auradia
The Auradian Woodland was the first, the origin of the elves. Centrally located on the continent, it bordered the Claw Mountains to the north, savannah to the west, plains to the east, and forest to the south. Elves spread to explore those nearby lands. Their presence made the natural foliage grow strong and lush, and the elves lived plentiful lives.
Initially, the elves only had skin in tones of gray with dark hair and bright eyes of blue or green. To this day, most Auradian elves have gray skin with undertones of green or blue. As the first Woodland, however, it has disproportionately more diversity than the others. The Auradian elves also see more spontaneous diversity in their children. They have a larger population and bear more children than the others, and more elves leave the Auradia Woodland to find their true home than the number entering.
Gray of skin, blue of eye.
Considering these factors, some elves believe that if the Auradia Woodland were lost, all the elves would eventually fade from the realm.
Derou
The Derou Woodland was the first to be founded by elves traveling from Auradia. It is to the northwest of Auradia, bordered by forest, mountain, desert, and savannah. The warmer weather near the desert made the Derou a veritable oasis with plant life variety unmatched elsewhere in the world. With this bounty, the Derou became the source of several medical discoveries and advancements in their initial years and beyond.
The first to strike out on their own.
Elves initially drawn to the Derou were those with dark gray skin trending toward reddish undertones. Over time, this distinction became more pronounced. Most Derou have skin ranging from very dark to light brown, often with red or gray undertones, and hair and eye colors within a similar spectrum.
Satersa
The Satersa Woodland was founded just after the Derou in lands to the south of Auradia. The new Woodland sat nestled among rolling hills leading toward the ocean. They produced strong wood and fabrics.
Satersa elves had skin tones ranging from blue-gray to yellow-green and had hair colors as diverse. Some called them the “river elves” based on their coloration. These tones have since returned to the Auradia or gone to the Palonian, shifting with the destruction of Satersa.
When the gilar emerged in Elaria, they did so in the southern part of the continent. As they spread across the coast, the Satersa faced an unexpected enemy. They were quickly overwhelmed. The Heartwood was desecrated by the gilar, the royals died in the conflict, and refugees fled to their kin.
Lost. Gone from the realm.
Despite mounting a counterattack, the Heartwood was never reclaimed. The surviving Satersa eventually began to age and die. Children with a direct lineage to another Woodland sometimes survived by making another essential connection to their secondary ancestral land. Since the tragedy of Satersa, the elves have taken precautions to protect and defend the Heartwoods and the royal line of every remaining Woodland.
Travelers, elves who feel drawn away from their homelands, frequently have features drawing back to the Satersa. Blue or green eyes or skin undertones are some of the most common features shared among these elves. The prevalent theory is that these individuals would have belonged to the Satersa Woodland had it not been lost.
Palonian
The Palonian Woodland is the youngest of the four. Its founding was barely a couple of thousand years before the vampires and fairy emerged in Elaria. Situated to the northeast of Auradia, the Palonian sits between two major rivers with plenty of farmland amid the scattered forests.
Last to emerge. Strongly influenced by their predecessors.
Palonian elves have skin tones like oak or maple wood with red or yellow undertones. These pale tones often came with brighter hair and eye colors. Bright red, blond, or chestnut hair. Jewel-bright blue, green, or hazel color eyes. Most of the initial Palonian came from either the Satersa or Derou. These origins still show in the greens and browns prevalent in the appearance of many Palonian elves.
Common
Despite the differences in appearance and distance between them, there is little difference between their societies. They share people and resources in need and work together as stewards for the lands between and around their Woodlands. As more races emerged, the elves did their best to welcome or defend against them as their nature allowed. Though the land under their influence shrank, the elven core remains strong and steady.
You meet some of the Derou in Hidden Memory and explore the Palonian Woodland in Hidden Sanctuary. Also, if you love the books, don’t forget to take a moment to go to Amazon to leave a rating/review. Thanks for your support!
The elves are the eldest race to emerge in Elaria. Auradia was their original Woodland, and they spread out over time. Their natural connection and affinity to plant life condensed the power of the land in other areas, creating additional Heartwoods. The first elves to connect to these new woodlands became the conduits through which their kin gave and drew strength.
