Emotion Is The Real Engine
Segun Iwasanmi@iwasanmisegun212159
10 days ago
© Segun Iwasanmi
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There was a story someone sent me one evening, voice note first, then the write-up. As he was reading it, his voice was shaking at some parts. You could hear it. Real feeling. Real pain.
But when I opened the actual text, everything disappeared. The same story that made him pause while talking somehow became flat on paper. Like two different people were telling it.
That thing happens more than people admit. You know the story is deep, you even feel it inside your chest, but once you start writing, you begin to explain instead of express. You start sounding like you’re writing your final year project thesis.
It’s the same way someone can gist you about a heartbreak and you’ll be glued, but if they write it down, it suddenly starts sounding like a school essay. Nothing is wrong with the story, it’s just that emotion was left behind somewhere.
I told him, “You are about to lose your story, because the feeling is now hidden.” Because writing is not just about what happened, it’s how it felt while it was happening. That’s the part readers stay for.
So we went back to it. To pull out moments. Where his hand paused. Where his voice dropped. Where he almost didn’t want to continue. That was real work but it payed pass palmpay.
A lot of people think powerful writing is about explaining everything clearly. But the truth is, when emotion leads, readers don’t need too much explanation, they already understand.
Now, when I read that same story again, I didn’t need his voice note anymore. The feeling was sitting there, inside the words, doing its work quietly.
It’s sad how many stories are out there like that, complete but not yet alive, just waiting for someone who knows where to touch without scattering everything.
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© Segun Iwasanmi | ™The Man With The Story.
Book Writer | Screen and Scriptwriter | Creative Fiction writer | Book Editor.
I help people turn rough ideas into bold stories that work