Hundreds of years passed, and the elves stopped having children. A balance had been achieved. Their lands were at capacity. No new lives entered the world, and no one died. Another hundred years, another, and more. An enemy emerged, and a Woodland came under attack. Gilar spread from the south in an overwhelming wave. Death and life resumed in Elaria.
Connection
Elves have an innate connection to plant life in Elaria, a symbiotic relationship via a feedback loop of essential energy. The elves strengthen the land, helping it grow and providing a rudimentary level of awareness or sense of surroundings. As the energy loops back, it enhances the elves’ essential connection to the physical world and provides for their rejuvenation leading to their immortality.
This essential connection runs through each elf’s respective monarch and heir. Being a conduit is an ability linked to a combination of the bloodline and being bearers of the power. Only a royal who serves as a monarch or heir can pass the ability to serve as a royal conduit to their children. For this reason, an elven royal family line has never extended beyond a third living generation.
The limited number of eligible royals is a vulnerability for the elves. They ensure at least one royal remains within the Heartwood at all times to mitigate the risk.
Society
Words like king, queen, monarch, and royal came to Elaria with the humans. In the language of the elves, the terms used were more reminiscent of ‘trunk’ or ‘stem.’ The royals are the conduit through which -life energy flows. They support and provide structure for the whole.
“The royals are the conduit through which -life energy flows. They support and provide structure for the whole.”
With their central role, the royal family works to ensure their members receive education in a broad range of subjects beyond the basics taught to all elves. These topics cross into politics, leadership, strategy, and similar concepts. The need to protect the line and the additional training frequently places these individuals in leadership positions. However, even ‘leader’ differs from how humans might perceive the term. They guide and counsel when able. They listen and follow when needed. They work and contribute as any other elf.
The smaller, contained communities enable their society to operate more as a cohesive collective. Central, common tasks rotate responsibility. Specific skills and inclinations are leveraged where needed, and continuous learning is encouraged. Elves help and give of themselves freely for each other and the natural world in which they live.
Peace, competence, unity, and support are words often used to describe the elves. Those descriptions go beyond the individuals to who they are as a people. The relative lack of sick and infirm individuals helps maintain a society where everyone can and does help and contribute, while the restricted nature of their reproduction ensures they will not grow the population beyond their means to support.
From an initial, outside perspective, the elven world is idyllic. It is also stagnant. Learning and growth progress slowly. There is no driving need, no urgency. Why rush what you have forever to understand?
Thank you!
I hope this gives you some insight into the elves. You will not see this side of them in the books as much because things shift a bit in times of war. In the past, however, the conflicts were only skirmishes between them and the attacking gilar. My next Elaria post will likely be about the different Woodlands, and I might delve into some of those skirmishes then.
If you enjoy my posts, please like, share, or leave a comment. For those who have read and enjoyed my books, I would love and appreciate a rating/review on Amazon. As always, thank you for your support.
This afternoon, 9/24/22, I will be back in my Renaissance garb to chat about my books to anyone who will stop to listen. The idea fills me with both dread and anticipation. I always have to psyche myself up for a lot of human interaction. It is not where my energy comes from, and I continue to battle fits of shyness.
My excitement comes from all the people I have had the opportunity to chat with at other events this year. In February, I met my first fantasy fan excited to “meet the author.” Last month, people stopped by my tent to hear about my stories and ask about the world I created. The overwhelmingly positive and supportive response makes the next live event a little easier to approach.
The Fall Festi-Con Fair is hosted by the local independent bookstore, Page Turner Books, in Kent, Washington. More than a half-dozen authors across multiple genres and a local artist or two will be there. One of the authors will be giving a talk over at the bakery across the street. I will be there with a table at either the bookstore or comic shop right next door.
Deal of the Day
If you are in the area, stop by between 2- 7 pm. You can pick up both books together for a bundle discount. I will also be offering to honor the bundle pricing on the second book for anyone who picked up just the first at the Renaissance Faire. To get the Ren Faire deal, make sure to have your copy of the first book in hand!
Call to Action
For readers who have already read through one or both books and enjoyed them, I ask that you consider going onto Amazon to leave a rating/review. Reviews are a critical factor in new authors gaining promotions, generating interest, and eventually being able to offer additional formats like audiobooks. Reviews are a simple, yet powerful way to support the authors of works you have enjoyed.
If you have the time and inclination, I’ve included the links below. You would go to the book’s page, scroll to the reviews, and click on “write a review.” It might be necessary to log in, so if you don’t have an Amazon account, Goodreads and Bookbub are additional review locations!
Final reminder: when I reach 40 total Amazon reviews, I will be adding a deleted chapter from Hidden Sanctuary to the website. I have a new webpage and some revisions in-work to get it out there. Fingers crossed that it functions as expected, but I need those ratings from you before I start the test!
In Hidden Memory, the elves explain to Annalla the natural balance of the realm and how that balance is expressed through what they refer to as “balanced creation.” Elves versus gilar. Fairy versus vampires. Irimoten versus windani. In this post, I will share a little more about how this concept presents within Elaria.
Good Versus Evil
Sentient creatures in Elaria are drawn toward one side of this dichotomy or the other. While the specific definitions are difficult to pin down because of the myriad of factors that can influence a situation, these are real and tangible concepts in the realm.
Elves are naturally inclined to act in “good” ways. They seek to live in balance and harmony with the world around them. An elf will place what is best for the whole over what is best for themselves. They are patient, thoughtful, and open-minded. Violence is not anathema to them, but it serves as a means to an end within these parameters.
Gilar, in contrast, are naturally inclined to act in “evil” ways. They care about power and control and are driven by selfishness and greed. Individual goals, wants, and desires are the primary force behind their actions. They glory in violence and suffering and will torture their own weak for entertainment if it suits them.
So, if nature seeks balance and the elves promote balance, why were the gilar created? Because nature is messy. It evolves and changes, grows and renews. The elves, immortal and in harmony, were stagnant. There could be no more elves, and the world would not change. Essense pressed for new life, but it would not come to the elves without also bringing death.
Because nature is messy. It evolves and changes, grows and renews.
The essential forces driving life in Elaria surged in other parts of the world, seeking to balance the influence of the elves. Thus, the gilar came to be over time. They evolved, spread, and came into conflict with their elven neighbors as they sought death and destruction.
Nature of the Balances
To preserve the emergence of the initial race the balance created is always at a slight disadvantage from an individual conflict or combat perspective. The elves emerged first, and one-on-one, the elf will usually win. Despite the gilar being stronger, the elves are strong enough and have better speed and agility that more than compensates. The same is true comparing the most recent balance to emerge, the irimoten and windani.
For the fairy and vampires, however, it was the vampires to first emerge into the world. The fairy are the balance. From the perspective of speed and agility in the air, the two races are closely matched with the fairy slightly edging out their opposite. Vampires have a sensory advantage, especially at night in the dark, and their venom is highly lethal to the fairy.
While the elves and irimoten have no desire to press their advantage against their balance, the vampires did and hunted the fairy to near extinction. Only by leveraging their essential powers and connection to the realm were the fairy able to avoid such a fate.
On the Dichotomy
As a final note today, I will share approximately where the races fall on the good/evil dichotomy in Elaria.
Over the millennia, Elaria had been drifting slowly closer to the physical side of the power/force spectrum. The elves and gilar emerged earliest in history and most divergent from a good/evil perspective. As the realm drifted, the next pair emerged a little closer together. To put it in simplistic moral terms, the scope of concern of the fairy was slightly smaller than the elves and slightly larger for the vampires over the gilar. When the irimoten and windani emerged, those scopes had grown and shrunk respectively once more.
This drifting toward the physical side is what allowed the connection with Earth and saw the humans and dwarves enter Elaria. Their presence may have kept the realm drifting in that direction, but another force was already at work. The magai connecting to and entering Elaria had already shifted the momentum of the realm. Elaria is now drifting back toward the magical side, but the movement is so gradual, that only some of the longest-lived elves might one day see the impact.
Tiffany Shearn 
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